lists of 5: 5 thank you's

I must confess to being jealous at the amount of food being consumed in the northern hemisphere today, even more so when I read posts like this, but I'm also quite pleased that we don't have another Big Eat so close to Christmas, or another Big Plan or Big Cook, let alone another Big Family Get Together with all the associated potential for Big Politics.

My family is pretty good about skipping the politics, but I can't say the same for the husband's.... less than a month to go before Christmas and it seems that once again his siblings are refusing to engage with the concept, or each other. Anyway, the main thing about family politics is that they are b-o-r-i-n-g so I'm veering off that and on to this:

Although we may not celebrate Thanksgiving, I still think it's a good time to give thanks, and here's my list:

1. That summer is here!

And I'm grateful to live in a city in which we've been able to wet our toes in the waters off 3 different beaches in the last week (yesterday we visited the 3rd, mainly in the hopes of seeing the beached whale which was making such a fuss, uh... splash (sorry, couldn't resist it), but alas the whale had already been removed via flatbed truck for forensic analysis. My parents had spotted it on their dawn beach walk, thereby proving that the early bird whiffs the rotting whale and all that...)

2. That I live in the same city as my closest family.

Which means my daughter is growing up surrounded by grandparents, uncles and aunts. I see how she flourishes from their love and attention, and for that I am truly grateful.

3. For dinner out last night with good friends, no kids and, even more noteworthy and special for it's rarity, no excessive talking about kids!

4. For the guardian angels which seem to be watching over the 2 little premmie babies in our circle of friends. That they both seem to be doing well, and that their poor parents are handling the strain with good humour and positivity.

5. For laughter. Whether it's incited by cutting wit, blatant crudeness, the shortcomings of others, the idiocy of ourselves, the antics of our toddler, the expressions of our cats, the banality of world politics, a turn of phrase, a turn of a page, a misunderstanding, a misdirection or just because life is good, I'm deeply grateful for laughter - it is indeed the fuel of life.