Thankful Thursday - 13 spot

Since today is May 13th, I have decided to post 13 things that make me thankful. Without further delay (in no particular order):

1. Rain - not sure I would have thought to be thankful about the rain but I am have a new attitude about it. Picture this image: a dirty driveway due to my messy gardening. The rain fell. It fell really hard for almost 15 minutes. Then it slowly went to a drizzle and stopped. The sun came out and my dirty driveway was washed CLEAN! Where did the dirt go? It doesn't matter. It felt good to run in the rain the past couple of days. My hair got extremely curly and shoes got wet, but my visor kept it out of my eyes and the cool rain kept me... cool! I have beautiful plants growing and grand green grass thanks to the rain!
2. Compliments - have you been in a place where you just feel funky? Yesterday I was needed to go into my daughter's school to help a friend and I wasn't prepared... physically. I had not showered as I was going to run. I had my running outfit on, which may or may not have been appropriate to go to a school in (short running skirt). My friend needed my help, so I tried to tamed my mop under a visor and went to her school. I felt... funky... and looked the same way. But the compliments poured out. Not about my funkiness (is that even a word) but about my weight loss. I felt great. I stood taller. I no longer felt funky (even if I smelled funky). I am thankful when compliments come at times when we are least expecting them!
3. Jogging strollers and babies - as I mentioned in my last post, I KNOW that pushing Baby A is building my endurance and making me a better and faster runner. I have to admit that I used to dread having to squeeze a run in with her. She is such a good baby and never complains... even after being in the stroller for over an hour after her hour nap. I am thankful that I have the opportunity learn to appreciate the training aspects of running with a baby and a jogger- so grab a baby (with permission of course) and a jogger and get to training!
4. New friends - have met a new person that you just feel you have known your entire life? That everything you say or do seems similar? Believe me, being a twin, I feel this more than normal with her, but a stranger that becomes a friend within minutes? I am thankful that I have the opportunity to meet new people and thankful that I am able to see their soul and know that we will be friends forever! You KNOW who you are!
5. Old friends - I would be amiss not to mention my "old" friends. Friends who have been with me through the years - years of struggling to be healthy and not doing anything about it besides talking about being thin (as I stuff my face with McDonald's). "Old" friends who can tell me like it is, who keep me accountable, who love me for ME! I am thankful to have a hand full of friends who love me... mostly in spite of me. You KNOW who you are too!
6. Coloring - do you enjoy coloring now more than you did as a child? I think I do. I love to color pictures with my children. It is a huge stress reliever for me. I remember coloring pictures with my twin sister and my mother "judging" which one was the best. I remember staring at my mother's pictures hoping one day I would be able to color as well as she did. Now, I have a daughter who loves to color and draw pictures. We have wonderful time chatting and coloring. I believe that she looks at my pictures the way I looked at my mothers... and I am confident that she too will be grand one day. I secretly color out of the lines on purpose so she can see... that even mommy doesn't follow the rules! I am thankful that I can unwind and take time to color pictures with my daughter.
7. Unmatched Socks - did you know that it was "cool" to wear socks that did not match? My almost 7 year old told me about a month ago. My sister and I joke that we were folding socks before we could walk and NEVER did we have a load where all of the socks had matches. We used to hide the unmatched sock in our drawers until the next week... hoping it would magically appear. My father found our stash on day... it wasn't pretty! Now, I wear socks all of the time that have been neglected because I never found their pair. I am thankful that unmatched socks are now cool... perhaps my sister and I started a trend back in the early 80s.
8. Legos - have you found a toy that can keep your 5.5 year old son occupied for hours? Legos work the magic in our house. Brock LOVES Legos of any shape or size. He is currently saving for the Lego Death Star (if you have one and want to get rid of it... I would happily pay for the shipping - shoot me an email) which is over $400. He currently have $3.85. When I need to do P90X or get some work done on my computer I say, "Hey... why don't you go play Legos" and he happily runs along. Yesterday, he built Club Penguins and Puffles out of Legos and played with them for over an hour! I am thankful for the little things that please my son!
9. Luna Bars - these bars have become my obsession. Since I do not make time for breakfast, they are my quick grab a bite to eat so I do not skip a meal. The mini ones have become my grab a snack in the car instead of from the drive through! I am thankful that I have found an alternative to skipping breakfast.
10. WGTS 91.9 - I love that I have found a radio station that plays music that I love and always seems to play a song that I NEED to hear. It is a Christian radio station here in MD and they have awesome DJs and morning shows that keep me uplifted. I am thankful that I can leave songs with messages in my brain during the day instead of the noise of this world.
11. Lola - my Garmin is the favorite running partner. She keeps me going, tells me to slow down or speed up, and best of all... tells me how far I've gone. I cannot run without her. I am thankful for Lola because I NEED to know how far I've run and she hasn't disappointed me yet.
12. Prayer Warriors - do you have a group of people who can lift you up in prayer just when you need them? A group of people who TRUST that their Almighty Father can, will, and DOES answer prayers (not always in the way we want, but in the best possibly way ever)! I am thankful that I can trust my prayer warriors with the most intimate of concerns and know that God is listening!
13. Curly Hair - never in a million years would I think I would be thankful for my curly hair. I have actually created a straight hair monster in my daughter who makes me blow dry her hair because she hates curly hair. My thought several months ago was that I would start wearing my hair curly and hope that my daughter would start to appreciate her own curls. My mother used to always tell my twin sister and I, "People pay hundreds of dollars to have curly hair like you!" Kiera actually told me yesterday that she really liked my hair curly. I am thankful that I am learning to appreciate all of the uniqueness that God gave me when I was created!

What are you thankful for this 13th of May?