Thankful

This year, I’m thankful to still be working, at least for now. I’m thankful that my parents, my sister and her family, DP, his parents, his sisters, and their families are all healthy. And I’m thankful that our cat SMQ turned 14 this year and still tears it up like a kitten.

I’m also thankful for our friends, even though we don’t get to see them right now. I’m thankful for the friend who inspired me to host my first of many Friendsgivings, and taught me to make spoon bread. I’m thankful my college roommate and I can still laugh about the time we wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner for two international students only to find that supermarkets were closed and ended up having chicken fingers and tater tots instead. I’m thankful for being able to trade recipes with co-workers, and share Thanksgiving dinner with them even when we had to work on the holiday.

I’m thankful this year that DP and I were able to have our first Thanksgiving together at home. I’m thankful for being able to sleep in, instead of waking up early to make a certain dish, to be a certain place at a certain time to have awkward conversations with family members I only get to see at a certain time of year. I’m especially thankful we didn’t have to deal with Zipcar or any other car rental place changing our reservation or having their servers crash, leaving us unable to get into their car.

Instead, I’m thankful for being able to stay in our pajamas all day, and make a little meal of only the dishes DP and I want to eat. I’m thankful for Julia Child’s recipe for Braised Sauerkraut which made our turkey parts just as festive as roasting a whole bird. I’m thankful for leftovers, especially the Creme Brûlée Pie recipe we discovered at the eleventh hour and will eat for breakfast all weekend. Finally I’m thankful for my sanity, at least for now.