giving thanks

And so it's turkey day! We're having dinner here at the homestead today, and I HELPED. It's a good time for reflection, isn't it? And so, here goes, a few things that I am thankful for, on this day, the 3rd day of my 30th year: I am thankful for my family. For my mom who listens to me babble endlessly about this ailment or that ailment, and she never ever yells at me or tells me to shut up because I'm being totally ridiculous (well almost never). She shops with me, knits with me, goes to the opera with me, cooks with me, and is a great friend. For my dad, who taught me about football, the value of a good work ethic and probably my sense of humor and certainly my sense of drama. For both my parents who encourage me always to do what makes me happy. For my dear little Start & Finish who bring furry feline joy into my life every day. For my friends who I love like family, who make me laugh, who taught me how to dance dance and rock out in rock band and who are always share their old lady problems with me with the utmost of candor (usually, for some reason, in a booth at Baker's Square). "You don't even care that I'm so weird - that's AMAZING!"

I'm thankful for my job, even though it has, quite literally, given me an ulcer. I had promised myself that by the time I was 30, I would be in a job in the performing arts world and now look! It's been a year and a few months, and I'm in that very job I dreamed about having. It involves more than I ever could have expected, and it's certainly a learning experience, every single day, but I am thankful that I am a small part of this completely amazing company.

I am thankful that aside from a few issues, I am mostly healthy. I am thankful for my home and my car and the new boots I boought from Skechers the other day. I am thankful that Barack Obama won the election, and I am also thankful that Hugh Jackman won the title of "People's Sexiest Man Alive." I am thankful for good food, good friends and good music, Starbucks holiday coffee, and that I have an Old Navy, a Sarah's Pastries, an Argo Tea AND an H&M within walking distance of my office. I am thankful for artists making their art on stage - we need you now, more than ever, in hard times, to uplift us and take us away somewhere else for a while. What else?? I am thankful to Al Gore for inventing the internet (ha!) so that I can jump online on a whim and go to WebMD to see what else I may be coming down with, or to chat with my friends at TBV (9 years! Can you believe it?) I'm thankful for Patti LuPone's Les Mouches album, the song "Super Trouper" and my new K-Cup coffee machine. I am thankful that I've gotten a lot of my holiday shopping done already and won't have to go out much tomorrow (but I will anyway, because I love to shop). I'm thankful that it's not snowing and that I'm going on vacation soon...

Happy thanksgiving, everyone!