So, what am I thankful for this year?
A loving wife.
Four great kids, especially our new arrival.
Good health for everyone, including both of our mothers.
A strong church.
A good job and a salary that lets my wife stay home with the kids.
A boss who’s a decent human being.
Only being away on business for three weeks this year.
A new and bigger house, with a walk-out basement and a decent lot.
Passing a very challenging quality management certification first time back in April.
That I'm not a turkey.
What do I want for Christmas?
A promotion (would be the first for four years).
A pay-rise (ditto).
A buyer for our old house.
An orally-fixated cheerleader (pom-poms optional).
And another year like this one.
What are you thankful for?
The first Thanksgiving in 1621, yesterday. Known to Native Americans as Thanks For Nothin’ Day…
10 comments:
We don't do Thanksgiving, but I think it's a useful exercise, so here goes:
Grateful for:
Being alive after this year's health scare
Having a job that helps tens of thousands a year
New kitchen etc
Sense of having righteously kicked 2006's troublesome booty right into the New Year
Lots of lovely charity carol singing to do before year end (rattles tin)
For Christmas:
A healthy newborn nephew
A nice, kind man I can trust
but if Father Christmas is busy with Darfur, just the healthy nephew will be fine.
The EMBLOS
The Kids
The Fact That I Don't Worry About Being Blown Up In A Pizzeria
The Job
Friends
For Christmas:
More of the same.
Cheers.
Guess it's my turn, huh? Here goes, then; I'm very grateful for:
An absolutely terrific girlfriend;
Being allowed to write a dissertation at a top-notch school in them States;
Becoming ABD this year (no, that's not some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile; it's nerdish for All But Disertation -- believe me, it was gruelling;
Pretty damn healthy, too;
Not having gotten shot in Baltimore -- not even mugged once, in fact;
Siblings doing fairly alright in the land of Dante and Berlusconi.
For Christmas, I'd very much like a fellowship next year, so that I can sit on my ass and deploy the few scholarship skills that I've got. Or maybe a six-month stay at the Max Planck Institut in Berlin. Whatever.
Happy T-giving, everybody. And, if you're Native American, sorry, but my ancestors didn't screw you over. They were probably white slaves themselves, at that time.
I’m grateful for:
*The safe arrival of our new bub, Jessica, born 3 weeks ago.
*I’d be even more grateful if she’d sleep more than 4 hours at a time.
*Good job and a house to live in.
*I’d be even more grateful if said house did not need repainting.
*Wonderful wife.
*I’d be even more grateful if…mmm… no, she’d do.
For Christmas, I don’t need any presents, unless it’s a few elves to paint may house and do other general slave duties.
Happy Thanksgiving to the American readers. Being Australian, I shall not bother with the turkey and relatives. But an American I travelled with on an African overlander trip made his cultural and cuisine contribution to the group by teaching us how to make ‘Smores’ (sp?). mmm...I think I have a taste them right now. So I shall salute you all by buying the ingredients this afternoon and stuffing my face with a few later on tonight.
Congrats on becoming a new dad, Rod. Them little tykes are only annoying for the first two years or so -- and then extremely annoying again when they reach adolescence. But you get about a decade-long break in between. So hang in there, old boy. Ivan could tell you they're not that bad.
Thanks Des.
While I’m thinking about the Smores sugar fix-
I went to a Thanksgiving dinner at an American expats house in Oz one time. She topped a large bowl of sweet potato with marshmallows. Another time, I went to barbeque with some people I met in Hawaii. He marinated the barbeque meat with 7-up. Then there is the whole Peanut butter AND jelly thing.
Is this normal American behaviour? To make savoury things sweet and sweet things sweeter? It all tasted surprisingly good, so I’m not complaining, even if you are all weirdos.
If life gives you lemons, make Sprite, Rod. 150 calories per serving, dude.
Ivan you are one lucky boy.
I am thankful for a loving husband, children and grandchilden who are healthy and seem to be happy and every day I get to spend with my loved ones. And on a different level I'm thankful to have been introduced to blogging.
For Christmas I would like my husband to be able to walk longer distances so we can walk together for pleasure.
Fuck all. A friend of ours was brutally murdered last week along with half his family (funeral tomorrow), and my ex just told me she's pregnant (not to me). At least nobody is trying to feed me any sodding turkey. Can you eat confit of duck at thanksgiving, or would that be seen as too french?
Hopefully she was the ex before she got pregnant, Rob. Sorry to hear about your recent run of misfortune, but at least your Christmas list pretty much writes itself...
You can eat whatever you like at Thanksgiving, even confit. First Amendment, that is. Eat a burger on Bastille Day, on the other hand, and they slam you in the trunk of one of their traditional burning cars in the banlieues. God Bless America!
Special congrats to Rod for his baby and Aunty M for her return to rude health. And fingers crossed for your Green Card, Canty - we know that unpleasant suspense all too well...
Post a Comment