Gratitude Month 2025: Tradition

When I was talking with my students this past week about doing this thing, Gratitude Month, I realized that I have been doing this consistently for a very long time. What a gift it has been all these years to slow down each November and think about how utterly surrounded I am by blessings. All the years I have been doing Gratitude Month have all been very hard years, yet I have written proof that life has been very full  and beautiful and even wonderful. I love this tradition, and I look forward to taking time each day to reflect on the good and sharing it with anyone who will read it. 

For anyone who wants to share with me your gratitude or thoughts on what I write each day, I welcome you to comment. I would love to hear from you. 

This month is a month of family, food, and tradition. It will be a good one if we make sure to focus on all the good. Happy November AKA Gratitude Month. 

50 Things by 50 Ten Days Out FINAL COUNTDOWN

Progress reports happened in October and December, and here is my check-in with a mere TEN DAYS left before the end of birthday month! 

I have accomplished all but the following goals: 

3. Publish a poetry only book. 

    I am about 80% finished with this project. Cross your fingers for me, people.

11. Go on a sibling(s) trip. 

    There are plans to accomplish this along with the golf thing on Monday. 

13. Visit a lake.  

     I almost did this but had to cancel. Plans for this are set for the final days. 

16. Find something meaningful to do for others in honor of each of my parents' birthdays. 

    I made my mom's homemade bread in honor of my mom's birthday, and I decided what to do for my dad, but execution has not been possible yet. Hopefully, it will happen.  

20. Complete the revisions on my will. 

    Still needs to happen. 

21. Revise and renew life insurance. 

    Still needs to happen.  

33. Play at least one round of golf (probably go to the driving range a couple of times first). 

    This goal will be achieved on Monday during the siblings trip. 

36. Attend a city council meeting. 

    I am attending this tomorrow!  

46. Brush up on Spanish. 

    Finishing strong for the last week!   

All-time Best 100 Films

For my 50 Things by 50 challenge, I wanted to do a top 50 films list, but that proved to be too difficult to decide, so I am running with 50 x 2 = 100 for this goal. 

My qualifications for creating a definitive list like this include being raised up to be a movie connoisseur from a very young age and carrying this torch my whole life. My parents would take us to the theater on opening night/weekend and the drive-in often. When at-home devices were invented, we got a Betamax and a copy of The Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt, and it was all over from there. We wore that beta tape out! One of my favorite pastimes has been movie watching and collecting. 

I hope you enjoy my take on what constitutes the best…because I am pretty confident that I am right. 

QUALIFYING FACTORS

Creativity/Innovation, Nostalgia, Quality (Performance, Production, Writing), Repeat Watchability, Personal Impact, and Societal Impact 

All-time Best 100 Films 

1930s

1. Gone with the Wind (1939) 

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 

3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

1940s

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

2. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

3. The Strawberry Blonde (1941)

4. This Is the Army (1943)

1950s

1. Ben-Hur (1959)

2. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

3. Gigi (1958)

4. Rear Window (1954)

5. Sleeping Beauty (1959) 

6. South Pacific (1958)

1960s

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

2. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

4. The Great Escape (1963)

5. The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

6. The Magnificent Seven (1960)

7. Mary Poppins (1964)

8. The Music Man (1962)

9. My Fair Lady (1964)

10. The Sound of Music (1965)

11. Summer Magic (1963)

12. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)

1970s

1. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

2. Rocky (1976)

3. Scrooge (1970)

4. Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (1977)

5. Superman: The Movie (1978)

6. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

1980s

1. Annie (1982)

2. Empire of the Sun (1987)

3. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)

4. The Karate Kid (1984)

5. The Pirates of Penzance (1983)

6. The Princess Bride (1987)

7. Stand and Deliver (1988)

8. Steel Magnolias (1989)

9. Troop Beverly Hills (1989)

10. Victory (1981)

1990s

1. Babe (1995)

2. Chaplin (1992)

3. Clueless (1995)

4. Dances with Wolves (1990)

5. Ever After (1998)

6. Forrest Gump (1994)

7. A League of Their Own (1992)

8. The Sandlot (1993)

9. Schindler’s List (1993)

10. Selena (1997)

11. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

12. The Truman Show (1998)

13. While You Were Sleeping (1995)

2000s

1. The Bourne Identity (2002)

2. Bright Star (2009)

3. Dan in Real Life (2007)

4. Enchanted (2007)

5. Finding Neverland (2004)

6. The Great Debaters (2007)

7. The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) 

8. Invictus (2009)

9. Miss Potter (2006)

10. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

11. Nacho Libre (2006)

12. Ratatouille (2007)

13. Remember the Titans (2000)

14. Sherlock Holmes (2009)

15. Walk the Line (2005)

16. The Young Victoria (2009)

2010s

1. The Age of Adaline (2015)

2. Black Panther (2018)

3. Coco (2017)

4. Collateral Beauty (2016)

5. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

6. Ford v. Ferrari (2019)

7. 42 (2013)

8. The Help (2011)

9. I Can Only Imagine (2018)

10. Inception (2010)

11. Inside Out (2015)

12. Interstellar (2014)

13. La La Land (2016)

14. Leap Year (2010)

15. The Magnificent Seven (2016) 

16. Mr. Church (2016)

17. Moneyball (2011)

18. Ophelia (2018)

19. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

20. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

21. A United Kingdom (2016)

22. Wonder Woman (2017)

2020s

1. Belfast (2021)

2. Cruella (2021)

3. Enola Holmes (2020

4. I Heard the Bells (2022)

5. Land (2021)

6. A Million Miles Away (2023)

7. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
8. Till (2022)

BONUS: 15 All-time Best Historical Fiction or Inspired by a Book TV/Mini Series

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984)

All Creatures Great and Small (2020)

Anne of Green Gables (1985)

Downton Abbey (2010)

Great Expectations (2011)

Jane Eyre (2006)

Larkrise to Candleford (2008)

Lonesome Dove (1989)

M*A*S*H (1972)

North & South (2004)

Once Upon a Time (2011)

Poldark (2015)

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017)

The Wonder Years (1988)