1- Mom and Dad were able to come out here for five days last week. We spent the week mostly making food and then eating it. And talking... Like the night before Thanksgiving we stayed up until at least one a.m., for some reason all squished into my tiny kitchen, sitting on the floor, talking. It was great fun and full of laughter, but once we went to bed, no one wanted to get up; Consequently the turkey did not go into the oven until 9:30. Yes, Late! So Thursday we spent just hanging around and sort of creating food- what we could bake in the toaster oven since the oven was full of turkey. :) When we finally did eat, it was four o'clock but we enjoyed it immensely! After eating we all read some bible verses. Everyone's name tag was a walnut with a small paper stuck in with their name on it. Inside the walnut I had stuck numbers and so when they cracked the walnut, each person had to do what their number corresponded to on my list. Some had to think of certain thankful things, some had to read a psalm, Nathan had to quote a poem, and, ok, I will admit it. I purposely chose number one for Blake. He had to spell Thanksgiving backwards. :)
2- Our shop is warm. While we don't have a waste oil burner yet like we had hoped, space heaters do warm it up immensely and my office has a nice little electric heater so I don't freeze at work.
3- Dad put up a shelf for me at the shop and hung a mirror at my house... two projects I was waiting on... Hoping he could do when he came to visit me.
4- Blake was able to take work off extremely early two nights in a row last week while Dad and Mom were here. Friday he left work at five and Saturday at six. Thursday he also was off all day and since I didn't work Friday or Saturday, it felt like a vacation!
5- Opportunities to witness. Not just briefly mention God, but in-depth conversations about who God is. The kind of conversations that make me walk away realizing how much I do NOT know and how much I NEED to know. The kind that spurs at least myself on to want to learn more about who He is.
6- My sisters... all five who put up with me and listen to me and are my friends despite everything about me that could really annoy them.
7- God's amazing grace. What my life could be if it were not for His grace!!!
8- Gum. It really helps my mouth out. :)
9-Customers who are patient even when we are so busy that they have to wait a very long time to get their truck fixed!
10- And certainly not least, I am incredibly thankful for my husband. He is patient and listens to me well. He tries hard to make me happy even when I am just plain grouchy. He works extremely hard to provide. He is forgiving even when I am really not nice. He tries to be interested in what I am interested in. And some times that is really tough for him because I know he really could care less about what kind of curtains are in the kitchen. :)
