Random Things I’m Thankful For (not a comprehensive list)

1. I’m thankful for my job. In this economy, I’m lucky to have one, particularly one that is as intellectually challenging as teaching. I am never bored at my job; never. That said,

2. I’m thankful I don’t have to go back to work until Monday (HUZZAH!).

3. I’m thankful for family, for my two little guys, for the fact that my sister and her kiddies are in town for the holiday and that the girls get to meet their new little cousin Luke for the first time. It will be a much-photographed moment, I am sure.

4. I’m thankful for Peet’s Earl Grey with Lavender tea. It is, in a word, divine. Other writers may abuse alcohol or cocaine or nicotine; I just drink cup after cup of this heavenly stuff (much more civilized, don’t you think?).

5. I’m thankful for these shoes. They were a splurge, to be sure, but they are the most comfortable heels I have ever worn. EVER. And given how much I am on my feet during the day (see #1 above), that’s a pretty huge feature. “I love these shoes,” I told my husband the other night. “I LOVE these shoes. I want to marry these shoes.”

“You’re already married,” he reminded me patiently.

6. I’m thankful that I belong to a faith where the love of Mary is not just tolerated but actively encouraged. Along with that, I’m grateful that I’ve come to see her as not just a pretty lady on a pedestal but as a complex figure, a spiritual guide, a woman who can speak to and empathize with us in our darkest moments.

7. I’m thankful that there is a God who chose to be born of that woman, to enter our messy and broken world and offer us another way of looking at things like forgiveness and eternal life and love.

8. I’m thankful that we have a holiday dedicated to thankfulness. I’m a better person for it.