The Thankfulness Game

I have a very dear and special friend (who shall remain nameless for now ;-) who has gained for himself over the years a reputation of a pretty grumpy and crotchety kind of dude. I personally disagree with this assessment, but it seems that I'm in the minority in my line of thinking. SO--many years ago, in an effort to try to help him change people's perception of him and have them desire to get to know him better so they could know the great guy that I knew--I made him start playing "The Thankfulness Game" with me. It went something like this-- Every time he complained about something, I made him use the exact same scenario he was complaining about and give me 3 reasons related to that situation to be thankful. An example might be something along these lines:

"I'm so sick of all of these ridiculous meetings!" *Redirect.* And then--

"I'm grateful to have a calendar full of meetings, because it means I have a job that helps me provide for my family in an economy that has many struggling for their next meal."

"I'm grateful for meetings this week because it means I get to interact with real human beings for awhile instead of staring at a computer screen all day."

"I'm grateful to be included in these meetings because it means that my input and opinions are valued, and I may have an opportunity to influence some important decisions."

(If he reads this, I'm sure he will roll his eyes for hours at that last statement, but that is a discussion for a different day. :-P) I'm guessing that many times during these exercises he very much wanted to punch me in the throat and tell me to leave him alone, but he didn't do that. He was a very good sport, and he got really good at it after awhile. And he might not admit this, but I think maybe he even enjoyed it a little.

So in the spirit of my sweet friend, how 'bout we play? I'll go first--

I'm grateful for the huge pile of laundry in my laundry room, because it means we have lots of warm things to wear (which take up much more space in laundry baskets and washing machines than t-shirts and tank tops. ;-)

I'm grateful for the unfinished laundry because it gives me the chance to pull pajamas and socks fresh out of the dryer this evening and let my girls put them on all nice and warm. They LOVE that!

I'm grateful for the unfinished laundry because it reminds me that we have spent lots more time in the last few days PLAYING and doing FUN THINGS rather than chores. Sometimes the chores can just wait, ya know? :-D

Ok, your turn. What is something you're grateful for that might not make any sense to anyone else? Ready. . . . . . go!