Day 21 - I missed a few days

          I have not done very well the last week with my thankful list. I would think about sitting down and writing one every day but just didn't take the time. It has been a crazy busy few days. Here is what I am thankful for in the past week.

1.  My youngest son. M2 - He is still in that little boy stage ( 7) but wants to be a big kid. Even though he wants to be a big kid he still welcomes me home everyday with a great big hug. Sometimes he almost knocks me down because he launches himself at me. Those are the best hugs ever.
2. My daughter - She is 15 years old and going through Drivers Ed right now. She tries my patience at times especially with her driving :) but I love that she is growing up to be a very special young lady. She loves school and already knows what she wants to do after HS. She wants to be a surgical nurse. 
3. Friends - I am not a very outgoing person and I tend to be very shy. I don't have a lot of close friends but I truly cherish the ones that I have. There are a few that I can relax around and tell them anything.
4. My House - I live in Central IL and several communities within 20 minutes of my house were hit with an EF- 4 Tornado on Sunday. My sister in law lived in one of the communities and was luck they only damage they had was a tree came down on part of their front porch. I know several people that live in the area and none of them lost their homes but there are hundreds of homes that were lost in our are and it just seems unreal the damage that is done. Our small town had heavy wind and some rain but the heavy stuff missed us.
5. First Responders - Be it  Fire , Police, Medical there was a huge show of support on Sunday.  There was so many Medical personnel that showed up that they eventually had to say we have enough Dr and Nurses. 
6. Electricity Lineman - We lost power on Sunday before the worst of the storm hit.  We ended up being without power for about 12 hours.  The Lineman were out quickly and worked all night to get power back on to the affected areas. We got ours back around midnight. In the town where I work there were lineman working for two days to restore power. I know they are paid well but it is still time away from their families and it is a hard and dangerous job. 
7. The Volunteers - The amount of people that have turned out to Volunteer and contribute help to the Tornado victims has just been unreal. I have not made it over to the affected area yet but our church has been sending in supplies. There was a group that drove up from Louisiana to feed the volunteers and victims yesterday. It restores my faith in people. 

With everything that has happened in our neighboring community my list of things to be thankful for could go on forever.  It makes me realize how much it is the little things we should be thankful for.  Hold close to your loved ones they are what  matters most.

I hope everyone else is having a good week.