For Sharing the Path...

The pies are baked, the turkey is waiting it's fate in my refridgerator, and the house is still dark. The floor is cold to my bare feet, and I see thick frost on my old car out our dining room window. It's November, alright. Even the kitties are curled up in the down blanket on the sofa.

I woke up early this morning, coughing and hacking, so not wanting to wake the sleeping angel men in my house I padded out to my computer. Thanks must be given today. Because I am oh, so thankful. If you read the paper at all, or watch five minutes of the news at six o'clock, unless you're the headline, you're probably thankful, too. And if you ARE the headline, please know that my heart is with you. truly.

I am thankful for the Lego airlines plane that I just stepped on under my computer desk, for all the toys scattered around my house by a merry imp. A merry imp who seems to be getting a huge influx of testosterone, and is changing daily. Growing taller, getting wiser and funnier by the hour. I am beyond thankful for him, the word "thanks" seems to catch in my throat, it's not enough. Not nearly enough.

I'm thankful for the husband who keeps me grounded, who makes me laugh, and who's intimacy I treasure more than anything. He will not believe this, but he is the most positive person I know. Because he's not a Pollyana, but he keeps going, keeps trudging forth in the world, making a difference in large ways and small just by being himself. He's kind and he's generous and he doesn't suffer fools. When I am with him, I feel like I'm the person I've always wanted to be.

I am thankful for my extended family - my in-laws who make me feel as though I were the best thing to happen since sliced bread. We've not been without our itchy scratchy moments, but they're few and far between, and it just proves that we're family. But how many women can say their mother-in-law is one of their dearest friends? I love their company, I miss them like crazy today, and someday, I hope to find the recipe to Mom's Oatmeal pie. I've tried to recreate it from the internet, and I nearly killed seven people last year who tried to choke it down. Mom - if you read this, and can find the recipe, please send it again!

I'm thankful for my brothers and my sister and my nieces and nephews and their wonderful, growing families. For our shared history and memories and our future adventures. My siblings were all much older than I, so we never really shared that giggling under the covers stuff, and there have been times when we didn't see much of each other at all. But I'm so grateful for their wisdom and guidance and for the fact that they never rub it in that I'm the baby. In fact, they treat me like a grown up, and I'll always strive to earn that.

I'm thankful for my job, and my colleagues and most importantly the kids who try so hard, every day to do their best, to communicate and show me their beautiful hearts. I'm thankful for "NO Anne", and "I don't like...", and lost markers, always yellow and pink, and jeans that are so loose they fall off as he walks down the hall. I'm thankful for the staff that guides me as I learn more about autism, thankful for the laughter and the tears and the sanity they provide.

And I'm thankful, so thankful to my friends who read this far. By some miracle of wires and networks and stuff I don't understand at all, we've connected. Some of you, I've never met, but I feel as though we've shared a bottle of something somewhere along the line. As I've stepped gingerly into the blogging waters, you were there when I shared my most embarrassing stories, my gushing parent stories, my horror stories. You've always had something to say, you've made me feel like less of a dork, and you've made me laugh out loud. You all have your own unique voices, and I love reading your stories. You inspire me daily, and I'm so grateful for all of you: There's Suttonhoo of course, with her infinite knowledge of just about everything and her heart as big as the desert sky, my real-life friend who inspired me to blog in the first place; then there's Franklin, my first official friend I don't know in real life, my sister of a different mother, who makes me spit my coffee out my nose with every thing she writes; there's MinivanMom, with her passion and her nerve and her desire to make the world better daily, there's Lola, the beautiful and kind and fiercely multi-talented; there's Kari the ridiculously talented, hysterically funny and well dressed; there's Rodius, with his humor and depth and heart, and of course the mighty Thumper; there's Rodi's mom, Purelight, with her wisdom and grace and fabulous sense of humor; there's my girl Donna, who's comments always make me feel like I'm chatting with a long lost friend; there's my real-life pal Claire, with her amazing mothering skills and sense of home; there's Kimberly, whose path is so different from mine but whose grace and good heart inspire me. I know there's some I've forgotten, and for that I ask your forgiveness. My house is awake now, and the Lego plane under my desk is being dragged across my big toe, so I'm losing my train of thought. Plane of thought? Anyway....

Today and always, I wish you all a deep well of thanks, full of moments to make you laugh, and think, and hopefully share, in your own amazing voices.