Thankful for:

I was overwhelmed when Matthew suggested making the list in the car on the way to Thanksgiving, and I begged for a deferral. But birthdays and thanksgiving both require reflection on what’s going well. I guess that loss might, too.

So:

I am thankful for my husband, who has a really great sweater collection. He once had a coffee pot for 18 years without dropping it or getting tired of it, and that’s the sort of care he takes of his wife and son. Uh, we hope. He is extremely appreciative when I make curry for him and he lets me have his hand-me-down socks. I am relating these small details because when I talked about how smart and handsome and moral he is, it seemed like bragging. He is excellent at hugging.

I am extraordinarily thankful for our tiny modular family starring my favorite little Lego with the stick straight hair and the wide bright eyes.

I am thankful for my cat. She likes to sit in my lap, though we only talk about once a week these days. I feel like she embodies forgiveness, though perhaps what she embodies is desperation. Anyhow, thanks Kitty.

I am thankful for for my amazing parents and extended family, most of whom we saw yesterday (Thanksgiving) and without whom the last few years would have sucked beyond compare.

I am thankful for my brother-in-law. When I first met him 19 years ago at a summer dinner at my parents’ house, he ate a hamburger in front of me so slowly that I started to write him off as, I don’t know, someone who didn’t like hamburgers as much as I would have hoped. As suspect in some way. But he has taught me about even keel. No one’s saying I eat slow or have an even keel, but that man can put away the burgers: he’s just pacing himself. (Um, way to underdescribe someone who deserves a cape.)

I am thankful for my niece and nephew, who are hilarious and delightful, and who ushered me into aunthood. One notable part of aunthood is how tired you aren’t. Yeah. They also gave me a glimpse of the breathtaking love that comes with parenthood long before I had a child myself. The breathtaking love without the tiredness. Yeah. Their whole little act is rather misleading, if you’d like to know the truth.

I am thankful for my friends, old and yet it is like no time has passed when we see each other; and new yet with huge promise. I also love my medium-rare friends.

I am thankful for my excellent Brooklyn neighborhood, which makes me feel cozy and proud. Smug, actually. And I’m thankful for our new apartment! And the bathroom, which is really nice.

I’m thankful for the coffee drinks at Market in our neighborhood. It’s the most delicious coffee there is. If you don’t believe me, march right in there and tell them you want a latte.

I am thankful for my car, which works well most of the time, and is quite shiny even though I’ve replaced the bumper more than once in the two years I’ve had it. (If you want to know where to get a paint job you’ll be thankful for, give me a call.)

I am thankful for my health.

I am thankful to have a writing project that I enjoy so much. Thank you, blog.

I am thankful for the fact that I love stuff, and for the stuff that I love: great books, cooking, yoga, a few award-winning tv series, sleep, swimming, and coffee are some of these things.

And I am thankful for the fact that I am not done! There are plenty of things that will catch my fancy in the coming years — I mean you, Zumba, teaching, pet turtle, and Siberian butter — and so I am grateful for a sense of possibility.