With Thanksgiving upon us, I have been thinking about some of the things that I am grateful for. I am profoundly grateful for Diane, for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for freedom, for family and friends, and for a great job, among many other things. These things all make my life full and wonderful. They are the kind of things that I try to remember to thank Heavenly Father for when I pray.
But there are also a whole bunch of “other" things that I am grateful for, which I don’t normally pray about. I thought it would be fun to make a list of 34 “other" things I'm grateful for. I stopped at 34 because I'm lazy and I want to go eat a sugar cookie. Enjoy!
1. My 1995 Buick Century. It may be rusty, and it may be old, but it's 100% completely free (thanks mom and dad!). I’m hoping it keeps on running for another 15 years. That way, it will become a classic car and double its value.
The Blue Bullet
2. Nintendo. Particularly, The Legend of Zelda. It’s great to feel like a hero without even getting off of your couch.
Hero of Time.
3. Dogs. Specifically, Diesel. It never gets old to come home and have someone be so excited to see you after you have been away at work for the day. I love that stinkin’ dog.
Diesel's favorite activity--riding in the car with the window down.
4. Apple, Inc. and Steve Jobs. I can never go back to a regular phone now. Thank you, Mr. Jobs. You will be missed.
Oregon Trail, anyone?
5. Gel pens. Have you ever tried to write with a quill? Hermione makes it look easy, but I bet it’s ridiculously hard to do.
"Writing with a quill is harder than it looks, Ronald!"
6. Windows in my office at work. I love seeing the sun during the day, especially during the winter.
Whoops. Wrong kind of windows.
7. Lays Potato Chips.
I have a 72-hour kit made up entirely of Lays Classic Potato Chips.
8. Bananas.
Juuuuuuust in case you didn't know what they looked like.
9. Chick-fil-A.
Waffle fries that don't taste like waffles.
10. Marshmallow Mateys (or Lucky Charms, for you rich people). Man, I must be hungry. I’ll be right back.
12 vitamins and minerals!
11. A GE dishwasher for your dirty bowl of Marshmallow Mateys. You load the dishes. You press a button. You come back an hour later. And they’re clean just like magic!
Unlike a microwave, you CAN put metal things in this guy.
12. George Lucas (despite the abomination that is Jar Jar Binks).
If ONLY this were how things really went down in Empire Strikes Back.
13. Hot running water.
Very punny!
14. Socks. I get really cold feet (pardon the pun...again) when I don’t wear socks.
Olympic socks?
15. Toilet paper, preferably soft toilet paper. You never want to be stuck without it. Ever.
I'm all out! Bummer. (3 puns in a row!)
16. Calvin and Hobbes. Greatest comic strip characters ever.
I still read it to this day.
17. Superman and Batman. Greatest comic book characters ever.
I want these bookends for Christmas.
18. A king-size bed.
Cobweb rug optional.
19. Youtube. It’s hard to say what my favorite video is though. Hmmmm, this one is definitely near the top:
20. Humility. In my opinion, it is the most elusive virtue. It is so easy to be prideful instead of being humble. I guess that’s why President Benson called it the universal sin.
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994)
21. The Pac-12. Without it, the Utes would be just like that other team down south....shoot, I guess I need to work on that humility thing again.
Go Utes!
22. Dog doors. It took us two years to finally put one in, but my life will never be the same again.
Thank goodness....no more of this.
23. Cities & Knights of Catan. Best board game ever.
Three hours of hilarity every time we play.
24. Chest tubes. You only know what I’m talking about if you have had a collapsed lung.....or an obsession with poorly placed body piercings.
Chest tubes are gross. BUT they sure are handy when you need them.
25. My leather jacket. Keeps me warm and keeps me cool.
Thank you, cows.
26. Treadmills, because it hurts to run outside when its cold.
Um.....no thanks.
27. Duct tape. It makes me feel manly when I use it.
"What are you guys doing?" "Oh, just hanging around."
28. Electric razors. I have NO IDEA how to use a real razor. Really, I don’t.
Because three heads are better than one.
29. Automatic transmission. I have NO IDEA how to use a stick shift. In high school a girl I had a crush on tried to teach me how to use a stick shift once, but I almost ruined her car. She dumped me shortly thereafter.
A secret code that I will never understand.
30. Wal-Mart. I once bought socks, bananas, Marshmallow Mateys, a dog door, and an electric razor in one trip at Wal-Mart.
You KNOW that Target employees aren't this happy.
31. The Biggest Loser. Inspires me to be healthy every Tuesday night.
One of my all-time favorite contestants, Moses Kinikini.
32. The 1997 Utah Jazz. The video below shows the eighth happiest moment of my life. It was incredible.
33. Sugar cookies with frosting. Man, I must still be hungry.
I can never eat just one.
34. Blogging. About Mormons. And Wookiees.
Nothing tops the elegance of a wookiee in the wind.
Ah, November. Time for University of Utah football, turning on the heater in my 1995 Buick Century (light blue with rust), and Thanksgiving. Sometimes I feel bad for Thanksgiving. It has to compete with the hangover from Halloween candy while also trying to not get overlooked by Santa, Rudolph, and Best Buy. In fact, this year is the first time ever that "Black Friday" shopping will actually begin on Thanksgiving day. A few of the major retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Toys 'R Us (I don't know how to make the "R" backwards!!!), and Target are starting their Black Friday deals at 10 PM on Thursday.
Must have that camera!!!!!!!!!
As much as I love electronics and other toys (just wait till I post about my Star Wars room), I think it is unfortunate that Black Friday shopping is being pushed into the actual Thanksgiving Day holiday. When he made Thanksgiving an official national holiday, Abraham Lincoln said the following:
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States...to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. -- Abraham Lincoln, "Proclamation of Thanksgiving", October 3rd, 1863
I wonder how Mr. Lincoln would feel about our growing desire to go deal-shopping on a day that he dedicated to family, friends, and giving gratitude to God for our blessings. Just something to think about this week.
