things i am thankful for:

~my children. they are amazing.
~my family. even though everyone has his or her crazy quirks, i’m lucky to have and be a part of a family.
~my husband. he watched the two kids so i could go away on vacation. i can’t imagine many husbands who would do that. (or rearrange the furniture in the bedroom and buy a new amazing tv to surprise their wives…)
~my friends. you know who you are.
~my DVR. i don’t think i could live without it.
~maternity leave. even without pay.
~my hair. i’ve got really good hair.
~peanut butter cap’n crunch. my god, i’m so addicted.
~nonfat, one-splenda lattes. and that starbucks is only a few blocks away.
~my weekly dosage of Grey’s Anatomy.
~my nanny. even though sometimes she annoys the hell out of me, she has really made this having 3 kids things much, much easier on me.
~freelance work.
~the fact that my grandmother still remembers who i am. i fear that fairly soon she may not.

i saw this today. thought it was quite telling.

How Blessed Are You?
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 would be Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world’s wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death
1 would be near birth
1 would have a college education
1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for both acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. And, therefore . . .

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep … you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace … you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness …you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. -If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful…you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them, or even touch them on the shoulder…you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch.