November 23, 2017
9:39 a.m.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It is highly unusual for me to be blogging before noon on ANY day of the year, but it's Thanksgiving, and I have already been a busy bee this morning.

I did salads last night. Check. The turkey is in the oven. Check. Soon I will put rolls in the oven, and then I will make a green bean casserole. The very last thing I will do today is make gravy. I generally have very good luck with my gravy, but it causes me anxiety every time, because I want it to be GREAT.

In the midst of all preparation, I am taking a break to have a cup of coffee and reflect on the many reasons I am thankful this year.

My number one reason for thankfulness is the fact that my mother is still among us. We had a very scary ordeal with her this past summer--if you read my blog, you know the whole story. Recovery was not overnight, and because of my personal circumstances, I was able to be with her through all of it.

I will add now that my father is also still with us, and happily had no health scares this year.

Parents are such a blessing to us throughout our lives, and anyone who has lived as long as I have and still enjoys the blessing of living parents is indeed a lucky person. I am grateful every single day that my parents are here, living in their own home and enjoying life. They do pretty much whatever they want, travel when the care to, and are able to take care of business as usual. That is awesome.

Ah, 2017. There were a lot of good things going on this year.

I got to take three of my grandchildren to Denver ComicCon. We had a great time. I met James Marsters. The boys were amazed by gigantic Lego displays. My granddaughter met Napoleon Dynamite, and he liked her costume. Three days of good, crazy fun, and I only got lost once! (I knew where I was, but everyone else had taken a wrong turn. Haha!)

I traveled with my parents to southern Colorado and to Idaho for reunions on both sides of the family. It is always wonderful to sit with aunts and uncles and listen to them all tell stories of their childhoods and early adulthood, the days where I had yet to make my debut into the world. That history is priceless to me. I also enjoy spending time with my cousins and learning first hand what they have going on in their lives.

We had weddings to attend this year. My son married his love, and we enjoyed quite a lovely celebration. All my children were together for that, which was wonderful. I am always grateful to have them all in one place. My baby lives too far away.

My niece married her love, and that wedding and reception were also lovely. It took place in Wyoming, and two of my daughters and their families were able to come. They got to spend time with aunts and uncles they don't get to see often, and also spent some time with their younger half-siblings. I'm very grateful for that; there have been many sleepless nights when I have despaired of that ever happening. I have always wanted them to have that relationship.

I spent a great deal of time in Wyoming with my parents this year. Not everyone in the world is lucky enough to have that opportunity.

I took a couple of fun trips to the casino with my sisters and we didn't lose our shirts. In fact, we had pretty good luck.

I ran into friends here and there. What wonderful chance encounters!

I published my second book.

And now, I am home and making a turkey for Thanksgiving, and soon enough the house will be full of noisy people.

I have a lot to be thankful for!

I may rant about 2017 in the future, but for today I'm going to say that there were some great things thrown in there.

Happy Thanksgiving!! Eat, laugh. love. (That's how it goes, right?) Spend quality time with your families. Enjoy.

Hope you find some great Black Friday deals. Tomorrow. Today, eat and take a nap!

I'm grateful for you all.