Thanksgiving

Gratitude 
I got another job offer.  It's a great job, and I'm incredibly proud of myself for landing two opportunities within two months of getting laid off during the worst recession my generation (hopefully) has ever seen.  Plus, I didn't crack during this downtime, which is another reason I'm so proud.  I work very hard to maintain a glass half full outlook; I've practically made a study out of identifying what sets me downward and managing how to keep me optimistic.  Only My Beloved was aware of my waning enthusiasm for the whole "funemployment" gig.  For someone like me who enjoys crafting a career, the lack of an office and corporate ladder to climb can get depressing. I'm grateful for the company that downsized me so I wa able to get this new, exciting job. 

We're on our way home from a week of fishing in Andros Islands, courtesy of my incredibly generous parents.  Mom stayed home, so I got a lot of Daddy-n-Me time.  It's been a while since we've hung out just us and he's so much fun! Once when I was discussing the difference in relationships between Moms and daughters and Dads and daughters, my mom commented that all little girls love their Daddys (as in "Dad can do no wrong.")   Mom and I have spent a lot of time together as "adults", but not so much me and Dad.  I'm very thankful for these last five days.

I've a week of downtime before I start with the new team.  To celebrate and reward myself, I'm off to the west coast to spend it soaking up more family, who I will not see this Xmas.  As I write this on the plane home, I'm fantasizing about the fun things to do with my sisters.  I'm the really girly one of the bunch, and I think they like that about me.  Manis, pedis, haircuts, and clothes shopping for an evening out with their husbands while I babysit the chillin and teach them how to bake, read them scary stories, and help the youngest learn to say my name.  It will be a rushed two days in Portland and another two in Bend but, really, two months would be too short and I'm grateful for what I can get.

And I'm especially grateful for the man in the seat beside me slumped over his tray table.  Not only handsome and kind, but he's the most supportive partner I could ever hope to find.  What I might be most proud of is being able to provide for my family.  Not that he needs it -he's perfectly capable of providing for himself- but I can keep him flush with homemade pizza, lazy Sunday afternoons, and all the home-repair supplies a man could ever want.  Left to his own devices, he'd make do with iceberg lettuce sandwiches and NPR on the radio while living in a studio apartment.  He likes his life better with me in it, for richer or poorer, and for that I am truly thankful.