Thankful

I may not have everything in life, but I am certainly thankful for what I have - this past week I was reminded of that more than ever.

A week ago, my area (Eastern Iowa) experienced some extremely heavy rains and severe flash flooding. I am thankful that I have a neighbor who looks out for me and called me several times after 11 PM to tell me that I needed to check my basement. When she couldn't get a hold of me, she phoned my ex, who also tried to call me. I eventually work up to the sound of a car alarm going off and found about 8-10 inches of water in my basement. I ended up without about of 3 feet of water once it was all said and done. I am thankful to have friends that are willing to help bail out water at 7 AM on a Monday morning and thankful to have a boss who understood why I wasn't at work much this past week.

I am thankful that my basement is not finished and that it also flooded when I moved into this house 5 years ago. Because of that, not many items were in my basement and what I lost were trivial things - like my wedding pictures (which I have in digital format), Christmas lights, my hot water heater, and picture frames. I had been needing to clean out my basement for a while, but this gave me that extra little push - since everything was waterlogged and covered in a very lovely mud.

I am thankful for my father - who drove 4 1/2 hours on Monday night, braving storms and a visit with a state trooper to come help me. He spent 2 days cleaning my basement, hauling trash out, and installing a new water heater. I'm really not sure where I'd be without that man.

I am thankful that my family is safe - my children and my loved ones survived the storm. There were others in my community that were not so lucky.

I am thankful to have not one, but two wonderful men in my life. Both were willing to help me out this last week by hauling heavy things out of my basement and fixing my internet. I don't know what I'd do without these guys in my life - not just because because they are helpful, but because I care about them very much and I know they also care about me. They make my life complete and I am happier than I've been in a long time.

I am thankful to be happy.