Thanksday #35

And so we meet again. This, the fourth day of the school-slash-work week. The fifth day of the Judeo-Christian Calendar. "Thursday," I just learned, is actually Old English for "Thor's Day" -- the god of Thunder in Norse mythology.

Which, disappointingly, has nothing to do with Thankfulness or gratefulness or anything else I'll write today. But I thought it was interesting. And then I was thankful that I renamed Thursday (for the purposes of these posts) to Thanksday. Because I'd rather associate the day with gratitude than with a Scandinavian, hammer-wielding god of thunder and lightning (at least according to Wikipedia, best source of all accurate and historical information. Right?)

But alas, I am 50% Finnish, so I can't get too anarchic about it and deny my roots. They'd never let me visit Helsinki again. (Because I've visited all those zero times.)

Nonetheless, on this, my 35th Thor's Day o' Gratitude, I give you...my list.

1. Garbage Day. I get so excited to rid my house of all the bags of garbage, and have been known to dispose of half-full bags just so I know we're starting with a clean, fresh slate once the garbage man comes. It's the little things.

2. Retweets. BooMama is someone who's blog I faithfully read daily. She's hilarious, and if we lived in the same city (or if she actually knew me), I just know we'd be BFFs. I also follow her on Twitter. And drive by her house a lot. And stalk her in general. Oh, I kid. (Or do I?) At any rate, I sent BooMama a tweet regarding something with the VMAs on Sunday, and guess what? She retweeted me! And then she started following me. And now there's so much pressure to be witty all. the. time. I know, I know...just be yourself, BLAH BLAH BLAH.

3. Crockpots. Because without them, my poor family wouldn't eat. (And I can hear all my foodie friends stifle back a collective vomit.) 'Round the calendar, I can be found making everything from soup to chili to pot roast to BBQ chicken to Thai Peanut Chicken in said crackpot. It's easy and it's simple. What's not to love? And you know what? I make no apologies for it.

4. Carpool. Our neighbor's kids go to Jaana's school, and our neighbor's office is right by the school. Coincidentally, she goes into work immediately after drop-off each day. Since she is such a kind, wonderful and godly woman, she's been picking up Jaana and taking her to school each morning. And you have no idea what a treasure that has been! Instead of rushing around to get all three of us ready to take her to school, I give her a kiss, wave goodbye and barely have to change out of my PJs. (Geez, that actually sounds pretty pathetic now that I've typed this all out.) (I'm really not that lazy, I promise.) (Okay, I can't keep a straight face as I type this.)

5. Working for Yourself. Because I can take a couple days off whenever I want to, and don't have to clear it with any bosses. Unless you count Greg. (But he's a partner...a help mate if you will...so that doesn't count.) (But don't tell him I said that.) I've already bored you to tears with the craziness of the past few weeks months years, so I won't rehash all that. But now that it's finished, I took Monday and Tuesday off from work to give myself a break. Well, really, it was to catch up on all the poor house things I've neglected. Outgrown clothes have been removed from closets and dropped off at consignments, pantries have been reorganized, computers have been moved back upstairs to the office (and my dining room is a dining room once again). The point is, I need to take a day off from email and work more often. It's nice to set your phones email setting to "check manually" and not have a constant barrage of incoming messages.

6. Midol PM. Yes, you read that right. And yes, I know...TMI. But I didn't realize there was a PM version until recently, and I have to say...wow. Less bloating + great sleep = one happy chick.

7. Wikipedia. Because in the 18 years since Cheers has been off the air, I haven't had my Cliff Claven and therefore a good source for worthless information. Until now. (And a runner-up thanks goes to for imdb.com for instantly providing me with that tidbit of info about Cheers.)

8. An Unchanging God. God is always the same. What would I do without that one constant in my life?

9. 2nd Grade Homework. I have friends with older kids who keep telling me how hard their kids' homework is. And for at least this year, I get to appear very smart and helpful. Lord help me when she hits "new math" or algebra.

10. Special K Protein Drink Packets. Like Crystal Light, you mix up one packet into a water bottle and voila! A strawberry-kiwi flavored drink with 5 grams of protein! Delish. And nutrish.

Your turn! Let me know what you're thankful for this week and share the love. Leave a comment below or link up with Candra. It'll make your heart thunder with praise on Thor's Day.

Uff da.