I spent this day with my parents here in Little Rock. We spent several hours in the hospital where they go daily to receive medicine and have his blood work done. His blood count is going up. Good news. What a year. I'm missing being with the rest of our family this weekend, but I'm so glad we are all with one another in little pockets around Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas. Its hard to string words together to express how thankful I am this year in particular. There is just too much, and I can't get through it without crying anyway. But in summary I'm thankful for: New understandings of old promises. New perspectives. New freedoms. New Peace. New Grace. New compassions. New Mercies. New places I've been. New hands I've held. New laughs. New tears. New roads. New surrender. New hopes. Each new day that brings new healing. Jesus Christ. Family. Friends.

So I'm more thankful than I can do justice, but here are a few things I remember not being thankful for:

1) One time I stepped on a cricket...barefoot. Ruined my day.

2) One time I was clipping the fingernails of my niece and one shot up and stuck in my lip gloss. Almost ruined my life.

3) One day I informed my mom, home on her 45 minute lunch hour, that I was supposed to dress up as an Indian for my kindergarten class Thanksgiving celebration that afternoon. The other half of the class were going to be pilgrims. Through gritted teeth at the late notice, she dressed me in a Davy Crockett vest, pig-tail braids, a little war paint and a feather in my hair (she doesn't need much time to pull a look together). Looking sharp she dropped me at the end of a long sidewalk that led to my kindergarten building and rushed on back to Conoco. As I got closer and closer...no one else looked like Pocahontas. No one else looked like that first Thanksgiving. I was a day early. This weird boy who loved me kept saying all day long "let the little Indian girl be first in line" whenever we had to line up. I hated him. The next day, on the actual day we were to celebrate Kindergarten Thanksgiving, I only wore the vest. No war paint. It was old news by then.

4) I had a mullet one time. For a couple of years.

5) I'm an overthinker.

6) Distance.

7) One time I was kind of held hostage for several hours by a moron, his girlfriend and a man with a gun. That's a good story, but I'm unthankful for it.

8) On my first airplane ride I had to visit the ladies room. The stewardess told me how to tell if it was occupied. When someone goes in they lock the door and the sign goes to "Occupied." The little door thing read "vacant" so I opened the airplane bathroom door. The man using the restroom in there had not asked the stewardess for directions as I had. I closed the door and stood there, mortified and laughing along with the stewardess. The man opened the door, saw us, and closed the door again without exiting. So the stewardess suggested I just go sit in the nearest seat to let that man come out without having to face me. So I grabbed the nearest seat waiting for him to walk by. Instead of walking by, he came and stood next to the seat I was sitting in. His seat. He hated me.

9) The Easter my Grandma decided her only wish was that all of us granddaughters would wear Easter hats. Imagine a navy-blue-pretty-woman-wanna-be-dress with a wide brimmed hat. I was too old for dress-up. But would probably do it again this Easter if she asked.

10) One time my brother came to the dinner table with my diary and he wasn't on the first page. Now granted it was a Garfield and Odie diary that was about three inches tall and four inches wide and I didn't have a lot to hide, but that was a bad moment for us. Sorry to air our dirty laundry Chris.

Ok. There is a little balance to all the good I'm thankful for...somehow even those things seem like good though (except 1,2 & 7). One more thing I'm thankful for...my Grandma Bonnie who taught me how to make pecan pie. Like this one I just took out of the oven...