Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate the holiday, and for those who don't, I hope you have many things for which to be thankful.

Thinking about that for which I'm thankful is a yearly exercise and an important one. It seems that the last few years have been the same, I'm thankful for the same things, and honestly, that's a good thing. That means my life is consistently blessed!

For what am I thankful? First and foremost, of course, my husband David. He's my heart, he believes in me, he inspires me, he props me up, he challenges me, he makes me laugh - all of equal importance - in short he loves me beautifully.

Then there are my friends. As I've said before I have several groups of friends corresponding to different aspects of my life - all are important, all are integral to my happiness. As an only child of a relatively small family, friends have always been important - but now they're more important than ever and I'm lucky to have a phenomenal group of people in my life.

My family. Now that both my parents are gone, most of my family are my in-laws. There's loads of them - and I just had Thanksgiving dinner with all of them! And there's also my aunt - my father's sister - and her husband and two kids who in turn are married and have two children each. Coincidentally, because life is like that, they live in New Jersey, about an hour away from my in-laws', so whenever we come for the holidays I see them. In fact we're having dinner with them on Monday.

My job. Yes, it's a painish and I complain, but I know I'm lucky to have a job and even more lucky that I enjoy it. It's a good company with great benefits. I'm definitely thankful for that. lease remind me about this in a week and a half when I have to go back to the office after being on vacation for two weeks.

My health. It's not perfect, there's a lot that can be better, but big picture - I'm so lucky!

Those are the big ones, but I'm also thankful for countless moments of joy and blessings.

What about you? For what are you thankful?

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

There's Pie!

Look at what my sister-in-law Cristi made! The bottom left is Pear/Cranberry/Apple Crumble; the bottom right is Pumpkin Pecan; and the top two are Dixie Pie which consist of Walnuts, Chocolate Chips, Bourbon and Brown Sugar! She also made a pumpkin roll and is going to make a sweet potato pie per my request!

This is the sister-in-law that lives in Texas. She' David's brother's wife. In addition to wonderful pies, she's an all-around great cook. She was the "head chef" for the famous Christmas Goose dinner a couple of years ago.

We're going pretty standard traditional this year - regular roast turkey cooked with turnips and butternut squash, several stuffings/dressings, mashed potatoes, sweet potato mash with bacon (!), green bean casserole, creamed onions, Brussels sprouts (yay!) and the pies. You know me though, I could easily do with just the side dishes. The turkey can be the centerpiece, Ha!

A Year of Thanks

This is a bittersweet Thanksgiving for me.

It's my first holiday season as an official orphan. As you may know Mami died in February of this year. Since my father's death in 2003, we hadn't really done the traditional Thanksgiving meal with her. Her Alzheimer's made it difficult to go to a crowded party, and frankly, being Cuban, she didn't really miss the turkey and all the trimmings. Don't get me wrong, when I was a kid and up until my father died we always, always, always did Thanksgiving, either at home or with family - in fact due to my father's dealings with and travel to the United States (and the fact that he would use any excuse to gather with friends and eat), my parents were among the few who celebrated Thanksgiving in Cuba. In any case, with Mami we would usually take her to lunch during the Thanksgiving weekend and she would have her Thanksgiving steak!

Since we started not celebrating the actual Thanksgiving meal with my mother, we have been blessed to have dear friends who have adopted Hubby and me for Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve (we alternate holidays with my in-laws in PA). This year we will be going to our friends' house and giving thanks with and for them. I'll have some sweet potato mash - Mami's favorite Thanksgiving dish - in her honor. I'm comforted knowing that in heaven she and Papi will be dining with all their friends and family who are with them, Papi cutting the turkey (that was always his job - slice a piece, eat a piece, slice a piece, eat a piece) and Mami enjoying her super-rare Thanksgiving sirloin with fried plantains and white rice.

On the other hand what a year to be thankful! First the biggest blessing of my life - my husband - he drives me crazy, he keeps me sane, he picks me up when I fall, and he holds me when I need to be still - he is my life and my love and there will never be enough thanks I can give for him or to him.

Next the blessings of friends and family - these wonderful people fill my life with love and laughter. I am so much a better person because of them, I am so lucky. As an only child, these people are my tribe and my support system. And did I mention the laughter?

On the Sports front - let's give a big Thanksgiving shout out to the 2008 World Series Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies! WOO HOO! OK, that was mostly for Hubby, but he's happy and that makes me happy so - YAY!

And of course, what I've been waiting for since November 2000 - the end of the long national nightmare! We have a brand, spanking new President-elect! And what a President he will be! I am thankful for President-elect Barack Hussein Obama. I am so proud of him and so impressed by him and Michelle. January 20th can't come soon enough.

And I'm thankful for this Blog which gives me a chance to vent, ramble, rant, write, and share with old and new friends. And I'm thankful to you for reading my musings.

Have a safe, happy and blessed Thanksgiving with those you love. May next year find us with even more for which to be thankful.