And in the end…there is love.

I had a rant, all ready to go off on, but I decided to hold off and take a cue from my beautiful friend Mandy, and post a Thanksgiving Thankful list. Here goes:

• My family. Seriously, I have a great family. Y’all, we put the “fun” in dysfunction! I’m kidding. Kind of. In all seriousness, we’re far from perfect, but we love each other. And I know, without a doubt, that if I needed ANYTHING, I would have a mom, a brother, aunts, uncles and cousins out here as fast as humanly possible. And I love that.
• My friends. I’ve moved around quite a bit since college. A year in Nashville. Three years in Missouri. And as of now, around a year and a half in Colorado. So I love that I have friends all over the place. I have a friend in Alaska, several in Tennessee, a bunch in Virginia, a passel in Missouri, some in North Carolina, a few in California and a growing number here in Colorado. My friends are those people who get me through the day-to-day…through the bad days at work as well as the celebrations of success. I love my friends. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
• Food. Good grief, I love food. At work, I’m known as the cookie lady. I love to bake. I love to create. I love to plop a bunch of ingredients in a crock pot and miraculously come home to a meal. Most of all, I love to eat. There is nothing like chick peas, tomatoes and cucumbers wrapped up in a warm piece of injera. Or a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven. Or a bowl of oatmeal with the perfect blend of cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins. Mmmmmmm, now I’m hungry.
• Books. Since childhood, books have been a constant companion.  Reading Rainbow was my guilty pleasure. I love used book stores, breathing in that smell of dusty pages and book glue. I love it when a book falls open to where I was reading, seeing that bookmark peeking out like a little flag. I love escaping into a new world, meeting characters, imagining if we were friends. Okay, I’m a little weird. But I’m still thankful for books.
• My job. I know that I’m very blessed to have a job that I love. It’s thrilling to come to work every day, believing that my job impacts others. That because of what I write, people are learning about the plight of children in poverty–and maybe even deciding to rescue those children.

Okay, I’ve waxed poetic long enough. Here’s the real stuff I’m thankful for:

• Lemon cake
• Lotion
• Chapstick
• Hooker boots
• Hot chocolate
• Clearance racks
• Gift cards
• Candles
• Fancy pens