I'm back!!!

So I was looking at my "friend" Jen's blog yesterday.  (Yes there is a story behind the quotation marks.  She really is one of my best friends.)  She has 2 wonderful children that i am totally in love with.  Zach has Cerebral Plasy, and her daughter Emily has an eye muscle condition.  This woman has struggled so hard in the last few years, and will probably continue to struggle.  And she is doing ot all as a single mother.  I have been a single parent, and it is NOT a picnic, but to have 2 children with special needs would totally overwhelm me.  

Anyway, since I have gotten to know her and her beautiful children better, I have realized how much I have to be thankful for.  

I have taken the liberty to borrow a concept from an e-mail that I have recieved many times.

I'm Thankful.

I am thankful to get out of bed every morning, because it reminds me that I can walk.  Something that is too easy to take for granted considering that many in my situation cannot.

I am thankful that my husband and kids annoy the crap out of me.   It means that we have beaten today's odds, and remained an "intact"  family.

I'm NOT thankful that I still have to make dinner every night, but I AM thankful that we have plenty of food, because a lot of people go without.

I am thankful for my children, and the noise and the mess that they bring, because when I was younger, I didn't know whether i would have kids or not.  

I am thankful for friends who call me when they need something, or just to talk.  It means that I have friends, and the I am valued and loved.

I am thankful for my family for the same reason.