A Thanksgiving to Remember

Today, which was my last full day in Australia and also Thanksgiving Day, really started last night.  After work yesterday I attended a business dinner with about 15 coworkers and I didn't get home until way past my bedtime which caused me to oversleep today and miss my morning run.  So I was in a bad mood pretty much from the moment my feet hit the floor. 

Then while getting ready for work I remembered that back home it was the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving which meant my entire family was getting ready to go to the “world’s best” Pizza Hut for dinner.…without me.  So now I was in a sad mood. 

Then on my 20 minute walk into work I ran down my mental check list of all the work that I needed to get done today and began to think how I wish I could choose just one of these jobs to do (project manager, systems trainer OR technical writer).  I then thought that ultimately I do have a choice but that choice is either all or none.  So now I was in a frustrated mood. 

But then I looked to my right and saw beautiful Bolte Bridge, Central Pier and Victoria Harbour not more than 10 yards away from me and I started to smile and I thought “Good Grief, Kristi!  Get over yourself!  You have everything to be thankful for and absolutely nothing to complain about!”  I then chided myself for a few moments, asked God to forgive me for such a bad attitude and then started making a new mental check list of all the ways I have been blessed and all the things I am thankful for. 

So my pity party is over now.  Yes, I missed my morning run.  Yes, I had to work on Thanksgiving Day.  Yes, my Thanksgiving Day dinner was really, really bad.  Yes, my family is literally thousands of miles away from me.  But I have legs that can run, a job that pays well, food to eat and a family that loves me.  And that is only scratching the surface of all the ways God has and continues to bless me every single day.

To end this wonderful Thanksgiving Day, here’s a few pictures I’ve taken around town of things that made me giggle when I saw them.  Those crazy Aussies!