I love Thanksgiving. To me, it's the eating and the merry making without the stress of gift-buying that Christmas brings. And when you are at my parents' house, you will eat. I am currently sitting at the table in our house in my pajamas (at 11 a.m.! How great is that?) putting off eating anything until we eat at three in the afternoon. Then, the plan is for everyone to collapse in a coma on the couch and watch Arrested Development on DVD, which we have gotten my family hooked on during this trip. I do realize that this holiday is not entirely about eatinig, so here, for your enjoyment, is a list of the things I am thankful for on this, Thanksgiving Day 2004:

* Two years ago yesterday, Dan asked me to marry him. I am so thankful for him. He is my best friend and I am the luckiest woman in the whole wide world to have such a great husband.

* I am thankful for my family. We're not all together on this day, because my brother, Aaron and his new wife, Kelly Rice, are on their honeymoon in Jamaica. We will all be together in a few weeks for Christmas, and that makes me happy. This year is a little different, because after Christmas, my brother Aaron is leaving for a seven-month deployment to Iraq. So Christmas will be the last time we are all together in one place for quite some time. I'm glad to know that and be able to make the most of our time together.

* I am thankful for my new car.

* I am thankful for nasal spray, because I have caught my annual cold. I am also thankful that I did NOT catch the flu, which is what happened last year at Thanksgiving. That was awful.

* I am thankful that it has actually gotten kind of cold here in Mississippi. Now I am going to go sit on the swing on the pier overlooking the lake and look at big beautiful pine trees.

May God bless y'all and yours.