Day 87: the book "28 Stories of AIDS in Africa"

Hi again,
Today I am actually thankful for so many things that I have already mentioned because today it is so cold outside (felt like -33 with windchill and -25 without) and I was so thankful for a nice warm home and the woodstove and winter clothing to keep me warm outside etc. But this project is about finding something new each day to be thankful for so I am thankful today for a book I read called "28 Stories of AIDS in Africa" because it has helped me to understand better what it is like for the millions of people in Africa and what they are going through living with AIDS. Of course it only gives me the tiniest glimpse at something so huge and I can never really fully understand what it is like but this book helps me understand a little bit more. It is very difficult to read because of what these people go through and I went through so many different emotions from sadness to feeling I need to do something to feeling helpless because I don't know what to do to feeling grateful for realizing all that I have to anger that anyone should have to live like that etc. I didn't feel the emotions in that order but they are some of the feelings I went through. I cried while reading parts of it because I feel bad for the people who suffer from AIDS when there is treatment available (but not always available to them) and because I realized that I have so much to be thankful for that I have taken for granted. You may be asking why I am thankful for a book that brought me to tears and made me feel sad. I am thankful because it helps me to be more aware of what is going on in the world and who needs help and while I don't know how I can help yet, I know better what is needed and maybe I can find a way to help. It also helped me to realize how blessed we are to live in North America because we have so much here-even those who have little here have more than people living in poverty in countries like Africa. I have hope that I will find something that I can do to help others in need even if it's only a little bit. If we all helped a little bit, it would make a big difference. So I am left feeling hope (that I can help fellow human beings in need) and thankfulness (for all that I have been blessed with) after reading this book which is why I am thankful for this book. I encourage others to read this book also to be more aware of what is happening and maybe find ways to help as well. These books are not meant to cause us to feel bad for people in Africa and then go back to our own lives-I think these books are meant to motivate us to do something to help. Thanks for reading my blog.

Day 86: Access to an Education

Hi again,
Today I am thankful for something that I have already been through but was reminded of how lucky we are to have access to an education. Most of us are able to go through kindergarten to grade 12 and it is something that is almost expected and normal to go through school. But for many children in countries around the world it is a luxury that they can't afford. I was watching Doc Zone tonight (a show on CBC) and it was on Haiti's Orphans. I will provide a link to the website where it talks about the episode at the bottom for those interested. Anyways while watching it, one of the things that they talked about was schooling and how it is unafforable to many and it hit me how accessable and easy it was for me to go to school and how little I appreciated the opportunity to be able to learn. I love learning but I never saw it as something that I should be grateful for while going to school. There were many aspects of school that I strongly disliked. I had many problems in school though which I won't get in to and there is alot that can be improved on with our school system but we have the ability to learn where so many don't. I can read and write and I have always loved learning new stuff and what not but never quite fully appreciated how easily accessable it was to me until now. I still wish that our school system would be much better than it is and there wasn't the bullying or such large class sizes and so on but on the other hand I am also grateful for our ability to go to school and learn. I won't get started on the flaws of the school system though because that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is to share that I am thankful for being able to have schooling and we shouldn't take it for granted because there are many that can only dream of going to school. This is why I am thankful for our access to an education. Thanks for reading my blog!
Here is the link. Doc Zone: Haiti's Orphans

Day 85: LOLdogs

Hi again.
Today I am thankful for a website I visit sometimes when I need a laugh or a smile. The website is http://www.icanhazcheeseburger.com/ and I love looking at the cat and dog photos but today I felt like looking at the dog photos. They are funny photos that get funny captions that make it even funnier usually. Sometimes a photo and caption are not that funny but most of them are. To be honest, the last couple of weeks have been really tough and today is no different. There are a lot of things going on like my back getting worse and needing to see my specialist, not being able to get through to my specialist to make an appointment because he is so busy and currently waiting for a call back, personal stuff, being sick off and on, etc. It is weird how everything seems to pile up at once. lol Anyways I could really use a few laughs to brighten my day so I visited the site. :) But in the midst of all of this not so pleasent stuff(there is alot I haven't mentioned because this isn't the place to do so) I am still finding something to be thankful for each day which I feel is quite good. Some days are more difficult yes but I suppose I am trying to say that it is possible to find something new to be thankful for despite all the bad stuff going on. Anyways back to LOLdogs. This site is quite funny and if you need a laugh and have not visited this site before-I reccomend it! I would like to share a few that made me smile today. :) I hope they make you smile as well! :)

This is more cute and true than funny. :)


This next one is one all the facebook users will get! lol

and I can't leave out the cats. lol

Day 84: Down In the Boondocks song

Hi again,
This may seem odd to be thankful for and I suppose it is more a memory attached to this song than the song itself that I am thankful for. Today we got groceries and on the way home, the song "Down in the Boondocks" came on the radio which reminded me of a memory from years ago. I was fairly young and we were in the car and it was me and my sister and my mom and we were driving along and this song came on and my older sister and I both thought the song was Down in the Moondocks. lol It made so little sense to us and so one of us (can't remember who) asked our mom what that meant and she corrected us that it was down in the Boondocks which made no more sense to us than Down in the Moondocks. lol So she explained what it meant and we had a good laugh over what we thought it had been. It is a memory that isn't maybe that significant to others but to me it stayed with me and I smile when I hear that song. I smile while remembering that time and the moments we spent laughing about something silly. My mom doesn't even remember it and I am not sure if my sister does but for some reason it stuck with me and it makes me smile. Then it leads me to other memories of times where we would laugh over a song or have the lyrics wrong and it made the song funny. The song itself isn't even that fun or exciting but that time we spent laughing was fun. Then today I told my mom about that time and she didn't remember but we had a good laugh again. I have a quote that is on my wall that sums this up perfectly actually. "We do not remember days, we remember moments" This memory is just about a few happy moments-not days. Yet they make me smile and anything that makes me smile when I think about it is definitely worth remembering and holding on to! So this is why I am thankful for the song Down in the Moondocks.... er ...Boondocks. Lol

Day 83: Tractor to plow the snow

Hi again,
Today I am quite thankful that we have a tractor to plow the snow. Over the weekend we got quite a huge snow storm that apparently dumped close to a foot of snow except because of the wind it blew into knee high drifts (and higher) making the driveway impossible to get through. We also have quite a large driveway that would take forever to shovel by hand-trust me! lol So we are so thankful to have a tractor that my dad can plow the driveway so much faster. It was kind of interesting to watch though because even the tractor had a hard time in a few spots with the packed snow. lol I just keep thinking how long it would have taken to do by hand and it makes me so incredibly thankful for that tractor. Now if we can only find back our unfinished skating rink... lol I tried to walk there to guage how deep the snow is and the drifts on top of the ice are easily knee deep. On the plus side, somehow the one corner of the ice isn't covered-the wind must have been blowing just the right way to keep the snow from settling in that spot. So we have a starting point. lol
I should mention I am also so very thankful that this morning the snow finally stopped and the sun actually came back! It is crazy how much you miss the sunshine after just a few days with out it! So for now the driveway is cleaned off and the snow has stopped and the sun was out and all is good. lol Well except for the cold snap now which is not fun-today it was feeling close to -30 and it is supposed to stay that way for awhile. Plus more snow is in the forcast for later this week. It must be January! lol

Day 82: A&W Teen Burgers

Hi again,
Today I am thankful for teen burgers. I have not consumed one today but I have been craving them and I realized through Twitter that the U.S A&W does not sell teen burgers. I did not believe the person at first thinking how could A&W not sell teen burgers in the States? But I checked the American website for A&W and it seems that the American A&W restaurants do not seem to sell teen burgers. I am still slightly suspicious because the Teen burger is probably the best burger I have ever had and I love them sooooo much and I know many people who love them also. My mom thought it was funny when I asked if she could imagine living in a country that does not have teen burgers. lol I still need to do more checking though before I am convinced because I still have doubts that you can not find teen burgers in the US.They are relatively expensive so I don't get to eat them very often but I love every chance I get to have one. So realizing that I can have teen burgers here in Canada has led me to feel extra thankful for these wonderful burgers. I am thinking there may be a better burger out there but from the burgers I have tried-A&W Teen Burgers DEFINITELY top the list!!! I have been craving one now for a few days and I will have to somehow satisfy that craving with some coupons we recieved in the mail recently. lol I have not had one in awhile. My mouth is seriously watering thinking about the burger. I apologize to any Americans who may read this post but I suppose it just gives you another reason to come visit this beautiful country called Canada! :) Thanks for reading my blog! Also if there are any Americans reading my blog or Canadians that visit the US that can verify this or not-I would really appreciate it!

Taken off the Canadian A&W site http://www.aw.ca/
Teen Burger Components :Pure beef patty, A&W seasoning, sesame seed bun, lettuce, tomato, bacon, processed cheddar cheese, Teen sauce, ketchup, mustard, pickles, diced onion

Day 81: Snow

Hi again,
As I sit here with the wind howling outside and snow coming down and being blown around, I think it is time to find something to be thankful for about snow. We are currently experiencing a snow storm with winds gusting to 55km/hr causing low visibility outside and making it nasty to be outside. It is supposed to last till tomorrow at least into the afternoon. Personally I would love to just say that there is nothing to be thankful for about snow and choose something else but there has to be something and some days I need to challenge myself to be thankful for stuff that I don't like. So I will share what I have come up with so far. The first thing I have thought of while pondering what I can be thankful for is that while there is snow, there are no bugs. LOL It may sound funny but I do love this. There are no ants or spiders or flies or other annoying insects like mosquitoes. All the bugs dissapear during the winter and while there is snow on the ground. So no bug spray is needed which I dislike too because it's kind of icky but it works. This one blessing about snow has me feeling better about snow already. lol But not enough to want snow any longer than we have it already. :) The next thing I thought of is all the outdoor activities we can do with snow when it isn't so cold that we can't be outside comfortably. Some winter activities I love that are not possible without snow are tobogganing and skating and building snowmen and skiing. It makes me smile thinking of trying to do these activities without snow. lol One time when I was young I actually attempted to toboggan down a small dirt hill-let me just say it didn't go so well. lol So there are things to be thankful for about snow and whether it makes it worth it to live with snow 6months of the year sometimes I don't know yet but it makes it seem a little less bad. Does it make up for the bad driving and the cold? maybe having no bugs does. lol no bugs splatting on the windshield that you have to scrub off is nice. :) lol But maybe not. One last thing that can be argued as a good or a bad thing is that you don't have to go to the gym for exercise-just shovel some snow. lol It is definitely exercise! Also very tiring and hard on the back. Well this is my attempt at being thankful for snow!