Things I'm Thankful For, Week Three

We're off and flying with another week of thankfulness!  It's hard to believe that we're already three weeks into November and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  In four days I'm going to be roasting up a turkey, cooking some squash, and (as long as we can find a way to pick them up) mashing potatoes and cooking carrots.  I think that has to be my favorite thing about Thanksgiving, the food.  For now, here's a list of things I'm thankful for this week!  I promise, I'll try not to repeat anything!

1. I'm thankful for M'lilah.  I know I don't talk much about my dance career on this blog, but she's been there since the start of it in Texas.  My first major stage debut in Texas was at one of her events and she's been nothing but supportive since.  She's having some health problems again, so she will be constantly in my thoughts and prayers, but I am incredibly thankful that she's touched my life.  I would be a much different person if I'd never met her and I'm thankful that I've been blessed by having her in my life.
2. I'm thankful for our neighbor letting us do our laundry at her house.  We're currently without a car, so it makes doing laundry challenging at best.  However, we're able to do our laundry at a friend's house and that's been a life-saver!  With everything from the move, clean and dirty, mixed up into one big mess, it's caused a lot of clothes that were otherwise clean to end up dirty.  As a result, we've got a lot of laundry to do!  Now we're able to save money and the need for a ride!
3. I'm thankful for WIC.  WIC stands for Women, Infants, and Children.  For families that income qualify, like ours does, they can receive free foods through WIC.  They support pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, infants, and children up until age five.  While they don't provide much, they do provide family staples, such as milk, cheese, bread, peanut butter, beans, and eggs.  They even provide baby food and formula.  WIC has saved us so much money over the years, even though we've had several points where our benefits have lapsed.  I know on baby food alone it can save mothers as much as $70 per month.  My family has gotten a lot of benefits from WIC, and so have a lot of other families I know.  It's definitely a service I'm thankful to have around!
4. I'm thankful for Salvation Army.  Yes, this may sound like a strange one, but I am.  Years back when my ex and I lived in a shelter our daughter went to a Salvation Army day care.  She was always being sent home with clothes, shoes, toys, crayons, and other things she might need or want.  For Easter they even put together an Easter basket for each of the kids.  It was fantastic!  While we're not using those services any longer, I'm thankful that they were there when we needed them, and that they're there for other families in need.  It's also nice to know that when we've got stuff to donate, they're more than happy to take whatever we've got!
5. I'm thankful for honest friends.  Some things have come to light thanks to a friend of mine.  She proved to me that another friend of mine did far worse than I originally anticipated.  I'm really hurt, but it feels good to have this friend come clean with me, even when the other wasn't so honest at all.  It really feels good to know I have some true friends in my life.
6. I'm thankful for pizza delivery.  On a day when I've been feeling truly under the weather, I was able to provide dinner for my kids without having to wear myself out too much.  It's our moving day food several days late!  Well, better late than never, right?
7. As my wonderful aunt reminded me recently, I'm thankful for text messages!  There's nothing like quick, easy, and immediate communication.  When you don't have the time to call, or there's simply too much noise in the background, a text can serve as a quick, easy form of communication.  Sometimes I use it so often it's easy to take for granted!