"This one makes a net, This one stands and wishes. Would you like to bet, which one get's the fishes?"

I'm thankful for a ton of things! Fuzzy socks, trampolines, snow, sunsets, chips and salsa, good music, good books, VeggieTales, the color orange, icecream, Apples to Apples, Christmas trees, my car, my own room, the gospel, of course my family and friends--and the the list goes on and on. But what I would like to write about is something you probably don't usually hear from someone my age:

Work.

Yes, you read right. I'm thankful for work. "Duty is Joy" as I once heard somone say. And that's so true! A whole afternoon of videogames just doesn't give you the same satisfaction that an afternoon of raking leaves does. Trust me, I would know.

All by myself folks! My mom is good at teaching us kids to step back and survey the job well done when we're done in order to get the full satisfaction of it. Well, at this point I wasn't even half way there, but it was still motivating enough to finish it up.

And my Mom isn't the only one. My dad is AMAZING at this! I once saw his schedule and...yeah, that's a whole different blog post.

It seems to run in the family. You see, I have one grandpa who works harder now that he's retired than he ever did when he was employed. (and that's saying something!) The other grandpa is probably going to ride his tractor right out of this life and into the next. Their wives are no different, tirelessly working alongside them.

Yes, I'm thankful for work. The grass stains, the callouses, the slivers, the sore muscles, the bleach stains, the button on the vaccum that self-coils the cord back, the flour-coated apron, the smell of 'clean', the good night's rest afterwards, the whole nine yards! I mean just think of the tough, enduring pilgrims--the founding father's of this holiday!