What I Am Thankful For

It's Thanksgiving morning in America. My boys were up at a [somewhat] reasonable time this morning, so I am thankful for that. Mrs. Brave Astronaut is sleeping in this morning and I'm pretty sure she is thankful for that. When she gets up, we will have a nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon and everyone should be thankful for that (me, Mrs. BA, LBA and SoBA). I have the Macy's Parade on TV while we wait for Mrs. BA to wake and I'm watching that and looking out at a gray and foggy morning here in the DC suburbs.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving to all my friends out there on the Interwebs. Special wishes to my family, who I am not with today, but will see most of soon at the Christmas holidays.

I am thankful for:

• my wife. She is everything to me and there are days, most of them, in fact, where I don't know what I would do without her. She is my love, my life, and my true soulmate.
• my sons. Despite the chaos they sometimes bring to the household and my concerns about what kind of father I am - I wouldn't trade them for the world and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them.
• my father. I spoke with my father last night and he is as well as an 80-year old widower can be. He is spending the day with his girlfriend, who he has been living with for the past year. She is having some of her family over for Thanksgiving Dinner.
• my mother. My mother passed away three and a half years ago, but in her memory, because she always had to have them (even though she didn't like them herself), there will be pearled onions at Thanksgiving dinner. I miss my mother everyday and as we get into the Christmas season, even more so, as that was her favorite holiday.
• my siblings. Despite the fact that I will not see any of them today, I will likely talk to all of them at some point. If and when my sisters read this, I was telling someone the story the other day about at least one Thanksgiving dinner started out with sherbet and melon balls in the parfait glasses and served on the horse plates.
• my wife's family. Because of proximity, I tend to see them more than my own family. I am thankful for their help, their love and their support.
• my friends. There are a number of my friends that I haven't seen in some time and haven't been in touch with for a while. Christmas card season is quickly approaching and I am hopeful to reconnect with a lot of my friends. I am especially thankful to C in DC (and her family) with whom we will celebrate Thanksgiving with today.
• my home. Somedays I am not so thankful for it (ah, the joys of home ownership), but there are many people out there who don't have a roof over their heads or having trouble making ends meet and may lose their homes.
• my job. When I got my job in June 2006, I had been out of work for a few months and was unsure about what would happen next. I was lucky enough to get into the federal government just prior to a hiring freeze and have enjoyed the work and am thankful to have a job in an economy where many are without one.