Thankful - Part Two

This adorable house is located on the Woman's Club Road, on the right, if I remember correctly (and there's a good chance I won't). I dream of living in a house like this because I actually think I could keep it clean. And insect-free.
Val over at Monkeys on the Roof asked me to name seven things I’m thankful for. Below are the remaining six (health was discussed on Tuesday).

1. My children
I have two great ones. They make me laugh, I make them laugh; we have a good time and a good life. They are grounded, good natured, helpful, thoughtful, and very sloppy (but they can’t help that last one because they inherited my domestic disability gene).

2. Friends and Family
I have undying support from a small network of very good friends. Any one of my immediate--albeit nutty--family would lay on the railroad tracks for me if I asked. (I wouldn’t ask now, but when I was younger I may have asked Middle Sister to do this. I was an ornery older sister.)

In spite of my mistakes and the occasional lapse in judgement (in this instance, occasional means multiple, many, as in “When is this Chesapeake Bay Woman ever going to learn her lesson?), they support me through all of life’s twists and turns.

3. Living in a small town
I think I talk about how much I love it here just about every day. I love that there are still people here who remember the simpler times; I love the beauty all around us. I love that we’re not The Norm and are not covered with pavement and shopping malls. Just fiddler crabs.

I love going into the grocery store and having complete strangers say hello. There’s usually a good chance I’ll run into someone I do know, and it is a nice feeling not to be drowning in a sea of anonymity. I’m drowning in clutter, but definitely not anonymity.

4. The house I live in
First of all, I am grateful to have shelter and a roof of any description over my head. But I also have a view out the back door that never ceases to amaze me.

If my parents and I pooled our money there is no way in the world we could ever afford to purchase the property we have now. We’re extremely fortunate that my grandfather left it to my parents, who kept it in the family. On the flip side it would have been nice not to have built the house on top of the world’s largest ant hill, where killer ants numbering in the billions plot and scheme each and every day of their lives how to make me crazy. Crazier.

5. An income, a job, a means to support myself
If I had my way, I would not work a paying job at all, but alas like most people I must. I wish that this blogging thing paid money, but it doesn’t. So, to pay the bills I have to commute over 50 miles one way to a job that I really do not care for, but which I am thankful for because I don’t know what I’d do without it. Oh yes, I do know what I’d do without it: I’d be living out of my camper and driving a lawn mower to the courthouse to stand on Hyco Corner and beg for a Hardee’s biscuit.

6. This New Hobby of Mine
This hobby came about because I was going through a period of unexpected upheaval. Instead of tying a cinder block to my ankle and jumping off Gwynn’s Island bridge, I dove headfirst into De Nile and created a nice little world here on the internet where everything is good (well, most everything, family bickering notwithstanding).

I am thankful for all of the folks who comment here every day; I’m thankful for anyone who reads my hot air, and I’m thankful that I do not have internet access at my work because otherwise they’d need to stage an intervention and send me to Blogaholics Anonymous.

I wish each of you a safe, warm and peaceful Thanksgiving—and don’t forget to laugh.