Gratitude: Top 10...and Then Some

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, it's a great time to count blessings. Heart of the Matter, in fact, encourages its readers to do just that:

Welcome to the Heart of the Matter Online meme. Please share with us your thoughts on the following: Giving Thanks. What are you thankful for?
Thanksgiving is a week away! We want to know–what are you most thankful for?
And I, personally, would like to know–and am sneaking this in out of sheer nosiness– what’s your best Thanksgiving recipe? Will you share it or another great Fall meal idea? That would make *me* very thankful!

1. I am so very grateful for my 4 children who try their best to keep me young while all the time reminding me how old I'm getting.

2. I am also thankful for a wonderful husband who, while he does not understand my curriculum addiction, doesn't say a word when I indulge.

3. And this same amazing husband is the culinary expert of the family and does all of the cooking. Can anyone say THANK YOU?

4. When TravelDaddy is gone, I am thankful for Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, and Zaxby's. And waffles too. Because, really, what is dinner without breakfast food?

5. I'm thankful for children who make me proud, like last week when a mother at the Chick-fil-A complimented them up and down for their behavior and manners.

6. And these same children are also God's way of keeping me humble. Like when one of them at Book Club got up front to give his book report and asked me to read the title of his book because he had forgotten it and couldn't read it. The title, incidentally, was Where the Wild Things Were. Which he can read. But since the other kids were reading big words like committee and Caldecott, he thought it would be fun to give me a Humble Moment right then and there.

7. Even though we're trying to get rid of it, I am so grateful for this beautiful home we have. And, although, all we seem to attract are prospective buyers of the psychotic kind, I'm thankful for any nibbles. By the by, I don't believe I ever shared Pt. II of my letter to the Wacko Homebuyer. Seems that, in her cozying up to my neighbor in order to get the dirt on us, my neighbor told her I was pregnant when we moved in. Gasp! When my realtor told her we were moving because we had outgrown the house, she very indignantly argued, "But I heard the lady was pregnant when she moved in." All suspicious-like. Like we're trying to cover up a gaping hole in the roof with a pregnancy. What she could have discovered had she had the courtesy to ask is that a) We had already purchased the blueprints for our home before we found out about our little surprise, b) As a family of 5, it's hard to imagine how much room a family of 6 requires--you know Hindsight is 20/20 and all that?, and c) IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!! But I digress. And steal the gratitude from my Thankful List...

8. I am thankful for the lock on my bathroom door. Even though the door's not soundproof. And even though there's still a sizable space under the door. Someday. Someday I'll be peeing in peace, and I'll miss seeing little fingers wave at me from under the door, and I'll miss having notes passed to me. Or Legos. Or any manner of small toys.

9. God has provided so well with TravelDaddy's job. Even though he is gone a lot, I'm thankful that he enjoys his job so much. I'm thankful that he provides for us so abundantly.

10. And I'm thankful that when he's not traveling, he's right here at home with us! Of course, one day we will be forced to explain the realities of life to the children: That not everyone has a job full of airplane adventures, fancy meals, and hotel stays; and not everyone has a job that lets them sleep in. Or work in their pajamas.

11. And just for good measure--and to meet the Heart of the Matter Meme Requirements, I'm throwing in not one, but TWO, recipes without which Thanksgiving dinner would not be the same:

Sweet Potato Souffle (courtesy, my cousin Tawni)
3 c. cooked sweet potato
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sugar
dash of cinnamon
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
1 stick butter
dash of ginger
Mix all ingredients. Stir over low heat. Pour mixture into baking dish.

Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 stick butter or margarine
1 c. chopped pecans
Mix all ingredients over low heat or in a double boiler. Add a little water as needed for spreading. Pour mixture over potatoes. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Like dessert for lunch!

Gooey Pumpkin Pie Bars (courtesy, Paula Deen)
Crust:
1 yellow cake mix
1 stick melted butter
1 egg
Combine ingredients. With buttered hands, press into ungreased 9x13 pan. (Goodness...the woman even butters her hands!)

Filling:
1 8oz. cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar
1 stick melted butter
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 can pumpkin
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Fold in pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour over crust. Bake 45 minutes at 350.