Happy Thanksgiving! The post in which I proclaim thankfulness...

Perhaps it's the massive amount of turkey and its accoutrements consumed today, but I am suffering a bit of writer's block right now.  Or perhaps it's the fact that I just spent nine hours wrangling my four year-old nephew, which, when he's consumed sugar, as he did today, can exhaust six adults.  Which it did.  In any event, I'm not in a creative enough state to tackle Just US's great roundup topic this week - "I'm Thankful I've Learned."  So, I'm going to do the ubiquitous "I'm Thankful For..." post instead.  Bear with me.

I am of course incredibly thankful for my phenomenal family and friends, who make it all worthwhile.  I'm thankful for my nieces and nephews, who remind me what it's like to be a kid again.  (Even though one of them is perilously close to being an adult, which makes me feel old.)  I'm thankful for my job, which has changed my life in so many wonderful ways.  I am thankful for my colleagues, near and far, who make the journey far more interesting and form the world's greatest support group and travel network.  I'm thankful for technology, which allows me to stay close with all of the above, even when I'm thousands of miles away.  I'm thankful for the pets in my life - cats, dogs, and even my brother's rabbit.  I'm thankful to have had seven wonderful years with my faithful friend Hattie, who I still think about and miss every single day.  (And now that I'm tearing up, let's change the tone a bit.)

I'm thankful for APO and pouch, which allow me to be a shameless American consumer and enjoy online Black Friday deals.  Come to think of it, I'm thankful I have no compulsion to venture out to the stores at 4am on Black Friday.  (More power to those that do; I just get my crazy in different ways.)  On this subject, I am incredibly thankful for Amazon.com.  In so many ways.  There are millions of other things for which I'm thankful, but writer's block strikes again. 

And it's worth saying again - my family, friends, and colleagues are truly amazing.  Wishing all of you as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I was able to enjoy at home in NH today, surrounded by loved ones.