It’s a busy week at my house.  We’re moving my daughter into her DC apartment, I’m trying to tie up what seems like a thousand loose ends at work before I officially retire at the end of the year, there’s a Thanksgiving meal to plan and prep for, and then there’s the ominous spectre of holiday shopping and decorating just beyond this week’s horizon.

In other words – I’ve got a lot going on.  I’m sure you do as well.

Life sometimes does that to us.  We’re so wrapped up in the moment or planning the next big thing that we don’t stop for a second and take stock of what we have and what we’ve achieved.

This week’s holiday is a chance to do that.

I don’t often stop to give thanks, but taking just a brief moment to reflect, I can say the following (and without hesitation):

• I’m thankful to have a loving family (both direct and extended).
• I’m thankful to be in good health.
• I’m thankful to have a loving wife who has supported me and loved me through thick and thin over the past twenty-six years.
• I’m thankful for Saturday morning coffee visits with my mother.  Our conversations mean the world to me.
• I’m thankful to have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my pantry and fridge.
• I’m thankful to have been given the opportunity to work in a field I felt suited for, as well as the successes in my professional career that came with it.
• I’m thankful for the opportunity to retire at a somewhat young age to enjoy the “third act” of my life.
• I’m thankful to have raised two beautiful, strong, and independent daughters, who continue to make me proud every single day.
• I’m thankful to live in a small town.  Everything isn’t perfect, but some days it gets pretty close.
• I’m thankful for good friends.  One can never have enough.
• I’m thankful that I’ve been able to see many far-flung places around the world, as travel broadens one’s experiences and perspectives.
• I’m thankful that people (like you) take the time to read the ramblings of a sometimes cranky old man.

I hope that later this week, when you are sitting down to a table filled with fall favorites and surrounded by family and friends, you too will take a moment to think about – and even express – one or two things in your life that you are thankful for.

Then on Friday, you have my permission to put up that damn Christmas tree.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!