Full of Thanks and Pumpkin Pie, but Mostly Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all are having a great holiday and that your crazy uncle hasn't cornered you to discuss the affordable care act while picking his teeth with a turkey bone. I am thankful for many things, and a lot of them are so obvious that I never really think about being thankful for them. Like, I'm really thankful that I have toenails because I like getting pedicures wearing flip-flops and I'd be too self-conscious to do either of these things if I didn't have toenails. Plus, I know the Vietnamese ladies at the nail salon would be totally laughing and talking about my lack of toenails and I wouldn't be able to understand them.

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 Here are some other things for which I am thankful:

1. That I have three healthy, energetic children.

2. That I don't have more than three healthy, energetic children.

3. That when I Googled, "symptoms of a broken jaw" on the second day of Thanksgiving break, none of my healthy, energetic children ended up having a broken jaw.


4. That when someone told me yesterday that I reminded her of her favorite New Jersey Housewife, that Housewife was Dina Manzo and not one of the others.

5. That Thanksgiving is close enough to Christmas that I won't forget where I put the silver serving pieces and the silver won't have time to tarnish.

6. Nutella. There's really no more to say about that.

7. That Fox Brother's BBQ made the turkey again.

8. For friends you've known for 20 years with whom you can share anything and they will still be your friends.

9. That Black Friday only happens once a year. Shopping shouldn't be so stressful.

10. Electricity. We lost power for an hour yesterday and when the lights came back on, I said a prayer of thanks to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison.

11. That Mom made the dressing and the spinach casserole.

12. That Dog has sort of helped the Boy get over his dog phobia. Now he's only afraid of other people's dogs.

13. For Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for making my kids healthy again more times than I want to count.

14. That I'm educated enough recognize this mistake:

This is the example card from a box of invitations
at Michaels. It should read "It's Party Time!"
Yet another reason to find Michael's depressing.

15. That my sister-in-law and brother-in-law are joining us for Thanksgiving.

16. That the K likes taking the kids to the park to play touch football on Thanksgiving.

17. That pumpkin pie is the perfect excuse to make homemade whipped cream.

18. For all the people who do important, necessary things for little monetary reward: teachers, soldiers, police officers, firefighters, and social workers.

19. That Dad is coming to Decatur to help me out when the K is out of town.

20. For the two school carpools, the tap carpool, the soccer carpool, the baseball carpool, and the basketball carpool that make getting the kids where they need to be logistically possible.

21. For fluffy puppies who are very cute when they aren't biting your pants legs.

22. For exercising and writing. The other alternative for me would be to stay in bed and guzzle wine. I'm thankful that I can make the healthier choice.

23.  For having such an amazing year with so many cool experiences. I never thought I'd meet a president, ride in a private plane, and see Honey Boo Boo at Disney World. It's been quite a year.

24. For my wonderful family and great friends.

25. That people (you guys) actually go out of your way and take time to read what I've written. It's (not Its) beyond flattering. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!