#91- I am thankful for spending NYE at home in my pjs.

I am thankful for quiet nights spent at home, especially on New Year's Eve.

When everyone seems to be out and about at a variety of celebratory places, I like to be home, in my pajamas, with my life-partner-in-crime.  People are kind of crazy on New Year's Eve and on top of that there is imbibing-overload. I'd rather be off the road and at a safe distance from drunk drivers and out-of-control and rambunctious folks.

I prefer to ring in the new year in the comfort of my own home, being able to reflect on the past year and enjoying the company of my precious cats and life-mate. Being comfortable in my pj's  sweats and slippers is how I like to spend the last moments of the year and the first moments of the new year.  It's not that I don't like being out and about and surrounding myself with friends and family and general joviality, I just prefer to lay low on such a glitter, libation and confetti-filled night.

Being able to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, a roof over our heads, the love of our family, friends and of course pets, the love in our hearts and being able to be grateful for what we have rather than focusing on what we don't have is how I'd like to spend this year and the years to come.

#90- I am thankful for common courtesy.

I am thankful for common courtesy.

I am thankful every single time a complete stranger holds a door for me, gives up their seat on the train for me, says please and thank you and offers assistance if it looks like I might need it.  It often feels like kindness and politeness are contagious. After witnessing someone being kind, I want to follow suit and be kinder to others as well.  I want to give up my seat on the train for someone who looks like they need it more than I do, I want to hold the door for the person behind me, I want to help someone with their belongings up and down the stairs, I want to be a better person.

There are times when I think that the concept of common courtesy, manners and being polite are not a priority in our society.  Working in retail and in a major theme park for several years, I could count on 2 hands the number of children who were polite without their adults urging.  I don't understand this since I remember being taught to say please and thank you and may I have from a very early age.  Even adults seem to have forgotten these common phrases.

Please be kind to others. Please be polite to others. Let those concepts be contagious. Thank you for reading :)

#89- I am thankful for J.K. Rowling.

J.K. Rowling has created a magical world that has allowed me and millions of others to get lost in. Without her I wouldn't still be waiting for my letter from Hogwarts and wish that I was friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

The world she created is more than just a fantasy world. It's a mystical place with witches and wizards, owls and rats, goblins, trolls and house-elves. There are lessons to be learned and morals to be gained from reading these books.

I was resistant to reading these books initially, as I thought it was just a passing fad and I wasn't that interested in the fantasy genre to begin with but I will forever be thankful for the professor who gave it as a reading assignment in a Children's Literature class.

I love being able to get lost in these books and the enchanting world within the pages and even though I know it isn't real, it almost seems as if I've been transformed as I finish the last page.

Thank you J.K. Rowling for your creativity and ability to create a world that I wish was real.