Nothing. I got nothing. Sitting here pounding my head, trolling Google images as ideas pop. A quick blurb of a post is all I ask. I am getting no cooperation!
So I tick through all that for which I am thankful. I learned a long time ago to give thanks for the minute and the ordinary. I am thankful for stylish, design oriented melamine plates from Target. I am thankful for Florida Crystals natural turbinado sugar. I am thankful for my Miele vacuum cleaner and Mrs. Myers. I am thankful for the inventor of Tupperware and reusable storage containers for my kitchen. I am thankful for self serve gasoline. Can you imagine the cost of gas if we were paying Junior to pump it for us? I am thankful for microwave technology; bacon in four minutes is a near miracle. I am thankful for roll on deodorant, the world is a sweeter smelling place with good hygiene and a little anti-perspirant. I am thankful for a son who has found his voice and speaks up for himself. And a younger son who continues to surprise and amaze me. I am thankful to not feuding with their father, my ex-husband. The journey over the last three years was treacherous, and maybe not yet on a perfect plane, but we never played tug-o-war with our children. We share them and share them well. And while kids struggle with comprehending why their families come apart, our sons know their parents equally want them and love them. I know that at age 37, I logically understood why my own parents’ marriage came apart. As their child, emotionally….it was difficult.
I am thankful for medical advances. The audacity of an invasive radiologist 10 years ago to attempt a balloon angioplasty inside an artery in my sister’s brain, saved her life, saved her mind and she defies all statistics and medical odds-ratios. I am thankful for magnetic resonance imaging that confirmed my brain lacked any similar congenital anomaly. Lightening strikes some families over and over again. I am thankful for the seemingly natural capacity to lead or at least jump first. I don’t claim fearlessness. As a child I was labeled tactless and impulsive (still am in many ways). But boy…I am thankful for not being timid. I like marshmallows. I am thankful I am not one.
I am thankful for retinol products and the ironing out of some fine lines and wrinkles. I am thankful for OPI nail polish and the back space button. I am thankful for indoor plumbing and disposable feminine hygiene products. I mean, seriously…..do you remember belts? My mom remembers rolling her own. And she doesn’t mean her cigarettes. I am thankful for time. I am thankful for adversity. I am thankful for a country in which I can own land, get an education, buy whatever books I want, listen to whatever music I want, post anarchistic or Uncle Tom-ish crap on the internet and not get abducted by the censor police. I like having 100 choices on the cereal aisle and an equal number of mustard choices, or beer, or pasta, or cheese. I am thankful for my coffee bean grinder. I am thankful I live seven minutes from my office.
I am thankful for this day. Even if it looks like this:
