Gratitude

I wish I could spin you a tale of how wonderful our Thanksgiving is going to be, but that would be a lie and on this here blog, we try not to lie, just overstate. I would love to talk about the blessing that is our families, but again, that would violate the "no lying" rule we have going here.

So, instead, I thought I'd focus on why we celebrate the holiday itself: gratitude. And even though tomorrow will be stressful, sprinkled with harsh words, some unkind thoughts and maybe even a glare or two, I am still grateful that I will, at some point, get to take a moment to realize that things aren't so bad. My life outside of that setting is blessed, it is full and it is worth giving thanks for.

To spur my gratitude giving process along, I am listing a few of the reasons I am glad to be alive and happy to celebrate Thanksgiving (the non-sappy version):

1. Veronica Mars. I know you were expecting me to list my health, warm home and the mounds of love surrounding me. But let's face it, if I boiled it all down, Veronica Mars still tops my list. She rocks.

2. Butter cookies in little round tins. Again, you expected me to list something a little more soft such as, perhaps, a diverse and unified country, but this would violate that no-lying thing. And I do so love butter cookies. I do. I do. I confess.

3. Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Yarn. Beautiful colors, smoothly glides through my fingers and I own a lot of it. Why wouldn't I be grateful for something so wonderful?

3. E-mail. For years I wrote letter after letter after letter to my friends scattered across the country. As much as I love doing that, I often didn't get responses. With the advent of e-mail, the two-way communication exploded between all of us. How wonderful to shoot an e-mail to your best friend about something as important as the rash creeping up the back of your neck or the $6 shirt you got at Target. Those kinds of things had to wait or were omitted back in the olden days when I chiseled my messages in stone.

4. Hot showers. There are very few things in life that a hot shower cannot wash away. It's the whole reason I can't join the Peace Corps.

5. Black Friday. I will be shopping the day after Thanksgiving and I am certain this confirms that I am truly not just a little crazy, but completely mad. However, you have to admit, it's a great study of humankind. It brings out the best and the worst in everyone, and I mean everyone. Plus I must have that $19.99 shop vac.

6. Christmas lights. We never put lights outside of our house, but I am eternally grateful for those that do. I leave work at dark, so it makes for a pleasant ride home, as I take a different route each night, just to catch a new lighted house or two. Leaping reindeer, waving Santas, elves with packages. I love it all!

7. Staying up late. This urge doesn't hit me often, but I love it when I get that late night burst of energy and stay up into the wee hours of the morning. It's amazing what I can accomplish.

8. Blogs. Not necessarily my own, but all of yours. It's not only because I get to peek into your lives, but I also have gotten to "know" many of you. So see, it meets two of my needs: my nosy side and the part of me that cherishes my friendships.

9. Road trips. This is no secret. I love packing a bag, jumping in the car, slipping in the Patty Griffin CD and taking off.

10. All the good stuff: my beloved, my friends (all of you), my family (yes, even my family), my livelihood, autumn, my cats, knitting, my heritage . . . .

Wishing you and yours a blessed, safe and restful Thanksgiving (complete with a few episodes of Veronica Mars and some butter cookies.)

If all else fails, watch Home for the Holidays, it's what I'll be watching tomorrow night around 7.