So, so thankful

I have so much to be thankful for.

Let's start with this guy...

He doesn't always say the right thing, he doesn't always do the right thing and he eats in the middle of the night and gets crumbs all of the floor and counter. But he's my best friend. We laugh together everyday and he loves me, loves me, loves me. And I love him, love him, love him. I watch him with our furry babies and I know that he is going to be a wonderful father. I have never been more thankful for anything, as I am for him coming into my life.

Speaking of furry babies...

there's these two. The only thing that rivals how happy and thankful I am for my husband is how happy and thankful I am for these two. Lordy, I love 'em. They make me smile, they make me laugh, they make me cry. They are our family.

Speaking of family...

I am thankful for them as well. I wish a lot of things about them a lot of the time. Wish they were happier, wish they were healthier, wish we were closer. But they are our family and I am thankful for them. I mean, who and where would we be without our family? I love them regardless of everything else.

Speaking of everything else...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I've never had friends like I have right now. I can't explain how lucky I feel to have found a group of girls that I can trust and count on. Tell things to and know it won't be repeated. Go out and have fun with and laugh and laugh. They make me laugh, they make me smile, and they certainly don't make me cry.

And speaking of being thankful...

(I hope to have a picture on Tuesday. He was very uncooperative at the last ultrasound)

I don't know if I can explain how thankful I am for this Beaner in my belly. I love him already and we haven't even met yet. I am thankful for every little kick and punch, I am thankful for the big basketball belly I am sporting these days. I tear up with I think about how this was our last Thanksgiving just us. That it will be our last Hannukah, last New Year's. Tear up because I'm so excited, and tear up because I'm a nervous wreck. I think about how hard we tried for this Bean. How long we wanted it and how we really were beginning to think it wasn't ever going to happen. And now here we are just about eight weeks away from meeting him. And I am just so, so thankful.

Gooses

I have traveled the same stretch of I-84 for the last seven years. Back and forth, back and forth. I'm not good with directions, so I don't veer off my path. The last few springs I have noticed something awesome. Traveling east bound, home after a long day there are 2 geese who have taken up residence in the grass just inches off the highway, just into Chesire. In early spring they are alone, just the two of them. Hanging out and chillin in the tall weeds. And then in mid May it happens. Little baby gooses. And there the family hangs out every afternoon when I drive by. Picking at the grass, basking in the sun, enjoying each other's company. I love everything about this. I love the sight of this little family, two adults and their chicks. I love that they are so close to this very dangerous highway, and yet act as if they have not a care in the world. When I first saw them years ago, I worried for the day that I would drive by and they would be gone, victims of highway travel. But I think they are smarter than that, these gooses. I think they know something I don't know.

Things you probably didn't want to know, but I'm going to tell you anyway

Movies I know almost entirely line by line
*Jaws
*You've Got Mail
*When Harry met Sally
*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
*Dirty Dancing
*Finding Nemo
*The Little Mermaid
*Annie
*Alice in Wonderland
*Mary Poppins
*The Wizard of Oz

Musicals I could sing word for word for every character
*Annie
*My Fair Lady
*The Sound of Music
*West Side Story
*Fiddler on the Roof
*Oliver
*South Pacific

Things I think make me a little crazy
*I always put my left shoe on first
*Whichever sock I unfold first is the one that I put on first (on the left of course)
*If I eat something bite size, I almost always eat two. One for each side of my mouth.
*The volume control in my car is digital by numbers. I have to have it on even numbers. Except for 5's. (5, 15, 25 etc) For whatever reason I've never thought of multiples of 5 as "odd".

Musicians I think are brilliant for all kinds of reasons
*Dave Matthews
*Sheryl Crow
*All four Beatles
*Gene Simmons
*Beethoven
*Mozart
*Rodgers and Hammerstein
*Stephen Sondheim
*Leonand Bernstein

Turkey Lurkey

In a year where I feel like I have spent an endless amount of time complaining and wishing for what I don't have, I am so, so, so thankful for what I do have. As Sheryl Crow said, "Its not having what you want, its wanting what you've got." And I want what I've got and I love what I've got.

I am so thankful for my husband. I love my husband. I love that I know, with little uncertainty that he loves me. Does he always do the right thing? Say the right thing? No. But he loves me and he would go to the ends of the earth for me. Did you know Gordo is afraid of needles? Hates them, in fact. He went with me last weekend when I needed to get bloodwork done. I was nervous and he went with me, and while he didn't actually go in the room with me, he totally would have if I hadn't told him at the last minute that he didn't need to. Even though he's totally afraid of needles. Because he loves me. Gordo and I have been through so much together in the last year and a half. He has truly been my rock. Did you know that on one of our first dates, we were watching X-Men in the movie theatre and I look at him watching the movie and I thought to myself "I could look at this man for the rest of my life". Yup, I think I just might do that.

I am so thankful for my Rex. Nuf said, I love that stupid mutt.

While they drive me nuts, and half are nuts themselves, I am thankful for my family. And for Lee's. I am thankful that they are healthy, and that those who are ailing are finally able to get past whatever was holding them back and are on the right track. I am thankful for my mother and sister who are so much more than I ever gave them credit for. They have been more supportive to me in the past year than I ever could have imagined.

I am thankful for my own health. While things may not always go as planned, I know that I am healthy, and so is Gordo.

I am so grateful for music. I am grateful for singing at the top of my lungs in my car, and more than anything in the world, I am thankful for how that makes me feel. I am grateful for showtunes, even the bad ones. I am thankful for Sheryl Crow and Fiona Apple, Dave Matthews Band and Maroon 5, Beethoven and the Barber Violin Concerto. I am so thankful for these people who I will probably never meet, but who will forever hold the ability to make me smile, scream, laugh, cry.

I am thankful for my job. I am thankful that I have one, and I am thankful for the one I have, regardless of how much I hate it at times. The seven years I have spent at this job have, with out a doubt, helped to make me the person I am.

I have awesome friends. I am grateful for them, because that has not always been the case. I am grateful that someone would think about my feelings when something wonderful has happened to them, and would be so thoughtful in how to approach me with it. I am thankful that I could then call my other friend and just cry and talk and she could make me laugh. I am thankful for a good friend at work that I can trust. I am thankful to have girlfriends in my life that I love.

I'm thankful for Top Chef, Glee, Heroes and The Office.

I'm grateful that I decided to start playing clarinet again. I didn't realize how much I had missed it.

Oh, and I'm so, so grateful to still be able to eat sushi. And blue cheese. And drink a couple of beers.

L

Three years ago today L asked me to marry him, just a short six months after we met.
He's still pretty alright. I'll try and keep him around.