Day 33: Thankful

So it's the day before Thanksgiving and I have so very very much to be thankful for:

-Darian has her best friend here and they are having a fabulous time filled with talking and shopping and laughing and sharing. These girls just get each other and...it's beautiful.

-This morning Roy and I were taking Savana to Guerin's and since Roy had to wait for Savana to finish packing, he decided to blow the leaves off the driveway with the leaf blower. Meanwhile, I got in the car--and he tried to 'blow me away'. It was a fairly strong 'wind' that thing created and it blew my hair back. So when Savana came out, he did the same to her. Knowing she had just fixed her hair and was, of course, wanting to look her best, I braced myself for her to yell at him--irritated. But I heard nothing. So looking up, I saw my daughter, laughing as she did the 'Marilyn Monroe' pose--the one where she's standing on a vent and it's blowing her skirt up. And in that moment, I was just so thankful for this silly daughter of mine who is so so happy. And it shows.

-I'm thankful for family traditions. For my entire life, I've had homemade noodles on Thanksgiving. It's a tradition that's been passed down through the generations on the Nicholas side of my family. So every Wednesday before Thanksgiving day, I mix up, roll up, cut, and roll out 3 recipes of noodles. And then when I cook them on Thanksgiving day, they are absolutely delicious. I guess it's a rather unusual tradition as I've never met anybody else who serves homemade noodles on Thanksgiving. but  it's one I'm thankful for. Normally when I roll them out I'm assisted by my girls. But for the first time in probably twenty years I did this process by myself. It was a tad sad, admittedly--but it gave me a chance to think back over the years to all of the generations that have gone before me and cooked noodles for their families...I thought about my great-grandmother rolling out the dough, assisted by her seven daughters. And then the day came when she could no longer roll out the dough and her daughters would come home, cook the noodles for her. And now, years later, it's my turn...I too was once cooking the noodles for my family, surrounded by children. But now they are growing up and soon, they will all have families of their own. It's weird--this cycle of life. Weird and crazy and beautiful.

-I'm thankful for Roy who is always on my side. No matter my latest musings or fancies--he quietly supports me, never says a single word of condemnation. If I need to go somewhere, he happily drives me. And if I want to go alone, he says--be careful and let me know when you get there (though I rarely do these days). He's a good guy and... I like him.

-And of course I'm thankful for Jace and how he makes me laugh. And how he's growing up. And how he's so insightful for a ten year old.

-I could go on regarding all of the things I'm thankful for. I love living in North Carolina; I love the holiday season; I'm thankful for so many, many wonderful friends that I've made through the years; for my sisters and nephews and nieces; for my pets--though I have far too many; for my job that I deeply love; and for modern technology that allows me to blog at 11:00 at night when, since I have to get up early in the morning to prepare for a day of travelling and visiting and eating, I should really be in bed.

It's a good life--one that I am thankful for. I like my journey...and I'm looking forward to where it takes me.

I'm thankful for a pair of shoes that feel really good on my feet; I like my shoes.

I'm thankful for the birds; I feel like they're singing just for me when I get up in the morning... Saying, 'Good morning, John. You made it, John.'

I'm thankful for the sea breeze that feels so good right now, and the scent of jasmine when the sun starts going down.

I'm thankful...

Johnny Cash