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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Avec Gratitude

Dinner courtesy of some wonderful people.
Before we had dinner, I suggested to the family that we go around the table and state for the record what we are thankful for.  They glanced at each other over the rims of their root beer mugs and waited for my temporary insanity to pass.

You'd think we'd be more talkative around here, wouldn't you?  Well, we're not really that expressive when it comes to the positive stuff.  We're aces at pulling each other apart, at dissecting the foibles and tics and pointing and laughing when one of us stumbles.  I should be ashamed, but I'm not.

That's something to be thankful for.  We may not be soft and snuggly and Hallmark Channel fuzzy wuzzies, but I don't think there's a single person in this house who doesn't feel loved.  Right down to the last wretched cat. Hang on a second.  Let me see...

Okay, I just checked.  I asked each of them (the humans, not the cats) if they felt loved.  Here's how that went:

MathMan:  Yeah, who said I didn't?
Nate:  Yeah (with accompanying eyebrow raise)
Sophie:  I don't know.  Can I have a hug first?
Chloe:  Um....yes?

So there we are.  Love.  It is probably the greatest thing ever.  And we have it in spades.

And for that we truly are grateful.  Whether some of us are able to express it or not without a gun to our heads.

Here are some other things I'm thankful for:

RennRatt and her wonderful family who provided us with an authentic and delicious Thanksgiving dinner - Friends near and far - Family near and far - Laughter - Music - The moment right after I take off my bra - Good health - Shared memories - The gorgeous weather we're having - MathMan's job which pays the bills and gives him the chance to save the world - Books - Words - A hot shower - Remembering - Forgetting - Working out - Quiet - My trusty old laptop circa 2007 - The fact that Nate really loves going to school now - My digital camera that allows me to capture life as it happens - The silly cats - Movies that make me laugh or think or cry (as long as I'm alone) - The light and color at sundown when the trees are shadows against the palette of pinks, mauves, purples and blues - Hollyhocks on their tall stems - Art Deco Architecture - Still being able to recite Goodnight Moon - Chloe's happiness at school - The entire Art Nouveau movement - Edward Gorey - Anthony K. and his sock - My active imagination - Catching sight of a hawk on a wire or post alongside the road - When the car starts - The roof over our heads - Dry pavement - The cartoons and reruns I watched as a kid - Comfortable clothes - Major appliances that work - PBS - Agatha Christie and her memorable characters - High count cotton sheets - Lotion - Skype - My wooden back scratcher - The internet - Homemade fabric softener - Ibuprofin - Red wine - Billy Nye the Science Guy - British TV - Edward Hopper's art - Time - Sugar - How Sophie enjoys playing her clarinet - Dogwoods announcing the spring - When we get a little snow - Chocolate - Art created by my friends - A whole mess of other stuff - And you.  I'm grateful for you.

I hope you've had a good day wherever you are.  Tomorrow we'll get back to the pointing and the laughing.

15 comments:

  1. Yes, I think we have much to be grateful for. Life isn't perfect, but it sure beats the alternative. :-)

    I'm so grateful for my bloggy friends too. And that includes YOU!

    Go UT! ;-)

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  2. Ok, I am thankful for you, Lisa, but do not spread it around, especially to your mother. And I am thankful for my job and that it continues to be challenging and interesting and I can learn stuff, too.

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  3. Love you! Happy Thanksgiving!!

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  4. We can never be too grateful. Thanks for sharing your list, Lisa. You're on my list.

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  5. Wow! That's quite the list. Come back to it some day when you are feeling blue.

    Today is kind of melancholy... both in laws recently passed away & our 22 year old college kid won't be back till early December.

    We made the best of it - went out for a bike ride, but w/o gloves my hands were so cold, they were stinging!

    Anyway so glad you had a nice thanksgiving feast together, with an extra helping of love.

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  6. Good stuff Lisa.
    Your blog is never dull.
    So glad you had a good meal, even if your family is like mine, after Kevin and I gushed, my 3 said , ditto!....ah the love.

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  7. Been thinking of you a lot today. Glad to hear the day was good. I like your list, my friend.

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  8. I'm glad for the warm and dry place I'm in now while it is raining outside, as it did all day.

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  9. What a great list!

    What a wonderful friend you have in RennRatt.

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  10. Terrific post. The enjoying going to school bit is one of my worries, so I am always grateful when my daughter has a good day :)

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  11. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Lisa. I love your list of things to be grateful for. And you and your blog are among them for me!

    And Fragrant Liar is right, life sure does beat the alternative...just heard someone I knew from work who was only 54 passed away on Wednesday from a stroke. Makes you realize we have to make the most of every moment.

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  12. You'd never guess how thankful I am for your friendship unless I told you. There. I told you.

    Now for something completely different:
    Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
    A: No.
    Q: Did you check for blood pressure?
    A: No.
    Q: Did you check for breathing?
    A: No.
    Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
    A: No.
    Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
    A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
    Q: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
    A: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practising law somewhere

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  13. Of course, saying that from that list I am most grateful for the moment after you take off your bra (in my imagination) is utterly (no pun intended) shameful, but thankfully you don't discourage the truth, so there's that, lovely.

    I am glad you and your family had Thanksgiving together. I was not with my children as that's too many plane tickets to buy and I visited my mother and grandmother and had hoped to see my uncle whose last Thanksgiving this will surely be, but he didn't make it to the celebration.

    Having each other is really all there is... aside from the fact that we all like a little food, clothing, and shelter.

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  14. Those are certainly good reasons to be thankful and grateful. Happy belated Thanksgiving!

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  15. Aww, I'm grateful for you, Lisa! :) Your writing never fails to make me laugh and think.

    And just for the record, I am also very grateful for "The moment right after I take off my bra." *smiles*

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