This blog was started on Wednesday as a “live” blog as my students were writing. It’s being finished today, Black Friday, as both daughters were home and I didn’t want to miss a minute with them

I don’t get the chance to blog as my students are blogging very often anymore so this is kind of fun. I get the “Mr. J, you aren’t on freeze (allowing students to see what I’m doing on the projector screen)” as I am typing, which means they are paying attention. Not to their writing, but they are looking at how I put this together, which isn’t all a bad thing.

As they wrote, the typical family, food, friends, and sixth-grade fodder came out. I just asked them to be thoughtful in their writing, and for most, I could see that happening. We have so many different things to be thankful for this year.

So, what am I thankful for:

  • My wife: We sat Thanksgiving Day morning and talked for quite a while, and this is the quote of hte day: “If were to get hit by a truck, they’d have a plan laid out until at least January.” She’s an amazing woman with a love of life that I’m coming to appreicate more and more. We talk a lot about her parents and if there is a place where our souls go, they are beaming every single day at what she’s accomplished. She is the glue that holds her family together. I’m so thankful that she lowered herself to marry me and deals with my bumblings.
  • My brother and his family: I wrote a while back about a speaker we saw talked about how if you don’t like something, change the lens that you are looking through. This is what I’ve been doing since I took a class in January and it’s been working. I can see how we’ve missed some time, how his family has grown up, and how proud he is of all of them. We’ll always be a work in progress, but I am thankful for all of them.
  • My parents: They’ve been vaccinated and boostered and just got back from a bus tour of the Smokey Mountains. They are late 70s and living their best life in their new house, buying furature, looking at cable TV, and just adjusting to being “city folks”. Their ability to change with the stage of life they are in leaves me in awe because I’m not sure that’s something I’ll be able to do! Plus, they have some great sons who are coming to visit tomorrow with their awesome wives AND their amazing grandchildren. All in all, they are who I look up to each and every day.
  • My basketball team: I’ve written about them all ready, but I am thankful for them. Somedays, they are the group that makes my day complete. They are silly, dorky, sometimes rude, but they are some awesome people and I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to call them my players. I sent them a cheesy Thanksgiving email, and I opened the flood gates.
  • Where I live: I live on my little piece of heaven out in the country. It’s 10 miles to the nearest grocery store, 30 miles to the nearest movie theater, and 70 miles to Sam’s Club! However, I love where I live, right now, because it’s ours. There are no neighbor within a quarter mile, it’s quiet, and we can go outside and watch the stars. We’ll move someday because we really have never been accepted into the community, but our little piece of heaven, it will always have a special place in my heart.
  • And to end on a light note, I’m thankful for this guy, Crazy-Eyes McCheese. He was one of the appetizers we had yesterday before the main meal. My wife (whom I am thankful for) found him as she was lesson planning. She’s got an “adapt-a-calf” site that she’s part of and along with they calf, they have dairy recipes, thus there he was for us! 🙂

What are you thankful for? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! I hope your Thanksgiving was a time of community for each of you!