Property taxes due near the holidays, the damn swine flu lurking around every corner, the Oprah show ending in 2011...It's easy to complain. Most of us do it everyday. And our complaints are VERY legitimate. No one can deny that. Well, except maybe our husbands, who don't really get why Oprah is so important.
So, if there's one thing that this holiday is good for, it's reminding us of all we have to be thankful for, at least for one day. You know, the good stuff - the stuff that gets lost or forgotten when we're schlepping our kids to soccer practice in traffic, thinking of something to prepare for dinner other than a bowl of cereal (although there's nothing wrong with that), and complaining to our girlfriend about debt and nasty neighbors and 5th grade homework that we can't remember how to do.
Neither of my parents will be here for Thanksgiving Day. My dad will be skiing, because he's a jet-setter at 60+ years old. And my mom will be visiting her sister out of state - just where she should be, since her sister recently had a masectomy. She has A LOT to be thankful for. And there are no two people that I am more thankful for than my folks. The help and support they've given me is so immense, that I won't embarrass myself by trying to list even a portion of it here (I'm always afraid someone is going to say, "you're over 40, Nina, get a grip!"). But, I'll just give you two examples from this week alone: 1) my mom surprised us and brought over a homemade chicken potpie (with our initials made in the crust!), so my hard-working husband wouldn't have to cook dinner. She also brought the girls cute new clothes that they didn't need. Again. And picked up some red velvet cupcakes from my favorite bakery. Just because. Then she bathed the girls and got them in bed so I could continue working, and took their laundry home with her to wash it. I didn't ask her to do any of it; and 2) Our butts are sitting in a warm house right now because pops had two new furnaces/air conditioning units installed in my home a few days ago. Nothing says love like removing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from our old units. I get asked at least once a week by one of my friends if my parents will adopt them. My response is always the same: Heck no! Because that would mean less for me. Ha!
Because they aren't going to be around for Thanksgiving Day, we'll be spending the holiday with my best friend and her family. But, I had a special Thanksgiving dinner for my parents last weekend. It's the least I could do. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to show my thanks to them. I said a speech and everything, though next time I should probably write it down because I think I was rambling (yea, that's so unlike me, right?). Then after they were nice and full, I sent them out for massages at a place nearby. I'm such a grateful daughter, that I even advised my father not to fall asleep during the massage, in order to avoid farting.
The other stuff I'm thankful for:
* my new j-o-b. After 7 years of being a sahm, I am back in the workforce full-time. And I couldn't be more blessed, as I set my own hours (which usually means rolling in at 11am and leaving by 3pm) and work from home 2 days per week. Mama is bringing home the bacon! I just leave all the frying to my husband. Oh yea, I'm thankful for that too.
* that my 8-year old still wraps her skinny arm around my waist as we walk together in the mall or at the grocery store. As long as we're not on school grounds, she's not embarrassed to show her mom a little public affection, yet.
* that the baby no longer cries when I drop her off at daycare. And she now gets sick from daycare cooties about very 2-3 weeks instead of weekly. It does wonders to relieving some of that damn mother's guilt.
* that my husband will drag down about 20 storage boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic, and he's ok with me decorating for Christmas next weekend, and leaving the crap up until WAY after New Year's.
* you, my loyal blog readers, especially when you leave comments (hint, hint).
