A November's Worth of Thanks

    I haven't done the Facebook November daily thankful thing because I am thankful for nothing!  Just kidding. The real reason is that I don't have that kind of follow through.  That's partially true.  The other reason is that I didn't get what was going on until about the fifth.  So, there. I am grateful for so many things, though, and I've always liked that we take this time of year to be mindful of gratitude and thanks.

     Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July have always been my favorite holidays because there are no gifts, and for me, not a lot of expectations.  Celebration for the sake of celebration.  We have holiday traditions, but they aren't that firm.  I don't think any two Thanksgivings have ever been the same.  I'm not really sure what traditions we'll start now with the baby.  We've always been so portable that we could go anywhere and celebrate with anyone.  Now there are just so many more moving parts to be considered.  He's one little person, but having a four month old is like trying move a caravan.  We tried to plan, because we are planners who love plans.  Plan plan plan.  Turns out, those plans just aren't going to work out this year.  So, now we're figuring something else out.  Maybe that's the new tradition.  That is, being flexible and figuring it out as we go.  I have no idea.  In my fantasy life, all of my friends and loved ones live in the same place so we can always have him wake up in his own house on holidays, but still see everyone who loves him without hopping from place to place. That wasn't the case for me growing up and probably isn't for most people.  We'll work it out, but I want so much for him to have some dinstinctly "us" memories as he gets older even if it's a little different every year.

    However we celebrate this year, I feel like this is the year that gratitude was made for.  I had a healthy baby boy.  I was finally made permanent at work.  Our friend made it through a health scare.  We've had the opportunity to spend time with friends and family we don't get to see much. I've got the most supportive husband in the world.  I can honestly say that nothing would make me happier than for my son to grow up to be just like him.   Like any other year, there has been some really tough stuff going on too, but I'm happy to take time to focus on the good things.  We've got new worries, but so many of the things I was worried about this time last year have worked out perfectly and that's important for me to remember.