Hey, thanks!

Cell Phones ring, are you listening?
Twitter updates, my screen is glistening!
A beautiful site, toys half-price all night!
Scrolling through Cyber-monday land!

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for good will towards men (as long as they buy you the RIGHT holiday gift), love of your neighbors (at least if they get out of your FNARKING WAY AT THE MALL!!!!), and general all over good cheer (with enough wine. Well, not me. I don't like wine. So, with enough rum.). Seem sarcastic? Only because I work retail.

I shouldn't be complaining. I actually got off easy this Black Friday (Green friday? Chartreuse Friday?). Twelve hour shift, 4am-4pm... and I was actually out the door by 4:30. Customers were mostly polite and well behaved. I won't mention the person who ranted at me because, at 11:00am, we had no more of the $199 laptops. I'll be polite and sympathetic to her obviously delusional state. But all in all, not a bad day. Got in, got out, got it over with.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year, even though sometimes I blink and wonder "Do I, really?" It's hard to look past the bad (okay, it's not so BAD anymore... just "eh" at times) sometimes to see the great things in my life, but here I go.

I'm thankful first and foremost for my husband. He's been through hell the past 6 months, being sick and not knowing why (still don't), discovering he has an incurable kidney disease, traveling for work every week... it all adds up, the weight of the world on his shoulders. But he manages. I don't know how, but he does. Sometimes he's beyond crabby- straight into pissy- but he always pulls it together. I'm thankful for his strength, his love... and most of all, that he's here.

I'm thankful for my children. They infuriate me, they befuddle me, they exhaust me... but they lavish me with love and kisses, they make me explode in great belly-rolling gales of laughter. My kids may keep me running 26 hours a day, 8 days a week... but God, they are worth it.

I'm thankful for my home. Yes, the floors need mopped, the carpet REALLY needs replaced, and the deck should be condemned... but all in all, I'm living in my dream home (my reality dream home. My real dream home has a full 2000 sq ft studio, laundry chutes, and a live in masseuse named Fernando). But I have a home, a home that I OWN...well, me, Eric, and Wells Fargo.

I'm thankful for my neighbors. Each afternoon, I can let my kids go out and play in teh cul-de-sac while I start dinner. I don't have to hover or helicopter, because I know there are many other eyes on them. Sometimes I feel transported back to my own carefree childhood. How great is that?

Finally, I'm thankful for my friends. You keep me sane. You've dug me out of more holes than I care to count.

We have a lot coming up in the next few weeks.... Eric is finally heading to Mayo the 8th and we have the usual end of the year craziness. But right now I can sit back and smile at all the awesome things in my life. Really? I've got it pretty good.

Now, where's my credit card? Cyber monday sales start in four hours!