Thanks Be to the Simple Stuff

Apparently, today is Thanksgiving. (Otherwise known as “National Day of Food”.)

I would first like to state that I’m rather annoyed my posting schedule has to coincide with a holiday.

It’s very inconsiderate of the holiday.

I had something lovely all written out, AHEAD OF TIME, just waiting to be posted. But then I realized it was Thanksgiving. Thus a difficult moral conundrum was born:

If I ignore the Day to be Grateful and post something typical and stupid, I’ll feel like a horrible person. But the only other option is to ramble about all the things I’m thankful for.

Which is boring.

But anything else would seem callous and ungrateful, and someone would probably yell at me. There’s no way around a holiday. They’re evil. SO…

I’m thankful for indoor plumbing, Tolkien, and chocolate.

There. Can we be happy?

No?

Alright, then. I’m thankful for the bottle of glitter my friend Emma sent me (among other wonderful things) for my birthday.

 

I’m thankful for the little wire lizards my dad leaves on my chair.

 

I’m thankful for this tiny Loki I somehow managed to draw in five minutes off the top of my head, at 1 AM, with a flashlight, in INK.

 

I’m thankful that writing documents now offer an automatic word count for you. I remember that time a couple years ago when I wrote a short story for a contest, and I had to count EVERY. SINGLE. STINKIN’. WORD. to ensure that I hit the 2,000 minimum.

It was not a good day.

 

I’m thankful for my former main character, Liriel.

*chokes* Okay, let’s be honest: I’m not.

 

I’m thankful for the kid at art class who somehow managed to step on my art bag (even though it was UNDER the table), and then proceeded to glare at me like it was MY fault he was crawling around down there.

 

I’m thankful for math.

HA.

Nope.

 

I’m thankful for Bernard Lassimonne, the man who invented pencil sharpeners.

This man doesn’t get NEARLY the credit he deserves.

 

I’m thankful for my dear mother, who clutches oranges to her chest like they’re her children and holds her coffee cup like it’s a beacon of hope to this dark world, all while looking monstrously pleased with herself.

 

While I’m at it, I’m thankful for my entire family, who are, for the most part, pretty cool.

(Except when they’re not.)

 

I’m thankful for my Grandad, who willingly submits to being my chauffeur, and my Granny, who makes me grilled cheese sandwiches and  lets me paint crazy flowers all over her porch. I’m thankful for my friends, who I can geek out with about writing, have many discussions of a deep and intellectual nature—in other words, Lord of the Rings—and who send me glitter and chocolate and letters from deceased elves (don’t ask) for my birthday.

And above all, I’m thankful that God thought we’re worth sending his son to die for. I’m thankful that in America, I’m free to openly practice a faith that people in other countries are daily being tortured and killed for. I’m thankful that I grew up in a Christian home, with parents who love the Lord and taught me His ways.

(Man, I wish there was a better, less cliche way to say that. Guys, please put the better and less cliche filter over the above paragraph.)

And you know… let’s give some appreciation to the little things, things that are deemed insignificant, but still manage to make life so much cooler. Like play-doh. Tin foil. Soft moss growing in the shade of a tree. Bird song in the morning. Crickets at night. Ant traps. Ice cream. The swirling patterns of color on a paint palette. Tiny pink kitten feet.

Tell me those aren’t the most adorable things you’ve ever seen, and I’ll personally escort you off this blog.

So today, for Thanksgiving, let’s try to notice the simple stuff, the stuff we generally overlook, and let’s try to appreciate it. Life would be a whole lot worse without pencil sharpeners and kitten feet.

There’s your useless and pithy moral of the day.

I’m thankful that this post is now at an end.

~Sarah

PS. And, you know, you guys are great too.