Friday night grateful moment

Life is good! Another mellow day in the country... home tomorrow by dark or so. Even though we just had that special day yesterday chock-a-block with thankfulness and football and naps, I should be able to dredge up a few extra things I'm thankful for...

*Thankful for the wide open spaces. The dogs have had such a wonderful time running to and fro. There has been a great deal of gopher digging and mouse chomping and let's-get-as-muddy-as-possible (mostly Ruby). They run as far up toward the tree line as they can before we call them back. But even Ruby hasn't gotten lost-lost... I did have to holler quite mightily to call her back from chasing a deer into the next county this afternoon, though.

*Thankful for a boy who is willing to help out, and can kick in with a good attitude too if you ask just so (and he knows future computer time is hanging in the balance! Ah, motivation...).

*Thankful for yummy leftovers. I have had so many of those perfect bites--that amazing combination of turkey-stuffing-gravy-mashed potatoes-cranberry sauce-yams. I know it is startling to think that all those dishes could get on one fork and into my dainty mouth, but it happens. And it's heaven. (I almost took a picture of my plate yesterday as I was about to tuck into it, but then I thought, "Good grief, I don't want people to know how much I eat! It's a shocking amount!" and thought better of it. So you'll just have to trust me that it was divine.)

* Thankful for blue sky patches among the clouds, and temperatures that have been rather moderate. I guess I'm a wee bit sad that we haven't had snow, but the warmth has been welcome.

* Thankful for a couple more days of home-time.

* Thankful we can put the tree up on Sunday so it's ready to to be reclined around when the Goerlitz Jrs. come to town next weekend.

* Thankful I didn't go out Black Friday shopping... I mean, I went out, but to little shops in little Joseph... no wild crowd mongering for me. And extra thankful I'm not a Wal-Mart employee in Long Island, NY. (Aside: I don't usually watch a lot of commericals, as any TV I watch has been dvr'd (meaning zip-zip through ads, oh joy), and wow, did we get our fill of ads yesterday. Who exactly is out at 4 a.m. the morning after Thanksgiving? I can't remember which store was advertising this crack-o-dawn opening time, but I was particularly mystified by what exactly it is one needs that can only be gotten at 4 a.m.... I'm assuming it's something quite special that would be gone by, say, a normal 10 a.m. shopping spree?)

* On my outing, I was thankful to discover a very fun bath/body shop in town, with a day spa. Yipee. A girl needs her indulgences. I will remember that for future trips...

* And just so thankful for all the fun pieces that make up life--work, home, relax time, friends, family, food. Seth got a fun little lecture this morning about work, productivity/work ethic and what a big percentage of his life these endeavors will take up in the future. I feel lucky to have enjoyed almost all the work I've done in my adult life, and grateful to have had some of those suck-it-up jobs in my younger years to be able to know the difference.

* Thankful that this is my 4th Thanksgiving in Joseph--we somehow didn't quite make it over the year we got married ('05)! It's a wonderful place to retreat and come back refreshed to the world, ready for the holiday whirlwind. Whoosh--that was the sound of December going by!

Happy weekend, all. There were more pix I wanted to share, but this connection isn't about the uploading right now, so more later.