What I'm thankful for: November 30

Today I'm thankful for...

Dollar Tree!

I posted about Dollar Tree on Facebook yesterday, so I thought it would be fitting that this is what my post was about today. If you've never been to Dollar Tree, then you are seriously, seriously missing out. Yes, some of it is junk, and yes, most of it is probably made in another country and not green or responsible or whatever, but everything in there is a dollar. Some things are even 2 for a dollar. It's the best place for cards, holiday decorations, and all sorts of other things. Do yourself a favor and go to a Dollar Tree immediately...and take me with you, please!

What I'm thankful for: November 29

Today I'm thankful for...

My brain!

Because really, without my brain, I'm nothing. And I don't even mean "smarts," necessarily. I'm including all of those involuntary bodily functions, like breathing and my heart beating, that my brain controls. Clearly, my brain is too busy doing those things to let me write a wonderful post, but I'll let it slide for today...

What I'm thankful for: November 28

Today I'm thankful for...

French toast!

Today is French Toast Day. To honor that, I think that someone should make me some. Or take a picture of some and send it to me, which would probably be the better option since I've been off the healthy wagon lately...

Le sigh (that's a sigh in French in honor of French Toast Day...)

What I'm thankful for: November 27

Today I'm thankful for...

Creativity!

Creativity is the driving force between everything that we have in this world. Even things that don't seem "creative," such as medicine, came about because someone was creative enough to experiment with things he or she had and put them together in a new way. So, do something creative today. You may end up making the next big thing...or reinventing the Twinkie...

What I'm thankful for: November 26

Today I'm thankful for...

Online shopping!

Today is Cyber Monday, and I'm more than glad to do a lot of my Christmas shopping online. I love to shop in physical stores, but I'm not a big fan of being around tons of people who are crazy. Online shopping makes it acceptable to shop in my pajamas. Also, since Will works at an Amazon fulfillment center, I feel like every time I shop online, I give him something to do at work. ;-)

What I'm thankful for: November 25

Today I'm thankful for...

Hulu!

Even though I don't use it as much as I used to, I'm thankful that Hulu lets me watch shows on my iPad while I'm on the elliptical. That's the only thing that can distract me enough while I'm on that evil machine...

What I'm thankful for: November 24

Today I'm thankful for...

Hootsuite!

I won't be great at explaining what Hootsuite is, so check out the website for more details. We use Hootsuite at work to schedule social media postings. I also use it to post notifications on my Facebook and Twitter accounts whenever a new blog entry has been posted. It's really helpful in marketing yourself or your business, and the free option works fine for me and for my job. Also, this is how I posted updates on social media during Lent when I gave them up; you can schedule things to be posted for weeks or months in advance and it almost always works flawlessly. Plus, their logo has an owl. You can't go wrong with anything owl-related...

What I'm thankful for: November 23

Today I'm thankful for...

Not working in retail!

Godspeed to all of you retail workers out there today. People are straight up crazy...

What I'm thankful for: November 22

Today I'm thankful for...

Thanksgiving!

Today is kind of like the Super Bowl for this blog. A blog about being thankful on Thanksgiving? It's so Inception-esque, I kind of expect Leo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to pop out of my computer...

Okay, maybe not.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving today!

What I'm thankful for: November 21

Today I'm thankful for...

Pull through parking spaces!

Partially because I told Will this is what I would write about today and partially because I encountered a few today. I'm not the best driver, and I'm particularly bad at backing out of parking spaces, so when I encounter the fabulous pull through parking space, I take full advantage of it, even if it means I'm parked a mile and a half away from my destination. But hey, that just means I get more walking in, right? ;)

What I'm thankful for: November 20

Today I'm thankful for...

A short work week!

Thank you Thanksgiving for making my workweek blissfully short!

What I'm thankful for: November 19

Today I'm thankful for...

Men!

Since International Women's Day was on March 8, I guess the men needed their own day. Today is International Men's Day, which, according to the web encyclopedia that shall not be named, is a day that focuses on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, and promoting gender equality. I've got a lot of great men in my life, and I hope they have a great Men's Day...or Monday...

What I'm thankful for: November 18

Today I'm thankful for...

A good night's sleep!

This week has been rough on the sleep front. I've not slept too well most nights, and I have stayed up too late just about every night (including tonight, but I'm nursing my injury from demonstrating the Gangnam Style dance...ha). However, last night, I finally got a good night's sleep. I actually felt pretty rested this morning when I woke up, instead of feeling like I hadn't even rested. So, here's to sleeping better this week, which is something that everyone around me will be thankful for too!

What I'm thankful for: November 17

Today I'm thankful for...

Words With Friends!

After writing about the Words With Friends board game yesterday, I wanted to talk a little more about the game. I love the electronic version and the board game. The board game is pretty close to Scrabble, so you can't go wrong there. The app lets you play against multiple people and be competitive with people you may never sit down and play the board game with. Plus, it showed me that qi is a word. I don't know what qi means, but I do know that it lets you get rid of that lone q that you always have left at the end of the game!

What I'm thankful for: November 16

Today I'm thankful for...

Board games!

Will and I have been on a board game kick lately: Monopoly, Battleship, Words With Friends, and it made me remember how much I love board games. They're cheap entertainment, don't require electricity or wireless Internet, and they can be pretty fun...unless you're like me and you're super competitive and hate to lose. Then they can make you vow never to play Monopoly every again. Ever.

What I'm thankful for: November 15

Today I'm thankful for...

My car!

Although I suffer from the occasional bout of road rage and wishing that I had a sports car/convertible/something cool, I'm pretty thankful for my car. Not only does it get me to where I need to go (usually work, home, Will's house, and church...and Walmart), but it gets pretty good gas mileage. It's also comfortable and tall. Clearly, I'm not super picky about what I want in a car...

What I'm thankful for: November 14

Today I'm thankful for...

Pickles!

Today is National Pickle Day or something crazy like that. I don't discriminate between sweet pickles and dill pickles. I like them all, raw or fried. Yay for pickles!

Also, I've been sick today, so this post may have been slightly influenced by NyQuil...

What I'm thankful for: November 13

Today I'm thankful for...

Contacts!

I've been thankful for my glasses, so I thought it was time to give my contacts a shout out! I wear my contacts 99% of the time when I leave my house. If I'm ever in public in my glasses, I feel like something is wrong, like I'm sick or slumming it or something. My contacts let me fake better vision than I actually have...unless I wear a ripped one all day (like I did recently)...then they just annoy me.

What I'm thankful for: November 12

Today I'm thankful for...

Umbrellas!

(Also, for the Rhianna song about umbrellas, ellas, ellas, hey, hey, hey...okay, I couldn't resist...)

Umbrellas are great on days that started out like today. A hood can keep you dry, but an umbrella takes it up a notch. Also, I saw a girl with an umbrella hat today, so I had to be thankful for umbrellas. I mean, who has an umbrella hat?

What I'm thankful for: November 11

Today I'm thankful for...

Veterans!

Thank you to all past, present and future veterans. I don't even like to let people merge in traffic, but you all are willing to lay down your lives for people that you have never met and will likely never meet. Your bravery, generosity, and unselfish nature should inspire all of us, regardless of political affiliation, stance on combat, or thoughts about the military in general. One blog entry is nowhere near sufficient enough to express my gratitude to all of you. Happy Veterans' Day.

What i'm thankful for: November 10

Today I'm thankful for...

Boots!

I'm not really one for cold weather, but I love boots! I like to wear them over leggings (ha!), tights, and skinny pants. I'm trying to grow my collection, but sometimes it's hard to find boots that zip over my insanely muscular legs. That last line may or may not be sarcasm. Anyway, in the fall and winter, it's easy to throw on some leggings, a long shirt, and boots, and you're ready to go. That's the only benefit to cold weather!

What I'm thankful for: November 9

Today I'm thankful for...

Leggings!

I know, I know, but I can't help it. They're easy. Plus, they make those awkward length dresses and tunics wearable in a way that sheer-ish tights can't. I know they're not pants, and I always (okay, mostly always) make sure my hindquarters are covered when I wear them, so stop judging me...

What I'm thankful for: November 8

Today I'm thankful for...

Sandwiches!

Sandwich day was a few days ago (can't remember the exact date), but I think there was something else going on that took precedence. Anyhow, sandwiches are great. As Will can attest, I constantly want to go to Subway whenever we go to eat. I'll also settle for Which Wich. There's just something about meat, veggies, and bread that appeals to me. Sometimes if I'm feeling bold, I'll even throw in some mustard. Slow down, wild child.

Also, I've written about grilled cheese sandwiches before, so this post is excluding those. Ha. Can you tell that the end of the year is getting tough?

What I'm thankful for: November 7

Today I'm thankful for...

The end of the political commercials for a while!

"I'm the best and this is why." "No, I'm the best, and the other person smells like poo." "No, I don't, and I'm the best."

Pardon me, but that's what I hear when I hear political commercials, whether they're on the radio or TV. I wrote this post a couple days early, so I don't know who won the presidential election, but either way, I'm so, so, so, so, so glad that we'll have an end to the "Paid for by Americans who don't want a smelly poo candidate" commercials for a little while.

Now for Christmas commercial overload...

What I'm thankful for: November 6

Today I'm thankful for...

The freedom to elect a new president!

Okay, this is not a political post. I did early vote, but my choice was more based on the party with which I most identify, rather than the actual candidate because  I really don't care for either of the main party candidates. With that being said, it is an honor to be able to have a say in who could potentially be the President of the United States for the next four years. I know that there are a lot of political battles going on right now, but if you stop and think about it, it's just a privilege to be able to have the chance to vote. I think voting is a great opportunity, and I feel blessed and honored to have the freedom to do so.

What I'm thankful for: November 5

Today I'm thankful for...

Spinach!

November is Spinach and Squash Month (side note, I would've expected this during the summer, but I guess I don't have any agricultural knowledge and therefore don't know when things grow or harvest or whatever). Spinach is one of my favorite vegetables. It's a better salad base than lettuce, and you can blend it into smoothies for an extra serving of vegetables. Plus, it's fun to see people's reactions when you tell them you're drinking something with spinach in it. Also, spinach has vitamins and all of that good stuff.

What I'm thankful for: November 4

Today I'm thankful for...

Daylight savings time!

Even though I'll be complaining next week when it starts getting dark at 2:00, but today, I'm so, so very thankful for the extra hour of sleep that I got. Free sleep is always worth being thankful for, even when it comes with strings attached...

What I'm thankful for: November 3

Today I'm thankful for...

Cliches!

Today is cliche day, so break out the cliches and annoy people with them all day long. Here's a list for your perusal: http://clichesite.com/alpha_list.asp?which=lett+1. See how many you can work into conversations today and let me know how it goes!

What I'm thankful for: November 2

Today I'm thankful for...

The end of the workweek!

Even though I just talked yesterday about how much I like my job, it's been a rough week. I taught lots of classes (20!), held an all day research workshop, we were a person short because of a planned vacation, and it was just busy overall. I like my job, but I'm human and am extremely thankful for the end of this workweek!

What I'm thankful for: November 1

Today I'm thankful for...

My job!

I've been at my job for five years today! I can still remember my first day there and feeling nervous, not really knowing how it was going to be. Now it seems silly that I was ever nervous about it!

A student asked me last week if I liked my job. I told her that 99% of the time I do. She asked me what the other 1% was that I didn't like. I told her that it was the early mornings when I was running late. Truthfully, there's more than that, but, like every other job, it's not going to be perfect. My job is great for me, and I'll stay there until God directs me to go elsewhere!

Also, since I officially hit five years, I should be getting a sweet commemorative pin at our spring in-service. Since I tried to get it at the fall in-service ahead of time, it's high time for it! (Chances are, I'll end up losing it but it's the thought that counts, right?).