30 Days of Thanks...

I am two weeks behind on doing this so I am gonna catch up on all of them today.  Some are more serious, some humorous, but I am thankful for all.

1.  My Savior:  As an imperfect man I am thankful for the perfect One who is my Savior, and who has forgiven me for everything I have ever done or will ever do.  Thank you, Jesus.
  
2.  My wife:  Ashley has put up with my imperfections, and faults, and still loves me daily.  She is without a doubt the most important person in my life and I am in love with her every day.  I don't want to imagine my live without her.

3.  My children:  Hannah is my first born.  Cooper is my comedienne.  Riley Grace is my baby.  They are independent and each of them has their own personality.  They make me laugh, and I know one day will make me cry, but I love each day I have with them.

4.  My family:  We are a large clan, and some say we all look alike.  My sister, brothers, spouses, nieces, and nephews, and parents are all a big part of my life and each of them has taught me something  through or lives.

5.  My friends:  I am thankful for them all.  I don't have a lot, but each are important to me.  I have a small group of friends that I can count on when needed.  I am thankful for them more than they know.

6.  My career:  Most of us have jobs, and some of us have jobs we love.  I can't imagine doing anything else.  I work with a great group of officers and love where I am.  Catching crooks is a great thing.
 
7.  Starbucks:  I said this one last year, and I say it again...Starbucks is like a drug dealer.  They peddle the no-foam vanilla latte knowing  how addictive it is and knowing I can't afford to support my habit, but they don't care about the cost because they know I will be back.  Damn you Starbucks.  I'll take a venti white chocolate peppermint mocha.
  
8.  Sports:  I loved playing a variety of sports growing up.  I love to watch them now.  Texas Rangers baseball, San Diego Charger, New Orleans Saints, and Arkansas Razorback football, and come college basketball give me something to yell at, cheer for, and nearly have a heart attack over. 
 
9.  Legos:  I loved Legos as a kid.  Let's face it, I still do.  My wife bought me some police Legos a couple of months ago.  Of course, I promptly assembled them and then put them back in the box., then put them up.  Sometimes I still enjoy acting like a kid, even if it only for a few minutes.  Oh, and I put the Legos together in record time.  I still got mad skills.

10.  Bill Cosby:  I still love to watch the "Cosby Show."  I have the DVDs for the first three seasons.  My favorite stand-up comedy routine is still "Bill Cosby:  HImself."  When I hijacked this blog thing from my wife I used several of his pearls of wisdom as starter quotes.  I love his discussion about the issues related to drinking too much.  As I learned in my younger days, every bit of it is true.  The outside of the toilet bowl is nice and cool when sitting on the floor and hugging it to hold yourself up.
 
11.  Shutterbugs:  Since my wife had a nice camera, or a phone with a camera, she is there to capture  all of the funny things my children do.  Some of those photos have been the subject of my writings.  Case in point...the planking funny from yesterday.  Give it a look.

12.  My brother Jonathan:  Yes, I already talked about the family.  But, Jonathan and I do the same job and work the same shift.  I can call him to compare notes.  I can call him and vent about something that happened on duty.  I can also call him to get a funny story.  Jonathan is one of the funniest people I know.

13.  Birthdays:  Although it is true I am getting older, I appreciate that I have had 37 of them.  I realized that I have reached the age where my birthdays are only a big deal to my children.  They enjoy my birthday because they get cake.  I enjoy it because I get, well, cake.  This year's cake has been my favorite so far:  a Phineas and Ferb cake.  Only I, as a grown man, would love getting a cartoon cake for a birthday.  Next year...I'm thinking maybe Muppets.
 
14.  My sister Jackie:  Her birthday was on the 14th, we look alike, and she is only two years younger than me.  That means that now I am not the only one of my siblings that has hit 35.  Ha, ha...   

15.  iPods:  I can pick what I want to listen to, when I want to listen to it.  I am no longer a slave to the FM stations and their programing choices, nor am I subject to their music playlists.  Now I can listen to my music choices and skip over the occasional Disney princess pop music that my daughters have on my iPod.

16.  Thankful my wife had a similar taste in movies.  Well, not completely, but we both like "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil."  We like it so much I am sitting at Starbucks downloading it from iTunes.  Yes, I have coffee.  I ordered her one, too.

17.  Quality time with my girls:  The last three nights I have been able to eat dinner with them, get Riley bathed and ready for bed, and enjoy time with my wife.  Thankful for the time I had, although I wish Hannah was here, too.

18.  Dads:  Of course, fathers are wonderful things.  I am grateful for my own father, as well as Larry, my father-in-law.  Both have taught me a little something by their examples, whether they know it or not, of what it is to be a man.   Both of them had birthdays this week.  Happy birthday, and I love them both.

19.  Daughters:  Every man wants to have a son and I was no different when I first became a father.  But I have to tell you that there is something about raising daughters that is special.  You know, there are the "dress up daddy" days, the fashion shows, and the one time they wanted to paint my fingernails.  They are funny, creative, smart, and loving.  They like to wrestle, play ball, watch "COPS," and curl up and sit next to daddy.  Am I missing out on something by not having a son?  Not at all.  My daughters are special to me and I would not trade them for anything.  Of course, I say that now while there are no boys coming up to the door to take one of them on a date.

20.  The little things:  I am thankful for the little things in life.  There are the hugs from my kids, the smiles from my wife, and the handshakes from those I meet on the job.  I like the times where my dog lays at my feet while I drink a cup of coffee on the back porch and work on a crossword puzzle.  I enjoy the sound of laughter from my children as they play. Each are seemingly small occurrences that, due to their frequency, can sometimes seem routine, unimportant, or even meaningless.  I am fortunate enough to get to experience them all, as well as similar incidents of kindness and affection.  Thank you.

21.  My $19 coffee pot:  When the expensive coffee maker we had died recently (yes I was sad), I had to get an adequate replacement.  So, Cooper and I went to eh obvious first place one would think of when selecting a kitchen appliance:  Wal-Mart.  I looked over the coffee makers, over and over again.  Ashley was not there but she could probably tell you, if you asked her, how I shop.  I look at something over and over again, then over again.  Then I eventually make a decision while she stares at the ceiling wondering why she brought me along in the first place. 

Anyway, I went back and forth between the expensive appliances and the cheap ones.  I kept going back to the Black and Decker.  It was simple, would get the job done, and best of all it was $19.  My wife should be thankful I got the black one.  I nearly bought the white one that would simply clash with our kitchen decor.

Well, I don't care if it is a cheap piece of plastic, the coffee tastes the same as from the old high-dollar job.  And given the time constraints, it had to work.  Now I can enjoy my daily coffee again and enjoy the fact that after a week I already got my money's worth.

22.  For a friend:  As I sit here and type this a good and faithful wife, mother, and a friend to many is suffering from leukemia.  To be more specific, she is dying.  She is a young professional who I met in a few ways.  She is an attorney I routinely worked with, as well as a family member of my best friend.  She is a friend to my wife, and our children have spent time playing together at family events.  She is truly an inspiring person.  We continue to offer prayers for her, and her family during this time.  We offer prayers for peace and comfort.

23.  My fellow sheepdogs:  No matter where you work, the size of the agency, or whether you are an officer, deputy, or trooper...thank you.  Our profession is not like any other.  Our job is not as easy as some since the rules of the game change seemingly daily.  Stay vigilant, and come home safe another day...

24.  Common Sense:  This is something most everyone has but not everyone utilizes.  I am thankful that I have common sense.  For example, I know not to try to retort with a wise crack when my wife says something, or asks me something, when she is in a bad mood.  That will only start an argument.  See, common sense exists in my noggin.  Not everyone is so fortunate.  To the 5'9" tall, 150 pound drunk guy who looked at the 6'3" tall, 260 pound, sober police officer, and believed you could take him in a fight...that's not using good common sense.  To the drunk college kid that decided to drive home after that party, and got caught...as Cooper used to say, "BAD CHOICE."  And lastly, to the college kid who thought it would be funny to run from the police when they showed up to the party, just to see if you could get away...I'm guessing it is not that funny now, huh?  Yes, I am thankful for common sense.

25.  Naps:  As a child I didn't like taking a nap.  Most other children are that way, including my own.  Now however, I want to take naps if I can.  As I get older I guess maybe I need one now and again.  Pretty soon I will be wearing my eye glasses down onto my nose, walking around wearing pants that are too short because I pulled them over my stomach (and of course white socks and black shoes), and complaining about all of the noise.  But that is okay, because I will be well rested.

26.  Peace:  No, not world peace.  I mean the peace only found in Christ.  I went to a funeral for a friend and I took comfort in the fact she is at peace following a long and hard fight with cancer and leukemia.  Is it sad that she is no longer on this earth?  Yes.  Am I happy she is at peace, full of joy, and pain-free?  Absolutely.

27.  The fact my wife is not like those who went nuts on Friday:  Yes friends, I love the fact my wife does not want to camp out overnight to be first in line to buy some plastic electronic thing my children will only play with for a month before breaking it, losing it, or using it as a paperweight.  I am thankful my wife is not one that would resort to using pepper spray on someone because they cut in line or grabbed something from the shelf that she wanted to buy.  No, she is not like those people.  She does, however, know it is not the things we buy that are important, but the One that we celebrate during this time of year that is important.

28.  My wife:  Yes, this one was near the top of the list, but she is worth repeating.  We get frustrated with each other, we argue, and heck, we fight.  But when the dust settles and the fight is over, we still love each other.  There will be disagreements, and will be fights.  But no matter what happens everything will be okay.

29.  Change:  No, I don't mean pocket change.  Every once in a while changes come along.  Some changes are good, some not so much.  But either way I am thankful for the changes coming in our lives.

30.  Life:  Sometimes it is short, and sometimes hard.  At times it is good, and others it is well, not.  But no matter what the circumstances I am thankful for my life.  I am thankful for the life on this earth, and the eternal life that awaits.  There are many things I am thankful for including the above mentioned twenty-nine.  Most of all, I guess am just simply thankful for my life and all that is in it.