Blessings!

Whew! The great feast and ensuing activities are over!

I have to confess the one thing about Thanksgiving that intimidates me (besides the turkey) - listing my blessings. At Thanksgiving, EVERYBODY is talking about their blessings. Some people are really articulate and expressive about such things. I just get nervous. Why? I have too many blessings to just start listing them....what if I leave one off? What if I have another of those episodes where I can't remember the names of my children and I forget to mention them? What about nature and home and hearth and all that stuff?? How do you pick only a sampling or shorten the list?

My solution is to be grateful everyday and not just Thanksgiving. I thank God everyday for lots of stuff. I think it is great to have a day devoted to gratitude and family and friends with absolutely NO gift giving and plenty of dessert but Thanksgiving should be everyday. Wait. Thanksgiving should be everyday without the turkey (remember, the turkey is intimidating). I try to have an "attitude of gratitude" no matter the season. It helps me get through bad days. It helps me to stop whining. It helps me to laugh when I want to cry.

So, in light of the above stated facts, please forgive this rather unorthodox if not a little politically incorrect look at my Thanksgiving 2010:

I am grateful for the AWESOME apple pie that I made with homemade, from-scratch crust. (Yes, I am bragging).



I am grateful for this Dyson hand-vac that sucked up all the flour from the floor (and off my clothes) after the pie production. Rob is very thankful, too. Which explains why he is about to kiss this hand-vac.
I am grateful that the turkey was edible again this year. I calculated that I have made the Thanksgiving turkey for the last 15 years or so and every year something different goes wrong with it. The worst year was the year it was still raw when I carved into it.

I am grateful that Rob learned how to make the giblet gravy and I never have to make it again. Ever.
I am grateful that certain relationships are still in tact even after they were stretched a little further than recommended by the manufacturer....
I'm not mentioning any names, of course....

I am grateful for neighbors who drop by for a visit and bring along their precious children - one being a ripe old age of 1 month. I love other people's month old babies, don't you? I got to sleep through the night that night!
Finally, I am thankful for fall leaves and the changing seasons and good health and firefighters and rock and roll and spandex and the military and electricity and my siblings and sea shells and cotton sheets.....see? Once I start it just feels wrong to stop.....hot showers and internet and gardenias and pepper and pasta and cedar trees and New York City and books and roller-coasters, rosemary, hymns, fire-pits, old friends, new friends, bio-freeze.....

One last thing. See, I almost forgot this one. Bad hair, bad breath, my baby.

OK. I really must stop because my artificial, bad for the environment Christmas tree is waiting. Just do me a favor? Keep Thanksgiving going on a daily basis (and don't pressure me to list blessings). No turkey dinner required!


~J