Friday Grateful Five

     It's Friday again! Already! Where did my week go? Well, it's time again for five things I'm grateful for.
     1. Spellcheck. 
     Where would I be with out that little gem? I am a horrible speller.  Really, I can not spell. Which is sort of strange since I have always been a good and frequent reader. Heck, when I was in 5th grade, I read the dictionary. One of those big ones they keep on stand in the back of the classroom. No,really. Everyday after finishing my work, which never took too long, I would head back and read it. I'm sure I missed a page here or there, but I did keep track of the page I left off on. And before you ask, I do not remember much, but when I encounter a new English word, a lot of times I feel like I've read it somewhere before. But spelling correctly? Not me. I've already used spellcheck 7 times!
     2. Chapstick.
     What would we, in the mid-west, do in the winter without it? Have perpetually chapped lips is what. I pretty much do anyway (as I'm bad at putting it on daily), but at least I can relieve the irritating feeling when I do remember. 
     3. A roof over my head.
     Even if it really needs to be replaced, it's still a roof and keeps out the rain, snow, & sun pretty good. I just finished up the Jaycee Dugard story and it's a good reminder of how nice it is to have a real roof. After years of imprisonment, she was super happy to have her own privet tent. Being in California, a tent wasn't as bad as it would have been here (again, mid-west), but still. To be thankful for a tent roof... I'm really glad I have a house roof.
     4. carseats for babies/kids
     They can be a pain to get kids in and out of. And I know there are times I wish I could just let them play around in the back without being restrained in. But, when looking at the other picture, I'm glad we have found out how much safer it is for kids to be belted into one. I remember being in highschool and watching a video on why kids should be in a child's carseat. They took this 6foot-something, big mussely guy and seat-belted him to a car seat. Just what you would find in an actual car, only this was just the seat and it was on a track, kind of like a train track. Then they gave the guy a dummy-doll that was the same as an average two year old, so about 30lbs-ish. The man then held onto the dummy while the track got the seat up to 35 mph and then "slammed on the breaks." The dummy flew more than 30 feet! I'm not sure a windshield would have slowed the kid down much. Now think about this, that man could squeeze the kids as hard as he could (they did tell him to not let the dummy go, no matter what), we can't do that with a real child, and I know I'm not as strong as he was. So, how far would out little ones go? I for one am grateful to never find out. So, hug your kids at home, belt them in the car!
     5. Netflix
     We did away with cable, 6 or 7 years ago, and I only miss Turner Classic Movies, the history channel and Sci-fi (but only for new Doctor Who episodes). I had given Netflix a free try, and have been very happy since. I'd say it was about 4 months after getting Netflix that we dropped cable, at the time saving ourselves $80! Shows when we want them, no commercials, it's great!
     There's my five this week. I knew I could come up with more. I wonder when it'll be had to find things to be grateful for...
blessings,
mamaAthena