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Category: The Thankfuls
It’s common practice on Facebook to list what you are thankful for during the month of November. Here’s a collection of my favorites from the years I participated.
Thankful for my job. Actually, to be more honest, I am thankful for the friendships it has forged. I feel like I have a long lost sister in Jill Wilson after spending just a few short days together in Vegas 🙂 some of my customers are pretty awesome. They have taught me more about the world than college ever did. I have made some amazing contacts & I almost feel famous when I go to horse shows or tractor pulls. I also have Co-op to thank for my marriage. Shug used to come in every Friday afternoon to buy TWO 50# bags of dog food. I would anticipate his arrival, counting down the minutes, pacing in the showroom with one eye on the door. The rest is history lol! My whole life has been shaped by that store. But its more than that…it is a way of life. I have memories from as early as I can remember about riding there with my pap (Great-grandfather) to get garden seed & fertilizer, to picking out an easter bunny with my mom, horse feed & lead ropes later on, & an extra car key cut when I was seventeen & could drive myself. Not that I don’t have bad moments…terrible days…& weeks that feel like they are never gonna end, but after ten plus years, what would I rather be doing? I hang out all day, talking to my friends. If nothing else…
Thankful for my hairdresser, Christy Finchum. She goes above & beyond the call of duty. Like, she came to my wedding & did my mom’s hair because mom didn’t have time to go. While she was there, she fixed the flowergirls’ hair. She would have did all my bridesmaids too, if she’d known ahead of time. Then she came to the house the next day to repin any strays before my bridal portraits. Hair is important! And I wouldn’t do her job. I was in her chair today & this lady blew in with the announcement: “I have an emergency.” I swiveled my foil-covered head her direction, looking for blood, guts, & gore. She turned her head & there it was in the form of a bad dye job & straight cut. I admire hairdressers. They deal with hysterical women, & women on the verge of hysteria all day. While standing in one spot. And perhaps while children run rampant around the salon. (I was ready to kill one with my bare hands today. Usually its quiet there….but not today). But that’s ok. Wish she would come over every morning to style it 🙂 11-14-13 6:23pm…
Thankful for antibacterial soap & cell phones. Both have saved me multiple times. The most notable was at Walters State…I had to palpate a cow. If you don’t know what that means, look it up. I thought I was gonna be a veterinarian until that moment. Yes, I was wearing a glove but you don’t feel very sanitary after performing that little act, so I squirted a sizable dollop of Bath & Body Works finest onto my palms & some of the guys thought it was just sooooo hilarious & were gettin me down the road~as always~about not being a real cowgirl because I couldn’t take a little poop (I was in up to my SHOULDER). My momma just so happened to call in the midst of all the ribbing. Cell phones were a novel thing back in ’97 so I got picked on for my phone ringing in a dairy barn, too. Meanwhile, mom is threatening to drive to Jefferson County to kick some cowboy @$$. And she would have, too. Good times. But I wouldn’t trade those days for all the apple butter in Georgia. Ain’t that right, John Larrance & Jena Miller? 11-13-13 8:31pm…
Thankful for our little cozy house. It is just right for the two of us & our furry 4-legged children. It’s not new (by a long shot) but I know it is well built & sturdy. I’ve rode out many a storm in the basement. If it was much bigger, I wouldn’t be able to keep it clean, anyway. Thankful for a place to call home…
Of course I’m gonna be thankful for our veterans today. And of course I’m gonna have a story to go with it. There was this crotchety old grumpy man that shopped at the store for as long as I can remember. Nothing special to set him apart, other than his strong Northern accent…which I will admit, made me dislike him even more. As the years passed, instead of getting grouchier like most people do, he began to become warmer towards us, occasionally cracking a smile or tell us to have a nice day. Then he started bringing us cakes & sweets from the Food Lion across the street. A major transformation from such an irritable old man. A few months after my wedding, I realized I hadn’t seen him in awhile. I asked a coworker that I knew would remember him, & he told me he had passed away back in the spring. I was astounded, & disappointed in myself that it had taken me so long to miss him. I went to the computer & pulled up his obituary. As I read it, I was overwhemed by what a fulfilling life he had lived. I hope that mine will be half as honorable: …”he served in the U.S. Navy during WWII fighting U-boats from a blimp…he worked for International Harvester as a tool & die maker…he worked for the Catholic Diocese of Joliet…
Today I’m thankful for a sense of humor. Mine AND everybody else’s. I laugh at the dumbest stuff. I love corny jokes. I enjoy looking at pictures of cat antics & videos of dogs. I crack up at the most inappropriate times. It makes the days go by faster. And I’m proud of my laugh lines-the same ones that my Clinique girl struggles to understand why I don’t care about smoothing. Laughter IS contagious. I will leave you with a few illustrations: Me, behind the counter at work, to customer walking in: “Hello.”~with a WINNING smile, of course. “Grass seed?” “Curtains?” “Grass seed?” “Pineapples?” At this point, they generally smile like I’m either a volunteer who escaped from the mental ward, catch onto my joke & laugh & say hello like a normal conversation, or frown & explain that they’re looking for grass seed (or the bathroom, usually). Its a lot of fun. Yesterday, Lisa was over here visiting & she took one of those dreaded “selfies” of us. In our defense, Johnny was entertaining the munchkins outside. Lisa: “You’ll hafta tag yourself, I can’t tag on my phone.” Me: “What? Surely…” Lisa: “No, look…how do I do it?” I tap on the picture to make it big &… Lisa…
Thankful for my crockpot today & every day. Especially thankful for it since our oven officially gave up the ghost last week. But the crockpot is awesome, regardless. Gives me time on my day off to do other stuff than worry about dinner. And on days when I work, it’s working for me 🙂 yep, I am definitely thankful for my crockpot. And I am thankful I’ve got food to put in it. Today is chili, if anyone is hungry…
At the risk of seeming shallow, I am thankful for manners today. Money can buy many things, & it can buy manners to a point. However, the truly well-bred & well-raised will stand out in a crowd. It makes a difference when you treat people with respect & make them feel at home in an unfamiliar setting. “Please” & “thank you” go a long way in retail, as well as the rest of the world. It helps to be sincere as well, but if not, fake it & you will still be taking the high road. It’s in the simplest things. It is holding a door for the person at the gas station. It is letting people cross in front of you when it’s raining & you’re cozy in your car. It is not interrupting someone when they’re speaking. It is so many things that here in the south we may take for granted & come as a culture shock when we visit…elsewhere… I hope that people are still ingraining these policies in their children but I don’t think its as commonplace as it used to be, or needs to be. I see a lot of kids that have a shortage of respect for their parents, nevermind strangers. I can only hope that with age comes wisdom & they correct themselves. Please be aware I’m not doing these in…
Thankful for another day. Just now, scrolling through my newsfeed, I saw one of the “billboards” (as I like to call them) that said something to the effect of, “be thankful you are alive, someone, somewhere is fighting & drawing their last breath.” I also like the one that says “if we all took our problems & threw them in a pile to be doled out, we’d snatch our own back up.” So, I know that this day will be filled with drivers lost in space, customers lost in themselves, & probably a lunch that’s lost, period, but I know it’s quite a wondrous thing to just be alive, & I am grateful for it. Happy day, y’al…
Alright. This one’s personal, y’all. Today I am thankful for my momma, my grandmother, and University of Tennessee football. If that sounds like a strange combination, you must have missed my status a couple of weeks ago. This is my Grandmother’s grave today. She’s been gone just over five years. I am constantly reminded of her. She LOVED football. I mean, she loved it like a man does (no offense ladies, but you know what I mean). Every time I watch a ballgame I think of her hollerin’ & being on the edge of the couch when it was 3rd down for the opposing team: “Hold ’em boys, hold ’em…” Yes, that’s a football on her headstone. Underneath, it says “Go Vols!” I’m not even kidding. I’m thankful mom takes care of her grave because Lord knows I can’t. I’d be crying & snotting so hard the funeral directors would have to drive me home. I’m thankful these women taught me how to understand the game, & how to be a good sport. And today is a great example of “I’m for Tennessee & whoever’s playin’ Florida.” True story. Go Dawgs. And GO VOLS…
