Thursday's Thankful Thirteen

I mentioned on Sunday that I would like to start a weekly post about gratitude. So, here it is: Thursday's Thankful Thirteen. Every (hopefully) Thursday I will post 13 things that I am grateful for either from the week past or in my general life.

I encourage you to do the same. Be sure to let me know if you have decided to join me by leaving a comment and be sure to let others know where you learned about it!

1) I am grateful that our home was not affected (Jessi, is it Affected or Effected?) by the tornado that hit our town.

2) I am grateful for "Nana Sue" (Dad's wife) and that she is always willing to accompany me to the movies with the boys. That way Z is able to enjoy the movie while I chase A around the theater.

3) I am grateful for amazing friends that reply to my INSANE text messages late at night telling me that I am a good mother and trying to help me get my kids bed by offering to discipline them for me over the phone.

4) I am grateful that my children are healthy, that we have not had to make any serious trips to the ER since February and that A's MRI came back a BIG FAT NEGATIVE!!

5) I am grateful that I have a thriving business no matter how exhausted I am at the end of the week...because come October when all my summer clients leave I will need to remember this. I am also grateful that I DO NOT BELIEVE in "The Secret" or else I would think that I caused my client to no show on me today.

6) I am grateful that idiots like Michael Savage exist in this world to help raise Autism Awareness.

7) I am grateful for Rec and School. Without the two programs I would not have survived this summer...and we still have over a month left.

8) I am grateful that I was able to spend an evening with my great friend Caryn (without children), enjoy some good food, some great drinks and so wonderful conversation!

9) I am grateful for Peggy. She has helped Zach and me through many tough times and has listened to me for the past three weeks when she didn't have to.

10) I am grateful for C, our babysitter. She is great with the kids, ever available and doesn't charge me too much! And (she doesn't know it yet) but she is going to watch my girlfriend's baby so she can get a massage next week from yours truly.

11) I am grateful that none of us got sick even though the beach we spent Tuesday at was closed on Wednesday for high bacteria levels...even here in Crazy Town you SHOULD NOT drink the water!!

12) I am grateful that Z told me that my old phone I gave him was still receiving my texts (how I do not know because there is no SIM card in it and the phone was deactivated back in November). And I am grateful that the texts I was worried about him seeing were not on there...it seems to pick and choose which ones it receives (there were a few that Insane Mama would be proud of.

13) I am grateful for the blogosphere. Again, sounds silly, but no matter what I post about I get so many great responses. It always amazes me that people from around the globe (I have had visitors from Brazil, The Middle East, Europe, China, Turkey, Columbia, Italy, Greece, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Hungary and, of course, USA) are so supportive of everything you do.

So there it is. My first Thursday's Thankful Thirteen.

What are you grateful for?