Giving Thanks

I thought a lot about doing a Thanksgiving post. Some might say I thought too much as it's now 3 days overdue. At first I thought it might be trite or cheesy. You know, it's the obvious post to do on a day called "Thanks"giving. Ultimately though, I decided that too often the "Thanks" part of the day gets left out. In fact, there should be more days about family, food and gratitude, in my opinion. So, I did not want the season to continue without doing my part. In spite of how it might seem, I decided this days ago and was just so busy having a great holiday that it has taken me this long to write it out. Fortunately, that gave me more time to think about how lucky I am. So, without further ado, here is just a sampling of the things for which I am so very grateful.

My husband. More specifically, DH's patience with me, his love, his support, for taking LO so I can try to sleep, for rocking him so I can go run, for letting me buy new running shoes, for feeding me more meals (including Thanksgiving dinner) than I can count so I don't starve while I feed LO, for listening and having an opinion about cloth diapers and nannies, for baking cookies while I had contractions, for being an awesome dad, for helping with bath time, every bath time, for changing diapers, for working so I could take time off, for taking out the garbage, doing the laundry, cleaning up my messes in the kitchen and not saying anything about be not being in the kitchen for the last 2 months. For not holding against me the things I'm forgetting.

My son. His health, growth and development, his smiles, coos, facial expressions, his sweet touch and good temperament. His hours awake and definitely his hours asleep.

My parents,step-parents, and in-laws. The more I learn about being a parent, the more I appreciate the ones I have.

My sisters. We could not be more different from each other, and I could not love you more.

My friends. I have awesome out-of-town friends. They are the kind of friends who don't keep score and who call whether it's "their turn" or not. They have taught me about what it means to really be a good friend to someone. I did not think I had many friends where we are living now. I mostly inherited DHs friends when we moved here. They have been very sweet to include me. In the last year and during my pregnancy, I have found out how wrong I was. As a show of support and friendship we had nearly 6 weeks worth of meals provided for us after LO's birth. We felt very loved.

Our soldiers and my country. I think there are a lot of very messed up things about our society these days, but I am still glad to be here. I am grateful to those who have given their lives or their time with their own families to keep me safe. It will be hard enough for me to leave LO here for ten hours one day a week, I can't imagine leaving him to fight a war in another country.

My health. I'm in the worst shape I've been in in five years, but I am still well. I was able to work out during my pregnancy, but didn't run. I now have a different appreciation for being able to run and for solo workouts. I remember how important my workouts are for my mental health. I am also grateful to not be one of the millions of women who suffer from post-partum depression.

My job. I'm just glad to have one. I have traveled a long, hard road with this group. Ninety percent of our staff are great people with integrity and a good work ethic. Not many people can say that.

There are many more "little" things for which I am thankful, but I will stop here. I hope that everyone has taken some time to appreciate the people and gifts in their life. I hope you all have had a happy Thanksgiving holiday. If you are up for it, I'd love for you to leave a message with one or two things for which you gave thanks this year.