Thankful

I woke up at 6 a.m. this morning...for those who know me well, this is an obvious aberration from my preferred morning routine. I had one of those Sarah MacLaughlin "I'm so tired I can't sleep, standing on the edge of something much too deep" kind of risings. I guess the upcoming move, the still untidy details, and the forthcoming adjustments are weighing heavily on my mind.

As I lay in bed, knowing full well I couldn't get back to sleep, I let my mind wander from panic, short-circuiting levels of detail, and trepidation to today's obvious theme. So in no particular order, here are some nouns (people, place or thing...or, as I just learned subbing in 5th grade awhile back, ideas) I'm thankful for:

* a cadre of eclectic, candid, loving friends who never let me take myself too seriously yet compassionately walk with me in times when seriousness is the order of the day

* my loving husband who just "gets" me in a way few others do. As of November 29, we've been together 20 years.

* Sony, who I would want as a friend even if he wasn't my son. I love watching our relationship change and grow as he does likewise. Sony is a wise old soul with a dry sense of humor and a deep love for people. I'm lucky to know him.

* Minky the Magnificient who lives daily with vision disorders that plague his cerebral input yet still finds a way to be amazingly funny, incredibly compassionate, full of verve and damn adorable. He is the reason I am no longer a perfectionist and boy am I glad about that.

* My quirky, creative, off the wall set of in-laws. We've learned to love one another over the years and I can't imagine life without them. They've taught me a great deal about who I am and who I want to be by simply not accepting my crap and by being themselves.

* My family of origin. Ah, how does one succinctly post about them? A lovingly dysfunctional bunch who truly and deeply love one another but all have different ways of showing it. I'm not sure that any of the 5 of us could be any more different from the rest of us but, somehow, we're part of one unit and I'm thankful for them all...and for all of their offspring.

* my laptop, my cell phone, my Palm pilot and all other convenience electronics

* my friend The Moviemaker who came through with a video camera that plays 8mm tapes when I destroyed my old dinosaur camcorder as I fell down the stairs

* my former neighbor Miss Emily who is sending my new MP3 player all the way from the deep South because our Office Depot ran out of them and hers had one. Oh yeah...and for all the other numerous times she's saved me.

* my wonderful cats. One may think she is a dog and a queen and the other might be annoying about jumping up onto my laptop everytime I'm at my desk, but I really can't imagine life without these little critters. They are steadfast companions who don't talk back and they often make me laugh. When I watch our boys interact with them, I am overflowingly thankful for the cats' patience, love and companionship. They have taken the stress in our home down a notch since they moved in.

* my education, my kids' educations, and my husband's upcoming educational adventures

* a call! An ordination! Seeing my efforts and emotional, financial and mental investments come to fruition.

* medical providers and teachers who have never given up on Minky's complexities and who have tirelessly worked with us and with him.

* the fact that I'm not a Puritan pilgrim (too many rules), didn't have to personally voyage on the Mayflower (too many days on too many waves), and didn't have to live in Plymouth, MA in 1620 (too cold, no electronics, the list goes on and on...)

* my ability and love for writing and the possible writing gigs brewing on my back burners

* God. Yeah, it can sound corny and trite but, really, I'd be nowhere and nobody without God.