Thanksgiving, It's not just a cliche,

This week I’ve been trying to think about what I’m grateful for that isn’t a total cliché.

Yes, I’m grateful for autumn leaves and snowy air, living in America AND Happy Valley, a double whammy of goodness. Hot chocolate brownies covered with vanilla ice cream. Cough drops when you need them.

I’d be more grateful for a dogs and cats—except our cat left a dead mouse under my husband’s pillow and the way I discovered it was I rolled over to snuggle his pillow, he has a great pillow, after he got out of bed and I SMELLED something awful. Euewww.

I know you’ll eat anything when you’re hungry, but this guy told me one time about visiting a country where they offered him something on a plate that was still crawling. I’m just saying right now, I’m grateful I don’t live there. You can’t tell me there’s not some little girl there screaming, “Please, Daddy, don’t make me eat the worms!”

I’m grateful not to live in China where I hear the language has a component of tones to it. That would mean in China, I would always have a speech impediment of some kind and kids would laugh at me and I’d turn to drugs and have to write a memoir about it.

Boy, I am surprisingly grateful for the things I’ve said no to. In a world where we’re counseled to “Say YES to life!” there are some good things to say no to.

Like sports cars. I wanted a sport car once and had the chance to buy it and I said no. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized I couldn’t get anything or anyone in it but me, so I would have been lonely and I would have had to make ten trips to the grocery store every week to bring things home in separate bags for my many children. Like those people who own Smart Cars don’t seem to be smart enough to figure out.

I’m grateful I went on vacation with my family instead of walking across the bridge at BYU to graduate from college when I was 49. I would have felt so ridiculous. It’s one thing being the oldest graduate, it’s another thing entirely being the “in the middle” graduate.

I’m grateful my sister was the pretty one. So many social situations I could have never figured out how to handle.

When I think about what I’m grateful for, it’s surprising how few of the downs in my life I remember, just the ups.

I’m grateful for so many ups this Thanksgiving.