We are spending Thanksgiving at my in-laws. What this means as a practical matter is that someone else did the shopping, but I get to do a lot of the cooking. That’s right, get to. I enjoy the doing tremendously, and my mother-in-law is perfectly happy to let me take over her kitchen, modify her recipes on the fly, and generally play. I did a fair amount of that in preparation as well, baking two batches of bread (two different varieties) yesterday and a third batch this morning before we left. Now I’m taking a break, typing on my mother-in-law’s computer while the turkey “rests”.
I have many things to be grateful for. The list starts and ends with family and friends, with the people who see me and my son melt down and don’t disparage my parenting skills, but ask how they can help, people who have a plethora of good ideas for things I can do to work from home, who rejoice with us when good things happen and don’t just shrug when the news is less good. In the middle, the year that started in utter uncertainty is ending with stability. The fears I had for a rural school system have turned out to be not just unfounded, but reversed; it’s turned out to be so much better than the last one that whenever we do get to buying another house, we will be looking in this school system and no other. If our home is isolated, it’s also quiet. If it’s small, it’s also comfortable, and the owners are delightful. The family is together again after too many months of living in separate cities. If not for those who helped us – you know who you are – we’d have drowned. If not for those who listened to me – and you know who you are, too – I’d probably be a good candidate for the little room with the quilted walls. So on Thanksgiving? There’s a lot for which to be thankful.