TGIF and Other Thankful Thoughts

OK, so how's this for original... Instead of posting what I'm thankful for on Thursdays like everyone else in the blogosphere, I'm going to do it on Fridays and call it "TGIF and Other Thankful Thoughts". LOL! Here's where my thankful thoughts are taking me tonight:

[1] I'm thankful that The Boys' birthday 5th Birthday party is finally upon us. Though there's a lot of work yet to be done, I'm certain that we'll end up with a beautiful day and a reasonable number of guests to join us singing to ABBA and Alvin & The Chipmunk Karaoke-style tunes. It's gonna be waaaay fun!

[2] I'm grateful to all the people in our lives who totally accept The Boys just as they are. Their friends are their friends because they truly LIKE The Boys. Completely unsolicited, several of their classmates -- did I mention they're in an integrated preschool class -- have asked if they could have a play date with The Boys at our house. One child said The Boys are his "favorite school friends". And two others said they like my beautiful little men because they're "ALWAYS so nice to me...ALL THE TIME!" At 5, it's a pretty big and positive impression they're leaving on their classmates... their friends!

[3] I think our friends are our friends for the same reasons... We do really good play dates and try to be nice to people. That last part might be one of the 10 Commandments -- goes something like "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You". OK, that's not verbatim and maybe it's not a commandment but it's a really good rule to live by. And I hope my friends know that I am grateful for their friendship, support, camaraderie and laughs... especially the laughs! May I be as supportive of each of you on whatever journey you're on at any given time as you all have been to me.

[4] By the grace of God, I'm thankful that my house didn't catch fire and burn down (some of this 2oo+ year-old lumber would go up like tinder) when the light burned out in The Old Soul's fish aquarium night-light lamp last night. The strong smell of burning and smoke woke me and I turned off and unplugged everything I thought might be the cause. Turns out, those swimming fishies and that little light put out a lot of heat... which could have been a much bigger problem than it turned out to be. OK, so I learned the aquarium is not the best "night light". I'm incredibly grateful to have learned this something new "the easy way" instead of the hard way. BTW - that reminds me: change your batteries in your smoke detectors! Ours was inadvertently disconnected for construction and never hooked back up again. NOT good!

[5] And, finally, I'm beyond grateful to my Yahoo Biggest Loser Challenge 2010 group. With their constant support, motivation and inspiration I've managed to lose a little of myself (9 lbs so far). If I do that 3 more times, that'll be a total of 36 lbs gone and I'll almost be at my goal weight. I know with their help, I can do this! Psyched!

There's so much more I'm thankful for but I'm incredibly tired and have a BIG, FUN day ahead of us tomorrow. Take a moment to think about what you're really thankful for. A grateful heart is good for you!