Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I wanted to write something thoughtful to mark this day, here and at my blog. First I wrote this:

At the moment I’m most thankful to have a day where I can sleep until noon and be less stressed and anxious than usual, knowing that I have no particular obligations today beyond the pressure I put on myself to get some school projects done.

I just finished writing one paper on my laptop computer while in bed and have about 12 left (projects, not beds). Now I’m going to drive around to look at our first snowfall of the year and see what’s open today before I prepare leftovers for lunch and dinner.

But that Thanksgiving message felt inadequate and selfish so I wrote this:

I am thankful for:

• Friends and family that support me through good times and bad.
• Friends who will set me straight when I am doing something dumb or short-sighted.
• The innocence and curiousity of children who take more pleasure in the receiving a sticker or learning a lesson than an adult would by getting a new car.
• People who give me a second chance when I rub them the wrong way.
• Realizing that though I may feel lonely today I know there are friends who
  I can call who will cheer me up.

• Holiday weekends that I can use to catch up on important projects.
• Patient people who have tolerated me as I work on areas that I know need improvement, particularly my handwriting and public speaking, particularly reading books aloud for children. I took the odd step of reading some my fiction aloud at Port City Java and the response was heart-warming.
• The upcoming Christmas holiday, not because of the presents I want (though I’ll post a wish-list tomorrow) but because it means spending time with my wonderful family which is spread out across this great nation (I’m in Maryland, my sister and two nieces are in Austin, Texas and my brother, sister-in-law and mother are in Southern California).
• Photographer friends and colleagues who want me to resume taking photographs of landscapes and patterns, a hobby I have put on hold for a one year masters program.
• Strangers who provide kindness to people like me.
• Libraries and Netflix so I can watch shows like CSI.
• The written word, which is an amazing thing. I think I explain what I mean with this short story.
• The Internet which, while it can cause many problems, can also lead me to new friends and situations – most recently the Blogcritics community.
• Understanding that while there are evil people in the world there are also idealists like me who still hope that one day we can live in a world where actions like torture and terrorism are not condoned by some.
• Someone who took the time to do mashups of President Bush singing
  Imagine, Sunday Bloody Sunday and, being the hipster that George is, White Lines.

• The soldiers we have fighting for our country. Regardless of what you or I think about the war or the president, it is good to support the troops.
• Military, conservative, and liberal blogs so that when I have the time to read them, I can get a variety of prisms through which to view the world.
• Those who know the struggles I am going through in order to become a teacher and who tell me to keep on struggling.

Have a good holiday weekend!

Scott

P.S. I told myself I can’t go out to explore until I wrote my first paper and now the snow has already melted! So I guess I should add that I’m thankful for self-discipline.