Gratitude

There's a lot I can complain about, but that gets old. The harsh realities of life will always be around, nagging at you, telling you to come down here and have some anguish for a while... but what purpose does that serve other than to drive you stark freaking mad?

There's just too much to be happy about...

Friends - I have so many good friends that have brought me through a really difficult year. There are my virtual friends in Twitter and on the blogs, of course. Wow... some of you are just insane and awesome! I've laughed and learned so much with these "friends in my head." Then there are my churchie friends that I've reconnected and grown with. They have been so supportive to a woman who will bawl uncontrollable at the song He is Mighty To Save... And of course, this crazy group of Latin Ladies Plus One (we're all Latin except Beth, but she's brown enough, so she's cool). In this last group, I get to be as Mexican as I want to be and it has been so much fun!

Family - I could wallow here in the things that have not happened, but instead I'll celebrate what has. We have all been physically healthy... nobody has broken a bone or been in the hospital this year. {{knocking hard on wooden desk}} I'm thankful for the love of all my family, but mostly, I am just so honored and grateful to be the mom of four really cool kids. Although I haven't hugged my seventeen year old since her sixteenth birthday, I have had some limited communication with her. I miss her and look forward to the day she decides to come back for a visit. My little ones have grown so much this year. The things they say and do blow me away often. They love God. They love family. And they love learning. My City Girl will be here today to bake for us. I'm excited to see what she has accomplished in Pastry School so far... I mean, in between all the partying I see on Facebook, anyway...

Life - Every day, I live a little better. Every day, I feel a little more whole. Every day, I peel another layer of the onion back... I am so eternally thankful to the many people that helped me get to the place where I don't feel like a fragile piece of glass that will break if you tap me just once. Some very special women have come into my life and have helped me to see the magnificence in me... it is the same magnificence that is in all of us. If you look hard enough... behind the smoke and the mirrors of perfection... you will find it, too. And amazingly, if you look past the preconceptions you may have shrouded others with, you'll see it in them... the trick is just to look.

Thank you for coming here.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for your magnificence.

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