Daily Gratitude #7 - I am thankful Obama is still our President. I don't think he is the end all be all, I don't think every step we have made is above reproach. But overall I believe everything has been in the right direction, and I pledge to continue to try and "lean forward" to continue the good works, and improve our country for EVERYONE.

Daily Gratitude #6 - I say that I hate that I cry at everything, and to a point that's true. But it is also a source of gratitude that my family and mentors raised me to be an empathetic human being who can acutely feel emotion, happy or sad, and express it in such an undeniable way.

Daily Gratitude #5 - I am grateful for sweet puppies. My dogs are such a source of joy for me, and getting to be their steward is a gift. I hope they can somehow feel how much I adore them.

Gratitude #4 - I am grateful for technology! Wow, what an age we live in, right? I love that when I want to know something about my world, I can have it at my fingertips in moments. As a big old nerd meets geek, this thrills me to no end.

Daily Gratitude #3 - I am grateful for my brain. I am grateful for the capacity to reason, consider, dream... I love that my brain was trained (by my family, my teachers, my friends) to be used as a tool for good work in my life, and that those elders and colleagues encouraged me to question any "truth" I was given to find the answers for myself. Never has the value of this cognitive power been more clear that in this election, where I sadly see so many accept what they are given without questioning or reasoning. Thank you brain, and thank you all the examples set by my betters as I have grown up to know to use this invaluable tool.

I am thankful for my work, which affords me flexibility so my creativity can flow at a more natural pace for me. I know this is a rare and precious perk of working for yourself, and that is why I am so grateful for it.

Ah! November Daily Gratitude starts today. Post something you are thankful for every day in November.

I am thankful for sweet warm puppy fur between my fingers.

Here in Seattle, we are having a white Thanksgiving. I don't remember one since I was a wee little girl, so it is magical. It will turn to rain soon, and get slushy and yuck, but hubby and I are enjoying the winter wonderland immensely for now.

I have begun cooking, and the house is already filling with delicious smells. Honestly, we really began yesterday morning when I cooked up the brining liquid, filled our cooler with salt/suger/stock/allspice berries and plopped our 20lb bird in to float around for 18 hours in said cooler set up on the snowy back deck.  About five years ago we started brining our bird in a simple water/salt/sugar blend, and two years ago we began to bypass stuffing our bird and instead using aromatics as recommended by our beloved Alton Brown--we will never ever make a turkey any differently ever again, and it even informed how we bake whole chickens throughout the year.  In a word: YUM! This year we're going whole hog and using Alton's full recipe from brine to finish, and I am completely confident it will be the best bird yet! I am searing the skin now, will tent it and cook until our family arrives this afternoon. Chris' sister and her husband, and Bapa will be joining us this year.

It's a bittersweet holiday this season, not having Pat here. I find myself trying not to cry now and again, so I cannot even imagine what is in Chris and Steph's hearts as they face the first holiday without their beautiful mother.  It makes me reflect on my family, on how little I get to see them, how much I miss my father and my grandmother... but it also makes me feel even closer to my new family I married into. Getting to spend time with them has become such a joy for me as I have gotten to know them better in recent years, and we are even closer now after what we have gone through this summer.

To sum it up, this Thanksgiving, they are my greatest blessing. I am so thankful for my family, and how warm they are in my heart this season in particular.  I am thankful for their kindness, their humor, their generosity, and their love.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. May yours be as sweet and full of love as mine is today.

Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for the choice to take a day of rest. Many people on our planet work nearly all day, every day, and barely make ends meet. A day you can choose to do almost nothing is a blessing indeed.

I know the awesomest people.
Honest people. Kind people. Generous people.
Open people. Communicative people. Caring people.
Funny people. Discerning people. Passionate people.
Beautiful people. Creative people. Practical people.
Thoughtful people. Inquisitive people. Adventurous people.

They are my people. YOU are my people. And I adore each and every one of you.

Thank you for being in my life. For sharing yourself with me.

Lucky lucky lucky me.


(PS "People" starts to look like a strange word after a short time, don'it?)

Petting a puppy under my desk, cold toes running through warm soft fur...Daydreaming about the "next big step" in my life, and what it will be like (all good in my fantasy, of course)...
Having friends who believe in you and show enthusiasm and support at all the right times...
Being terrified, and having Christopher to hold my hand and rally my spirit...