Happy Thanksgiving!

Sadly, Thanksgiving has come and gone for 2009, and while I'm late in posting about all the things I'm thankful for I am no less thankful. We've been a little busy this past week, and actually I'm a little sick now (it's been brewing for a few days, or longer... I can always tell when I'm coming down with something - my skin breaks out as if I were back in high school and I feel really sluggish), but better late than never to profess the good things about life.

So, where to begin. What I'm thankful for. Well, I'm thankful for lots of things. Things like cats whose tongues are giant-sized, and cats who will eat their wet-food treats off of plates that are this cute:

I'm thankful for my enthusiasm for baking when everything goes very right when the taste goes right but the look not so much (these are supposed to be cookies) and yes, even when everything goes very, very wrong (if I were a perfect baker I'd be Martha Stewart, and there's only room enough for one of her in this world).

I'm thankful for my husband, who is always such a trooper. He drove two hours with me to the Atlantic Spice Company, helping me stay focused and efficient in the store, and I've never seen a sexier gas-pumper. I'll mention, too, that he's an excellent fence-mender (literally - thanks to high winds, here's before and after).

I'm thankful for family who keep me smiling and who keep me stuffed with good things to eat. Can you believe this incredible plate of food? No wonder I looked like this after cleaning my plate: I was thinking about licking the plate clean, too, since it was all so good, but since I'm thankful for family pets (and for family pets with my name), I let Rose have that pleasure.

Ah, let's see. What else am I thankful for. I am thankful for natural beauty and for tiny, efficient cars that will hopefully allow us to continue to enjoy said natural beauty for many more years to come.

Really, I'm thankful for everything. The people in my life, the things I have around me, the fact that each morning I wake up and am healthy and alive. I'm thankful that each day when I come home from work (and yes, I'm even thankful that I have a good job and can go to work each day) I can pet my cats and give Doug a hug, and wake up and do it all again the next day. We're celebrating two years this coming February, me and Doug. I'm thankful for that. So what else is there to be thankful for? Not much. Friends, family, pets, food, shelter, warmth and compassion. All of it is good, this year and every year.