Thanks A Lot!

Thanksgiving rocks! It always changes my perspective a bit. Perhaps it's the prospect of all of my favorite comfort foods spread before me in a single act of gluttony that makes me think about all the little things that give me satisfaction throughout the day.

I used toilet paper today and thought to myself, "I am thankful for toilet paper." Of all things, that phrase actually sprang to mind. Right now I'm reading a book about a family surviving the Congo who exist with very little in the way of creature comforts, so maybe my normal hygiene practices were just standing out in sharp contrast to the fictional characters that have been filling my thoughts of late. My point being (and I do actually have a point): I have a lot of things in this world that I often take for granted. 'Tis the season to be thankful, so thankful I will be. Here are 10 random modern conveniences I choose to look at in a different light, given the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday:

1. Hot water. Our plumbing has problems, and I took several cold showers recently. I don't like them. I want to come out of the bath with bright pink, slightly scalded skin. The problem has been fixed. I am thankful.
2. A driver's license. I used to be really freaked out about driving. Now I can hop in the car and go anywhere I need to go... as long as I have enough gas money.
3. A vegetable peeler. It's stupid, but while we've been living this student lifestyle, we've sacrificed a lot of things. For a very long time, I went without a vegetable peeler because my old one broke and I was too cheap to pay for a new one. Now I don't have to eat carrots with leftover dirt on the outside. Happy Birthday to me.
4. Modern medicine. Itchy throat? Loratidine, Claritin, Benadryl. Cramps? Tylenol, Midol, Ibuprofen. Impaled armpit? Neosporine and disposable band-aids.
   
5. Roadside assistance. I don't know how to change a flat. I don't have to.
6. Chewing gum... sugarless, of course. Fresh breath anytime, anywhere... except while public speaking. I hate it when people do that.
   
7. I HATE moving, and I am glad we are reaching a point in our lives that we will do that much less, but I am grateful for the chance to have lived near some really interesting places, and that we have had a freeway system and U-Hauls to help us do it fairly easily.
8. The grocery store. I can buy stuff like starfruit, guinea fowl, and gouda cheese. I personally don't buy any of those things... but if I want to, I can do so easily.
   
9. Alarm clocks. I'm so glad I don't have to own a rooster to wake me up every morning. That would REALLY suck in an apartment!
10. And this is not so much a modern convenience, but I think about it often: I am grateful that my children have all their body parts and they are all in the proper places. I work with the craniofacial team at the hospital sometimes. Many of the kids I see have to have surgery to create ears, or move their eye sockets from the side of their head to the place they're supposed to be. My husband has no left thumb. My kids are lucky they have none of these things to worry about.

"The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have ever been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
~H.P. Westermayer