Thanksgiving

Yep. I’m doing it. The thanksgiving blog post. It was a good day, so I figured why not? Anyway. Lots to be thankful for today. Even though our families were far away, it was good to hear from them. And kudos to Jon’s family for the virtual birthday cupcake singalong yesterday. That was putting the iProducts to some seriously good use! But two of our favorite people made the interminably long drive from the cowboy state to partake in grilled turkey with bacon maple gravy, lots of sugar, and apparently some damn good coffee! Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, thanks to the ever growing little one, I don’t really have a ton of space in my belly for food, so there were no second helpings, but everyone else pulled their weight, took one for the team, and dug in. We’re never eating again.

Until Jon finds the leftover pumpkin pie. Then I bet there will be room to eat again. Probably for breakfast, actually. But there really is lots to be thankful for, besides awesome homemade pumpkin pie. I know I spend a lot of time perhaps not being as grateful as I should be. It’s so easy to get sucked into things that aren’t so great- to focus on what isn’t working. Not to say that there haven’t been some challenging hands dealt this year, but in the grand scheme of things, we’re so lucky. As I sat at my beautiful dining table ( I really love that table) with my husband who painstakingly grilled a turkey all day and two friends who have been with me through arguably some of the highest and lowest parts of my recent existence, I realized that this is truly a high point. There may be some furloughs this winter and money might be a little tight, but we’ll make it. And when you’ve got such good people in your life and live in such a beautiful place, it’s hard to dwell too much on what’s not working or what isn’t good. Don’t get me wrong… I’m good at it and I’ll do it again, but for now, this is a brief moment of being content. The little goober is moving around, reminding me of changes to come, both good and daunting, but mostly exciting. Even though he did prevent me from eating my own pumpkin pie thanks to his taking up an inordinate amount of real estate in my belly. I’ll get over that. Probably shouldn’t eat that much pie anyway.

So where is this going? Well, I guess the holidays are a mixed bag. It’s tough to not be near your family. It’s tough to know they’re all putting together 1000 piece puzzles without you. But thank goodness we pick up family along the way. And for my family, the one I married into, the one I picked up on mountain tops and ultimate frisbee fields, and the little one we’re about to add to our new family, I’m grateful.