I think I forget each year about just how much I love Thanksgiving, at least until it’s right upon us. It’s that curmudgeony part of me that wants to gripe about traveling and seeing my family that’s responsible for it, I know. This year, I was fixated on how I didn’t get to cook or bake while my mother and sister did the lion’s share of the food prep, too. Once I got there, though, all of the gripes faded a bit and got lost somewhere in the turkey and beer and pie and playing children and people I haven’t seen in over a year and such and whatnot and then – bam – it’s the holidays and I don’t mind the incessant Christmas music quite so much.
Actually, I’m even kind of over my need to contribute to the feast in some way. Talking with a coworker about her struggle against a bedeviling cake recipe may have cured me of that (and led me to say, “That’s what they mean when they call recipes like that food porn – some people somewhere are doing that in some kitchen, and it’s great to be able to see that, but doing that in your own kitchen in front of people you care about is just going to alienate them and make things awkward.”
It’s become a bit of an annual thing to reflect a bit on what I’m thankful for, and who am I to break form? I’ve gushed effusively about friends and family not too long ago in my reflection on turning 30, so I’m just going to hope that they still know I appreciate them.
- Batman – I am never not thankful for Batman.
- Rocket Raccoon – an ill-tempered, talking raccoon astronaut with a penchant for shooting things.
- Scribblenauts – a game in which you can use items as various as the Large Hadron Collider, God and a plethora of Internet memes to assist you in solving puzzles.
- That I’ve managed to meet an amazing woman who doesn’t just tolerate my nerdiness but enjoys it and shares in it. And that (although I’m sure I’ll get chided for self-deprecation) I’ve not yet managed to screw it up royally.
- Pumpkin Pie
- Batm- wait, did I say that already?
- That I’ve not seen any films directed by Uwe Boll this year.
Please note that this is not a numbered list and that the actual order of importance may vary.
