Many things to be thankful for

While surviving the five days with no power and listening to talk radio with the majority of people calling and complaining, I decided I needed to write down the things I was thankful for during the recovery from the "October Surprise Storm"

1. Having Elma water - never had to boil it
2. Having natural gas so I could cook
3. Mason coming over and staying for a couple days
4. Having my new camera cell phone to use when the batteries were low in my digital camera
5. Being able to charge my cell phone in my car
6. Getting my hair cut short on Monday so it dried faster without a hairdryer
7. Having just enough batteries to keep the walkman going
8. Enough snow to use to keep food cold
9. Family was all safe
10. Extension on school tax payment
11. No damage to house or contends
12. Sunshine to warm the house
13. My son, Cory, works for a tree service
14. As bad as trees are, they could have been damaged worse
15. Glad I cancelled my motorcycle trip to WV I was suppose to take that weekend
16. Warm enough to ride motorcycle that Monday
17. Hearing from my sister in AZ
18. Phone calls from PABob
19. Snowday pay from school
20. Personal time pay from Aspire
21. WBEN-AM radio for keeping updated
22. Plenty of candles to light the house at night
23. Enough yarn to knit some projects, warm cozy slippers for Mason and me
24. Caught up on magazine reading (Flash and Skin & Ink - Tattoo magazines)
25. Being able to text message Nicki or Cory whenever I wanted to send updates
26. Name for next year's theme party - October Surprise Storm Commemorative Bonfire
27. Making S'mores in the fireplace for Mason and me
28. Plenty of food that wouldn't spoil
29. Thankful I prefer cooler temperatures
30. Seeing the first NYSEG Truck pull up in front of the house on day 5
31. Seeing violets and dandelions blooming in the yard when snow melted
32. Having a neighbor girl taking pics of my trees for a school project
33. Finally knowing the freezer will be cleaned out
34. Finally getting mail service again
35. Getting a package that contained a new electronic gizmo and arriving fully charged so I could play with it before power came on

I'm sure if I took more time I would come up with many more things that I was thankful for but I thought this was a pretty good list. Now that the worst is over and life has begun to return to normal, I just hope that no matter what happens in the future, I remember to always look for the positive things in life.