I am thankful for...

Thanksgiving, and friends, and calculators, and computers, and cars, and weather forecasts, and traffic-cams, and Christmas bonuses, and Shout Wipes, and lip gloss, and mascara, and lotion, and ergonomic keyboards, and the Food Network, and air mattresses, and Californians, and visiting Californians, and especially LL who I now miss tons!, and scented candles, and pumpkin pie, and toner in the cartridge and not on me, and Amazon.com discounts, and displaced New Yorkers who love me, and puppies, and kittens, and allergy-free cats, and blue, and christmas trees, and christmas music, and dinner invitations, and Shakespeare, and bifocals.

I am thankful for...

water, and blankets.

I am thankful for...

holiday Kissables.

I am thankful for...

New Christmas Tree toppers. And shopping trips with LL.

I am thankful for...

Edgy's listening ear.

Today I am thankful for...

Yesterday, I was thankful for Chopin and Debussy, and Yoyo Ma.

Today, I am thankful for seatbelts that work properly and don't trap you to the driver's seat so that you have to use your best yoga moves to get out with all your coworkers cheering you on.

I guess that I must also be thankful for yoga, otherwise I would still be trapped in the driver's seat of a minivan.

I am thankful for...

progress.

Maeser School 2004









Maeser School Apartments 2006

I am thankful for...

football, and friends that know that I love football even if I forgot to pay attention to my team this year.

I am also thankful for memories.

And cell phones.

and I'm also thankful for...

...dusky November sunsets...
and accoustic guitar music...
and trees...
and the fact that I know the difference between real trees and Utah trees...
and the fact that I didn't laugh loudly at my coworker when she stated she was glad to get back from her vacation so she could get back home, "to Utah, the land of real trees..."
and finally, today, I am thankful that I am not the poor coworker who has never lived in Oregon. Beautiful Oregon.

I am thankful for...

Diet Coke with Root Beer and crushed ice. And wet wipes.

Today I am thankful for...

band-aids.

Thankful Leaves

Back when I was a silly college-freshman, I started this thing during the month of November and every person that came and visited my apartment had to write what they were thankful for on a construction paper leaf. Initially, the intention with these leaves was to rebel against the white-painted cinder-block walls of the dormitory, but soon my roommates and I discovered that we just liked sitting down and thinking about what we were thankful for. It quickly became fun to tease all the boys who came to our apartment into sharing what they were thankful for as well, and they liked doing it too.

By Thanksgiving time, all of our kitchen walls and ceiling were covered, and we even had some leaves trailing down our hallway. My roommates and I had cut out over 1000 leaves, and we had spent hours just sitting in our kitchen reading them out loud to each other and talking about them.

As Novembers have come and gone, I have gotten out of the habit of doing "Thankful Leaves" and I miss them. I know one of my former roommates has adapted the idea and makes a thankful tree, where her kids tie what they are most thankful for onto a tree that sits at the dinner table during the month of November. It's a very cute tree, and more house-friendly than the "Thankful Leaves." But, I have found that if I don't think about what I am thankful for every day, then I am not ready for Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.

But anyway, just wanted to give a little bit of an explanation why I am going to be blogging a bit every day for the next few weeks about what I am thankful for.