THANKS-giving! Hah!

See what I did there? Of course you do. :)

So, things I'm thankful for this year.

Firstly, I'm thankful that I passed my exams. Like all the thankfulness that it's done. It pretty much ate my life for a year, and while I don't regret it in the least.... I have a number of other things I'd like to move on to, not the least of which is my dissertation.

Secondly, I'm thankful for my husband. Matt made it possible for me to do... well, everything over the past year. He really honestly is the best thing to happen to me, and he makes all the rest of it worth doing.

Thirdly, I'm thankful for my kids. Alisdair and William are really the best sons I could ask for. They live much further from me than I like, but I respect their choices -- our time together again will come. They're such awesome people, and it's a privilege to be their mother.

Fourthly, I have these dogs, you see. As I sit crosslegged on the couch right now, Si has wrapped himself around me and is sleeping with his head and shoulders between me and the couch back, using my leg as a pillow. Si is irritating and stubborn and noisy and demanding and really the sweetest dog I could ask for. Leo and Sephi are lovely and I would never want to do without them, don't get me wrong, but Si's my doggie, and I'm incredibly glad to have him.

We have a lot of problems in the world, but we also have a lot of things that are right and worthwhile. Sometimes distress over the former makes it hard to identify the latter, but it's always, always worth making the effort. In that spirit, I will keep trying to find ways to make the bad better while celebrating the good, in this year and years to come. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.