Cliche

I've resisted posting a "thankful" post this entire month, because it seems....well....cliche.  I mean shouldn't we be thankful ALL the time (not just in November.)  However, I have spent a lot of this month trying to notice the little things that I have to be thankful for.  I mean, isn't everybody thankful for the "big" things:  health, family, food, clothing, shelter, and freedom?  And not that we SHOULDN'T be thankful for those things, because we should and I am. (These items top my list when I count my blessings.) But sometimes I think we fail to feel gratitude for or even notice the little things, the coincidences or "tender mercies" that bless our lives.  In a fairly recent conference talk, President Eyring suggested recording those items on a daily basis.  I haven't done that.  However, I have tried to THINK about what "tender mercies" or "little blessings" I receive each day.  During this month, each morning when I run, I try to think about the previous day:  the things that "went right"; the things I enjoyed; the personal interactions and exchanges that were fun and uplifting; those items that might be classified as a "happiest thing."**    Last Friday, as I sat in my "explicit phonics" training class (part of my job as "instructional coach" at the elementary school), I jotted down several items from the previous day.  So since I actually have a record of one-day's worth of these "little blessings," I thought I would record some of them here.  Enjoy.

•  I texted to set up visiting teaching and was able to coordinate with my partner and the two sisters I visit, setting up appointments on the first try for later that SAME DAY!  (Do you know the odds of that working out, when you are trying to work around 4 busy ladies' schedules?  I might have just as easily won the lottery-However, I don't gamble.)

• I got not one, but TWO "fun" things in the mail:  A wedding announcement and an order form for our Hardy Party family reunion Christmas shirts. Both were pleasant little "surprises" as I flipped through the mail-pile consisting mostly of bills, catalogues, and other "junk" mail.

• I smothered my 14-year-old son with kisses and called him "my baby bumblebee," and he "allowed" it.

• I stayed within my weight-watchers point limit without even consciously trying.

• All the kids in the family got up without TOO much trouble for a.m. family prayer, scriptures, and breakfast.

• I woke up to a clean house.

• I called to schedule an appointment for a haircut before family pictures and there was an opening that worked with my schedule for the next day.

• The article I submitted to the paper for the elementary school was published.

• I had NO interruptions at school and was able to get all my work done AND all the work from the previous day which had "stockpiled" when I had an unexpected meeting.

• Luke was cooperative during his piano practice time.

• I made PB and J's for dinner and no one complained. 

I'm sure there were more "happy things," but these are all I recorded:  It was a "Happy Day!" (as probably is every day, if I will just take the time to notice and appreciate "happy things.")

So there you have it, my cliche "Thanksgiving Post."

**When I was little and my mom tucked me into bed each night, she would always ask, "What was the happiest thing about your day?"  She recorded my answers in a small notebook.  It is now one of my prized possessions.  I have asked my children the same question each night when I tuck them in.  However, I'm not as awesome as my mother-I have not recorded their answers.