Being Thankful

 

The month of November brings to mind the beginning of the holiday season here in the USA.  Last year on Facebook, as so many of my friends did, I posted at least one thing per day I was genuinely thankful for. 

This year, with all of the craziness and decidedly difficult circumstances my family and our nation have faced, I've decided to look at the 30 Days of Thankfulness on the lighter side of life.  So here we go:

* Day 1:  Thankful for Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars and for Hershey's continuing to make them in a peanut-free environment so I can consume them.

* Day 2:  Thankful for the clothing manufacturer who discovered how to discreetly incorporate spandex in denim.  I can now wear jeans and eat.

* Day 3:  Thankful for curling irons and hair styling products.  Without them I would walk around looking like a Q-Tip on a daily basis.

* Day 4:  Thankful to have a husband who, while sitting at a stop light, has no compulsion whatsoever about dancing in the car to the music of the car next to us and embarrassing our children so badly they duck down into the floorboard.

* Day 5:  Thankful to be able to connect with old friends on Facebook.

* Day 6:  Thankful to be able to unfriend old friends on Facebook.

* Day 7:  Thankful I have 2 children who were able to show me how to use my cell phone.

* Day 8:  Thankful for earplugs....... so I can sit in the house "undisturbed" while my husband watches his Dallas Cowboy football games.

* Day 9:  Thankful for the platypus - just because I like the animal's name.

* Day 10:  Thankful for my son learning to keep his sneakers in his room.  The aroma which eminates from the shoes have now made his room a completely pest free zone.

* Day 11:  Thankful for my daughter deciding to play hairdresser with my hair and then having a friend come to the door when I have 32 ponytails, 6 barrettes, and 3 headbands strategically placed all over my head and told me they thought I looked great.

* Day 12:  Thankful for Neutra-Air.  No further explanation is necessary.

* Day 13:  Thankful for Target Stores getting all new grocery carts that don't click or clack, veer off on their own, or have a wheel that wobbles enough to register as an earthquake on the USGS registry.

* Day 14:  Thankful I have very boney elbows which work quite well at deterring strangers from entering my personal space at Black Friday sales.

* Day 15:  Thankful for Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnn Fabrics, and Hancock Fabrics.  I think many will understand with no further explanation necessary.

* Day 16:  Thankful for the person at the local gas station who made me feel like I was much less of a germ-a-phobe after witnessing them cleaning the gas pump handle with an antibacterial wipe.

* Day 17:  Thankful I have only confused the bottle of cinnamon with the cayenne pepper once since I learned to cook.

* Day 18:  Thankful for the "mute" button on the television remote control.

* Day 19:  Thankful for texting as it appears to be the only way some families communicate in the same house.......while everyone is in the house together.

* Day 20:  Thankful for the genius who invented dishwasher detergent packets.  Now if they could just invent a way for the dishes to move themselves into the dishwasher......

* Day 21:  Thankful for the F.D.A. requiring pharmaceutical companies to let me know during commercial advertisements if that particular drug will give me an undesirable side effect....... like rainbow colored urine or a black hairy tongue.

* Day 22:  Thankful for Legos.  Stepping on one and experiencing searing, life-altering pain running through my foot reminds me I still have feeling in that particular region of my body.

* Day 23:  Thankful for the school pickup/drop-off lines which allow me to practice my Kamikaze driving skills daily.  BANZAI!!!

* Day 24:  Thankful for deoderant made specifically for preteens and teens.  My nose is deliriously happy with the creators of this ever so necessary grooming component.

* Day 25:  Thankful for junk mail.  Without it spread out and completely covering every flat surface in my kitchen, I might actually have to dust.

* Day 26:  Thankful for Chinese food.  The one meal where I can feed my children all sorts of different vegetables and they don't complain or ask what it is.

* Day 27:  Thankful for makeup because without it, I'd be scaring little children daily.

* Day 28:  Thankful Lowe's and Home Depot stock gas cans year round and that I never have to wonder about how long one will last before deteriorating from old age at my house.

* Day 29:  Thankful for girdles.  Yes, I look like a stuffed sausage in them but they allow me to fit into those jeans that are just a wee bit too tight.

* Day 30:  Thankful for this blog where I have a place to write down all of my quirky thoughts and musings and people are actually enjoying reading them if for nothing more than to allow themselves to feel normal compared to me.


And that's my 30 Days of Thankfulness.  May you all enjoy the many quirks, idiosyncracies, and comedy that is before you not just for the month of November, but the whole year through.

by:  Christie Bielss

The Appliance Seduction

As I walk through Lowe's and Home Depot, the beautiful sheen of the brushed stainless steel appliance winks at me and seduces me with its clean lines.  Every time I see it, I lovingly stroke the cool, smooth finish.  I open the doors and look inside at state of the art interiors so pristine and crisp, it brings a tear to my eye.  Oh the beauty, elegance, and efficiency of the Kitchen Aid double oven!

Even as a young girl while playing with my Easy Bake Oven, I lamented not being able to cook 2 items at once.  How on earth could Ken and Barbie have a proper royal dinner if all of the food didn't finish cooking at precisely the same time?  Why! It would be sheer tyranny to have the Barbie knock-off maids serving  one course of the meal while having to explain that the bread still had 15 minutes left to bake.  That would be such an afront to the royal crown it could cause dissent within the royal ranks and create a tabloid frenzy!

Growing up, my parents' house had double ovens. Every day since moving out years ago, I've felt their absence in my life. My friends speak of how they love having double ovens which allow them to get their dinner on the table all at one time while it's still hot. The great green toad of jealousy rears its ugly head and croaks every night when the main dish to my dinner must sit and cool its juices while the side dishes complete their cooking processes.

Oh, to have a double oven now would be the cat's meow. It's sleek lines and svelte, satiny texture would positively glisten in my kitchen. The cooking and baking possibilities would be endless. Why, I could have a chocolate pie in one oven and triple chocolate fudge brownies in the other! Or, I could bake chocolate chip cookies in the upper oven while a chocolate souffle' bakes to a rich and fluffy texture in the lower. Ooooooo, the endless possibilities cause my imagination to run wild!

One day the heavenly choir will rejoice when I no longer have to visit the double oven at the store and am able to give it a forever home.  Until then, the store's salesperson will have to continue wiping the oven window which becomes fogged from my heavy breathing, and the fingerprints from my gentle caresses across its stainless steel finish, as I make my weekly visits to the appliance section.  One day, the double oven and all of the delectable baked chocolate desserts ever created will be in harmony in my kitchen, and on that day, the earth shall rejoice. 

by: Christie Bielss