Thanks A Lot

Me and Baby Jack at 31 weeks.

It's Thanksgiving and I love lists. So here 'goes ... in no particular order ... what I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving 2010:

• A life brimming with family and friends. A brimming life. A life that feels full. And the fact that full feels as good as I imagined.

• Fresh Market ("Freshy Market" in Nickyspeak) and Harris Teeter's online shopping. Convenience. Food. The marriage of the two.
• My son's awesome relationships with his grandparents
• The holidays
• Blessings in disguise
• January 26th getting closer and closer
• My loving, thoughtful husband
• My awesome son
• The caring, patient teachers who make my son run down the hall to his classroom every morning and deliver to me a happy, proud little camper every afternoon
• The whole "fishy kissy ... hug" scenario with Nicky
• Tea at bedtime
• Metallics and holiday decorating. Metallic holiday decorating. Holiday decorating with metallics. I'm so excited.
• Beautiful Virginia and beautiful Virginia weather
• Nice sheets and pajamas
• The novels of Oscar Hijuelos and short stories of David Sedaris
• Merry Maids
• Parsnips, beets, and all the other rooties
• Anything with a dumpling/biscuit crust
• Talenti Meditterean Mint gelato
• Not wanting anything for Christmas
• Having at least a couple good ideas for my husband's gifts
• Thirty-one happy, healthy years
• A daily routine that I miss when I'm gone
• A job I can do in my dogwalking clothes and with my dog snoring beside me
• Benefit Skinny Dip lipstick
• Maturity, patience, self acceptance, confidence, humility
• My son's manners, which he uses 30 percent of the time







This Morning

(I wish I had a bunch of in-the-moment pictures to accompany this post, which would make it perfect and much more fun. BUT, our weekday mornings are crazy couple hours of push and pull with some laughs mixed in. AND I've finally come to accept that perfect and real are mutually exclusive. This picture, of one of us, will have to do.)

So far today, one of us woke up with a wet leg. One of us thought it was pee, but discovered it was just the result of a leaky sippy cup.

One of us played choo choos in his room while the other yanked on leggings and sneakers and tucked in stray hairs and brushed her teeth.

One of us doesn't brush our teeth in the morning yet. The other is starting to think this needs to change.

One of us ate peanut butter toast and drank milk and didn't touch his grapes.

Both of us danced to Dan Zane's hokey pokey. One us did all the moves and found herself embarrasingly winded, while the other cantered around the island like a horsey.

One of us went pee-pee in the potty for the very first time!!!!

Both of us called Daddy to tell him.

One of us ate a celebratory mini Reese's cup, while the other uncharacteristically eschewed sugar because she had the 28-week gestational diabetes test this morning.

One of us walked into our room at school and never looked back. The other hid at the window and watched for awhile.

Happy Halloween

 From our house to yours!