Top Ten Things From 2009 For Which I Am Grateful

10) Alaska! I love this state, and cannot tell you how often I look out at the sky, and the mountains, and simply have my breath taken away. I have worked very hard this last year to fix the politics in Alaska, support the original inhabitants of Alaska, and to protect the beautiful wilderness of Alaska. How could I not, when this place has given me so very much?

9) The "so close we can almost taste it" passing of the Health Care reform bill. Yeah I know it is not passed yet but who could have imagined, even two years ago, that we would be this close to passing a bill that will help 36 million previously uninsured Americans get healthcare? Sure it is not perfect, not by a longshot, but it is SO much better than what we had before.

8) The faithful visitors to this blog! If it were not for you all keeping me honest there is just no telling what kind of unscrupulous things I might get up to. Seriously, I appreciate all of your support and all of your informative and fascinating comments.

7) Being placed on Sarah Palin’s “banned list”. That absolutely MADE my Christmas this year! My only regret is that if I had known Sarah was going to be so generous I would have made sure to get her something. Oh I guess if I keep digging around I may come up with something to pay her back. LOL!

6) The resurgence of 3D at the movies! Wow how did I ever watch movies without things flying off of the screen and bouncing off of my forehead? Do you remember back when you cared more about the acting and the story line than you did about super hi-definition images coming right at you at an alarming rate? Ah we were so young and naïve back then.

5) Pizza! Nothing more needs to be said. Simply the most perfect food on earth.

4) My fellow Alaskan bloggers! AKMuckraker, Dennis Zaki, Shannyn Moore, Celtic Diva, and Phil Munger, I love you guys! How could I have ever made it through this last year without your support, your informative e-mails, and your playful teasing? No way would this have been as much fun without so many brilliant, talented people standing by my side.

3) My daughter. She is the center of my world, the owner of my heart, and the reason that I will never stop fighting the bad guys (and gals) and searching for the truth. I love you angel.

2) President Barack Obama. To finally have a man in that office with the intelligence, the morality, and the honestly of this man absolutely makes my heart sing. I worked my ass off for him and I will do it again in 2012. Our country deserves a leader who REALLY takes his job seriously and who is working everyday to make this a better country. And, yes, that man is Barack Hussein Obama.

And the number one thing that I am grateful for from 2009 is....

1) That John McCain and Caribou Barbie did not win the election! Nothing gives me more pleasure this year than knowing that the American people finally woke up, and rejected the policies of the Republican party and that we do not have Uncle Fester and Queen Ester running my country.

I guess on a side note I should probably thank Sarah Palin and the idiots who forced McCain to select her as well. If Sarah had not come along and scared the holy crap out of the independent voters we may now be facing this financial crisis with a man in charge who suspended his campaign so that he could study the problem and then essentially shrug his shoulders. A man who believes that all you need to win a war is more bullets. And a man who has had cancer numerous times, and whose running mate would have been anxiously standing beside him while he slept and watching his chest rise just waiting for the moment when it would suddenly stop and give her the break that Pastor Muthee had promised her was coming her way.