Thank You God!

I just realized... I have a lot to be grateful for...

1. Parents that understand and respect me
2. A brother that loves me and cares about me, despite his constant attempts to annoy the hell out of me (he succeeds everytime, by the way :P)
3. An incredibly close-knit extended family, all of whom will go to extreme lengths to help each other out
4. Cousins who have become more like siblings and best friends, whom I can talk to about ANYTHING
5. Cousins willing to make complete fools of themselves just to help me indulge in a whim of mine - the EXPO 2001. *Thanks guys!!!*
6. Years of nonsensical yet fun-filled activities: sneaking out to 7 Eleven, dumping Slurpees out windows, digging holes in the garden for "golf", eating grass, swimming in the water tank, marching around the hall singing Negaraku at the top of our lungs...
7. Being allowed to go for all the Westlife concerts
8. All us Westlife freaks successfully creating a banner that appeared on some news websites for Westlife's 2002 football match cum showcase here
9. Having old friends that still bother keeping in touch... even though I see them once in a blue moon
10. The Insanely Saners [next few lines involve all of them :)]
11. Friends who help me see the funny side of any situation, no matter how bleak
12. Friends who listen, even though it's the 100000000000th time I'm complaining about the same thing
13. Friends who'll waste their credit trying to get me out of a funk
14. Friends who aren't afraid to correct me when I'm wrong
15. Friends who can talk about anything - anytime, anywhere *grins at Ee May*
16. Friends who still read my blog, even though I go for days on end moaning about the same thing
17. Friends who trust me enough to tell me their secrets
18. Friends who don't always approve of my taste in guys... but support me through those phases anyway!
19. Friends I can be 100% myself with, knowing that they'll never judge me or love me less
20. Never running out of things to talk about with them, even though we haven't seen each other in months
21. Parents who don't begrudge me my book collecting nonsense, even if they aren't always happy about it
22. A mum who knows about all my crushes and still allows me to go out with them!
23. A mum who's close enough to me to be able to read me like an open book
24. A dad who shares my sense of humour, and can laugh about anything with me
25. A dad who'd rather give me money than have me work (although I don't agree with him on this one)
26. A brain that's good enough for me to make something of myself... even though I may not always appreciate it
27. A bunch of new friends who have made being in a new school a great experience so far
28. Knowing guys who've had the guts to do something special for me, even though they find me intimidating [Jules - Julian wrote a poem for me once, using all the letters in my name as the starting alphabet of every line :P]
29. Making some excellent friends through the Malaysian Idol forum... It's been over a year, but we're still so comfortable when we meet up. How cool is THAT?
30. A piano teacher who doesn't drag me over hot coals, even when it's obvious I've been neglecting to practise [PS: My exam's next May... Bloody Grade 8! I'm so deaded!]
31. Years of fun with the MGS choir.... CHOIR CLUB RULEZ, eh guys? *grins at ex-choir girls*
32. Lavinia and Joyce - even though they're both in Australia, they were my best friends at one point or other in my life and it's amazing how we can still get along so well now
33. Net pals who go out of their way to get me a birthday gift, or to listen to me gripe, or who are willing to hike up their phone bills sms-ing me, just coz I can't sleep...
34. A good command of English...
35. Cousins who'll cover up for me, even though they don't have to [Thanks Jon...]
36. Cousins whom I can yak and yak and yak to for hours, even though I've only seen them 3 or 4 times in my entire life!
37. Cousins who consider me their "baby sister"... and treat me like one! [I've always wanted an older brother.. *grins*]
38. Older friends who've watched me grow and still play a very important part in my life, who care about me and what happens to me [Uncle Chris, Uncle David, Michele, Rosalie, Aunty Justina, Aunty Cecilia...]
39. An excellent Math teacher who knows his stuff .. and cares about his students too!

Basically I have a life a lot of other people would kill for... Friends and family who love me, freedom to do pretty much whatever I want (within limits), parents who allow me to indulge in my hobbies... Yeah. Makes me wonder why I gripe so much.

I guess I really have a lot to thank God for after all.