Thankful

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for everything.  (Yes, everything.)

I'm thankful for some of the obvious things, such as my family and their health, for a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food on the table.  For living in such a beautiful place.  For a back yard that overlooks the water.  For being able to complete a half marathon.  For friends.  For laughter.

But I'm also thankful for the very things I tend to complain about.  The brutal commute takes me to a job--which I also complain about--that pays my bills.  Mostly. The long drives to Daughter's sporting events mean that she is healthy enough and happy enough and doing well enough in school to play sports.  The blog which I haven't had time to properly focus on for several year now?  That has connected me to some of the most wonderful people I've ever met.  I'm even thankful for that NASTY EVIL feisty artificial Christmas tree which fights me each and every year.  When we come to some sort of an agreement and it's propped up in a corner finally standing all decorated in the corner, I know there will be quiet moments of joy spent with Son and Daughter reminiscing about this or that ornament.

(Oh no.  It's Christmas again? Didn't I just put that tree away?)

Anyway, I do complain about a lot of things in my life.  But I am able to stand back from all that and realize that I have it good.  Really good.  And I take nothing for granted anymore.  I'm grateful for everything.

Perhaps most of all, I'm grateful we're not spending this Thanksgiving at the Golden Corral. We've actually done that before.  It was, shall we say, an experience. No, thankfully, this year all I have to do is trot across the yard and sit down at my parents' dining room table with Son , Daughter and Baby Sis.  My mother will do the majority of the cooking.  (I'll ask if I can do anything and then will not question it when she tells me no.)  

So, I am also especially grateful for what is shaping up to be a relatively stress-free Thanksgiving.

To read about a previous Thanksgiving which wasn't so relaxing, necessarily, click here for the recap of Thanksgiving 2012

Thank you for reading and my very special thanks to those of you who read and comment regularly.

I'm very grateful.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.