30 Days of Thankfulness - #2

Today, I am thankful for this country and my freedom to vote.

I am about as patriotic as they come. And I don't care if you vote left, if you vote right, if you are somewhere in the middle, (Actually yes, yes I do care. Come see me if you need help voting.) I hope you voted today because I have two grandpas, a couple of uncles and a handful of cousins who fought so we could.

Besides, the sticker they gave you is just so cool.

I LOVE this country. Where else can you eat pork rinds and watch giant trucks run over each other? Where else can you spend an entire week in a theme park completely dedicated to animated characters? Where else in this wide, wide world can you drive through a state as boring as Kansas and still keep your sanity?

NO WHERE, that's where. There was a reason I majored in U.S. history and it wasn't just for the mad skills at Trivial Pursuit.

I have been to 22 countries and I am always thankful when I come home. There are so many things about this place that I love:

• The 4th of July is totally my favorite holiday. It may or may not have something to do with homemade ice cream.
• I cry like a baby whenever I see men and women in uniform.
• My ideal vacation would be to take a tour of all the Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields. Don't make that face, you know you want to come with me.
• There are no comparisons to baseball and football games.
• I am particularly fond of a really good hamburger.
• I secretly wish I could represent the U.S. in the Olympics. Unfortunately for me, I am about 10 inches too tall to be a gymnast and I have an irrational fear of balance beams.

I hope the mental image of me in a leotard wasn't too much for you.

I love that we have freedom to take road trips, start businesses, choose the schools we attend and even run for public office. Shoot, if someone can come up with the sport of noodling, the possibilities for creativity and sheer insanity in this country are endless!

Where is Lee Greenwood when I need him?

So whether your side won or lost tonight, and believe me there were some definite winners and losers, I hope you don't forget to be thankful for your ability to have a choice. This country would not be what it is without that freedom. And it doesn't take long to remember just how precious that is.