Happy 10th Anniversary To The TToT!

Ten years of Ten Things of Thankful. Wow. Potentially, that is 52 weeks of 10 thankfuls for per week for 10 years. If I lived up to my potential (which any teacher I ever had would concur that I don't) that would be, um, a really big number. And it's all thanks to Lizzi, who had an idea for a blog hop....

Lizzi's trip to 'Murica - visiting Elephant Rocks 
near Belleview, MO

I've missed some along the way, especially as I get more ADHDer. I feel terribly guilty when I do miss a week, because no matter how busy I am, mentally or physically, it's still of the utmost importance to me to reflect on the thankfuls in my life. Because even in a kind of shitty week like this one, there are still thankfuls to be found.

1. I'm thankful I was invited to participate in the very first TToT by Christine of "A Fly On Our (Chicken Coop) Wall. She had been asked to be a co-host and I wanted to support her. I never imagined that it would become such a part of my blogging life!

With Christine at the confluence of the Mississippi
and Missouri Rivers, St. Charles, MO

2. I'm thankful for the family we created at the TToT from the get-go. 

3. Blogging about your personal life can make you feel vulnerable, but at the TToT, you are always valued and never judged.

4. Being friends with fellow bloggers from the other side of a computer screen is fun; being friends in real life with those same people is the icing on the cake! From in-person meet-ups with Christine, Lizzi, Kristi, and Beth to texts from Sarah as she tried on dresses and needed feedback to video chats with Clark and to emails, texts, and phone calls about the good and the bad in our lives, we are all true blue friends.

With Lizzi and Christine in St. Louis, MO

5. Oh, and although all who have participated in the TToT do not continue to blog, it remains that we are still friends who keep in contact and that I will never stop missing their blog posts (I'm talking to you, Lydia, Josie, Lisa L., Christine, Sarah).

6. I'm thankful for the format of the TToT that allows you to reflect on your entire week and how even in the worst of times, there are silver linings to everything if you search hard enough. I, myself, have had thankfuls that included breast cancer, mice in my classroom, ants in my house, SNAKES in my house, tornadoes, family illnesses and deaths, pet illnesses and deaths, car trouble and more. It has taught me that no matter the circumstance, there is a thankful somewhere in there.

7. I'm thankful I was asked to be a co-host way back in August 2013. I took a brief hiatus in 2016 but came back to it and here I am. I have too many irons in the fire lately and haven't been a terrific host, but I try and am thankful for Clark, Lisa, Kristi, Pat, and Mimi for picking up the slack when I am a great big slacker.

With Kristi of Thankful Me in Branson, MO

8. Then there's Facebook. Maybe we haven't met in real life. Maybe we don't call or text each other (unless you count being butt dialed by Lisa Listwa), but our blog friendships have also spilled over onto the pages of Facebook where we can continue to share in each other's lives even without the blogs (still miss those, though, if I may reiterate that). 

9. I know I've left individual people unnamed that I shouldn't have, and if it's you, I'M SO SORRY. You are awesome and I'm honored to call you my friend and co-blogger!

10. The traditional tenth anniversary gift is aluminum, which isn't very exciting, but here's to ten, my bloggy friends!

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