Thankful Thursday

I have a lot to be thankful for today:

• Smooth, easy flights. All of our flights went really well. I never ended up between two big men who hated babies. In fact, on that first flight, I ended up in an aisle seat with no one next to me. Nice. And on the way home, we were in window seats both times. That was a little cramped, but it was okay. And Faith did so well. She just looked around and smiled at everyone and then napped. Phew.
• Long, hot showers. Aaahhh. I especially love it when they're in a bathroom I don't have to clean, and with water I don't have to pay to heat or use, and when there are no little ones trying to peek in to make sure I'm there. Jeff tries to peek in, but I don't feel bad about locking him out of the bathroom.
• Green space. Even though Jeff and I wish we had a bigger yard, going to NYC made me remember how grateful I am to have a yard at all. Our house is bigger than most NYC apartments, and it's certainly a lot less expensive. And we have a lawn and a garden and a strawberry patch and flowers and two big trees and a sandbox and a swing and a storage shed and a barbecue grill and..... All that stuff would never work there. There's no room for it. The only lawns I saw in Queens, where our hotel was, were so small it would you could probably cut them with scissors faster than you could get out a lawn mower to do it.
  
• Nice New Yorkers. I mentioned this in my last post, but it is so true that everyone I ran into or asked for help or directions was SO nice. In fact, the only rude people I met were in the airport terminal heading back to SLC. So there's a great commentary for you about stereotypes.
• Prayer. I hate to fly. Something about being enclosed in a little space 36,000 feet in the air just turns my stomach. And don't get me started on turbulence. I once had the misfortune of being in a plane when it was hit by lightning. That was an awful experience. But the last several times I've flown, I have said a little silent prayer to calm my nerves. I just pray that I will feel peace and know that things will be okay. It works every time, and it works immediately.