These are a few of my favourite things ♪ ♫

The other day, our local news station posted an update on facebook about the cold weather we've had since, oh I don't know.....October? I thought about making my own snarky commment on there too, until I started to type and realized that I have absolutely no reason at all to complain about cold weather. We know it's cold, but heck, it snowed last June, and it's only rained and been windy so far. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really don't have much to complain about, but I have much to be grateful for.
◘ I have a roof over my head that is stable, which provides protection against the elements, and if I put my back in to it, cleans up pretty nicely. In a neighborhood that I cherish, in an area that is not damaged by earthquakes or tornadoes or flooding. I have a home.
◘ I work with people who truly like me and make me laugh hysterically and who don't care when I'm late or when life gets in the way. I am happily employed.
◘ I have a family that is alive and well and for the most part - healthy, and who love me unconditionally. I am not an orphan.
◘ I have a daughter who snuggles me and tells me how beautiful I am - regardless of morning breath, an unwashed face and dry, contact-laden eyes that can barely open at first. A daughter who is vibrant, healthy, alive. I am a mother.
◘ I have a husband who has gone above and beyond preparing our home for the impending arrival of family I've never met, fixing, texturing, painting, skirting-boarding (is that a word?), mowing, raking, hauling in fresh dirt to extend the garden, tilling said garden, fixing a bird-proof netting/wooden support thingie for the strawberry patch, making a firepit for us to enjoy on warm and chilly nights and roasting marshmallows for his little girl. I am not a widow.
◘ I use the internet tonight to blog, not as a desperate search for a loved one, or to tell relatives that I survived devastation.
◘ I am going to sleep tonight in my beautiful king-size log bed (our wedding gift from my mother) with it's flannel sheets and an open window. I will snuggle with my dogs, my cats, my husband and I will rest peacefully, knowing I am safe.
◘ I am going to get up in the morning, and have fresh, clean, hot running water to bathe in.
◘ I am going to wear whatever I want to. Because that is my choice.
◘ I am going to church tomorrow. Because I can.
◘ I am going to teach 7 year old precious souls to the best of my ability, and tell them of their Heavenly Father's love for them, and show them that I love them. Because I am free to do so.

At the close of this extraordinarily busy day of cleaning and yardwork and chicken-chasing and neighbor-talking and enormous preparation, I am finding a multitude of choice blessings to be grateful for. These are just a few of my most favourite things.