The Basics of Life

1. A house (with a huge yard, a carport, a cement driveway, a fence around the house and almost enough space for all 6 us).
2. Electricity (because some people in the US- and world- still have no electricity!).
3. Water- running, heated & fairly unpolluted (because in some places in the world, women have to walk miles to/from the well, river, etc . to get water and then heat it up, or boil it to clean it).
4. A washer & a dryer (because in some places in the world, women are scrubbing their families worn out clothes at the polluted river and/or boiling them and then hanging them to dry near their dusty home).
5. Natural gas (because some women have to chop a lot of wood every morning to heat up their stoves to heat their home, do laundry, and cook...before they go to work).
6. Technology (because we can use a cell, the computer/net, turn on cable and see the world at our finger tips, and some people are feeling isolated and have no options to do that).
7. Food in my large pantry & deep freezer (because somewhere in the world, dirt cookies are making people sick, a handful of rice isn't quite enough, and somewhere in the US a family has to share a package of dry crackers for a meal- I know, we've done it!).
8. A working car (because somewhere in the world, many actually, people have to walk miles and miles to get to health care, food, water, work, hauling heavy loads).
9. A good husband with a great job (because somewhere in the US, a family is wondering how they are going to find work, and have to make less, far less, than they can survive on).
10. Health insurance (GROUP that is) (because even though I have health issues that are too much money for us to afford, it is FAR, FAR less than I would have to pay out of pocket).
11. Being a Homemaker (for far too many reasons to list...it will have to be my list tomorrow!).
12. For living in the U.S.A. (because even though we aren't perfect, we are honestly safer, happier, and better taken care of than MANY countries in the world. there is no utopia out there, and I would rather live here than, say, the Middle East, Russia, China, parts of Africa, etc.).