New Year's List

As another New Year has dawned (where I am anyway, you are still watching the countdown), it has me looking around and noticing things I'm particularly thankful for, big and small. So, in no particular order, here's my New Year's list;


1. (Well, this is locked in at a permanent #1) I am richly blessed that Amnat and I were able to bring Jimmy into the world, where he is a little ray of (drooly) sunshine.

2. I'm thankful that for two years I have lived in a place where I don't have a mobile phone, an answering machine, a date book, any use for credit cards, a car, a washer and dryer, a stove, a coffee maker... you get the idea.

3. I'm appreciative that living without all of these things has slowed my life down a bit (well, the stroller is a factor, too).

4. I'm deeply grateful to my sister-in-law Nok for taking such good care of our little family. Without her, all of this just wouldn't be possible.

5. I'm thankful that my father's ex-wife has dropped me from her Christmas cookie list, and I don't have to throw out three pounds of cat-hair-laced cookies at this festive time of year.

6. I'm grateful that I am surrounded by people who actually think I'm beautiful and tell me so often, just because I'm pale and have straight brown hair.

7. I'm thankful that my brother Pete, with the help of his remarkable wife Diana, has made it through another year with a grace and good humor that are truly humbling.

8. I'm downright giddy that having a baby turned out to be a wicked easy way to lose weight (who knew? 15 lbs less than when I moved here! sorry, bragging).

9. I'm eternally grateful to my dear friends Liz and Rick for helping Amnat get the visa (otherwise known as the "Get-Outta-Jail-Free Card") that will get us all back home this year.

10. And, last but not at all least, I am grateful to my husband Amnat for having the guts to marry me, not because he always understands what I'm saying, but because he understands my heart.