I'm Thankful...

Despite the fact that yesterday was a discouraging day with my students, I'm very aware that I have a lot to be thankful for. We talked about that a lot. Some kids get it and some don't, but they will eventually.

Here's my short list. I'm thankful for:

• My family. What can I say? They're awesome.
• My mom and brother. They get their own category.
• My little nephew. He's perfect.
• My health.
  
• My house. I love, love my house. I'm grateful for it every day when I wake up. I'm also grateful for the location of my house--a lovely neighborhood, across the street from my mom, and relatively close to the rest of my family.
  
• Brad. Our time together was incredibly short, but he left an impression on me that will last a lifetime.
• My pets. Bailey, my 100 lb. shaggy black dog and my 2 kitties, Darcy and Ashley, are great little companions.
  
• My job. It may be frustrating at times, but it is sure never boring. And, considering that I'm in the teaching profession, the pay is competitive in my district.
  
• My intelligence. This is not a brag. I'm a smart person and I know it is a gift.
  
• The gift of being born in America. Yes, this country is far from perfect, but we have a lot more than a lot of other people.
• Not to be corny and repetitive, but I am SO glad that Obama got elected. America is going to get so much healthier with him in office.
• And many, many more things...

And, speaking of Thanksgiving, my family is celebrating the holiday on Saturday this year because my cousin, Laura, has to work tomorrow. It will be at my house. I love hosting. I don't like cooking, but I like hosting, and we do a potluck dinner anyway.

This year is our first year celebrating the holidays without the grandparents, and I know it will be odd, so I want to do something special. My uncle converted some of their old home movies to DVD. Back in 2000 he had them narrate them and put them on VHS, but now they're updated to our current format. I brought home the LCD projector from my classroom that we use for the Smartboard and the speakers I bought.

Last night I set up the projector, the laptop, and the speakers in my sunroom. After removing a picture off the wall above my little 22" TV, I was able to project an image about 60"-70" across on the wall. After inserting the DVD of my grandparents' home movies in the laptop, I watched them for the first time.

WOW.

It was a little unnerving hearing their voices for the first time since they both passed away, but after I got used to it, it was pretty great too. There are videos of their wedding in 1941, yearly birthdays of my mom's first few years, family outings, my aunt's graduation from UCLA that I went to when I was 3 months old, my parents' wedding (some videos were out of order,) and a Christmas when my brother and I were the only grandchildren in the family.

I found myself wiping away tears several times.

Other family members may have watched their copies of the videos, but we've never sat and watched them together and we've never had them projected so large, so this will be a special thing to share on Saturday.

Today I'm just doing laundry and some basic prepping for the company that will descend on the house in a couple of days. It rained last night and has stayed gray and wet today with a few cloudbursts. I like it.