Thanksgiving

From Tony Carillo's F Minus.

Things for which I am thankful, in random order:

1. Hostess Ho Hos. Was SOL after moving from NoVa to the land of no Ho Hos in Cocoa Beach as an urchin. So glad their distribution is more pervasive now!

2. Harmony. Especially minor harmony. Listening to the Indigo Girls and Jonatha Brooke bring back high school choir memories of "Great God Almighty".

3. SuperTarget and the many, many gifts it has given me. The baked brie with pear in phylo being the best.

4. Close peeps. Coyote, Otter & family, Boone & family, PJamaMama, Kimplicated, Pid, and Sheena have all had their praises sung previously. But there are others - you know who you are.

5. Potato chips. Charles' Chips. Utz. Archer Farms Sea Salt & Black Pepper.

6. A wee urchin's request to "do it again!" when they discover something they like.

7. Great fiction.

8. My rows to hoe. They're mine. They may occasionally suck, but others can be way, way worse.

9. Thong underwear. No more lines!

10. That I never had to wear the *original* thong underwear - belts for sanitary napkins. Ouch! Ew!

11. Good humor. Odd humor. Geek humor. Just not intolerant humor.

12. That I'm living in a digital world, and I'm a very digital girl.

13. Dairy Queen Dipped Cones.

14. That my Dad & stepMom unintentionally performed a diet intervention last summer and opened my taste buds up to many wonders.

15. Many great teachers who did not suck: Ms. Bertoci. Jill Rock. Milton Borens. Joyce Dillingham. Dr. David Kirby.

16. Wood burning fires on cold days.

17. Memory.

18. Family. They're mine. They may occasionally vex, but others can be way, way worse.

19. That I've never been touched in anger by a man. Or a woman, for that matter.

20. Forgiveness.

21. Walks on the beach, alone and with company.

22. Bacon.

23. The creatures, past and current, who've comforted and loved me: Peanuts. Sambo. Snoo Too. Boo. Sugar. Dinky. Pooter. Koko. Oscar. Stuey. The human ones too - you know who you are.

24. Becoming more and more comfortable with who I am. And who I ain't.

25. Science fiction.

26. Tubs of icing that do NOT have to be purchased with accompanying cake mix, thank you very much!

27. The odd. The geeky. The dorks. The doofuses. I am one. I am them.

28. That my second toe is longer than my big toe. It's mine. It may occasionally thwart a shoe purchase, but others can be way, way worse. Or freakishly strong. You know who you are.

29. That I can learn from mistakes.

30. That successes don't (usually) make me an a**hole.

31. The opportunities to see beyond my back yard into other parts of the world. Looking forward to more.

32. My grandfather's chocolate chip cookies. Best package received, EVER! (Alas, the last was freshmen year.)

33. That my grandfather never knew how much I didn't like his fruit cake cookies.

34. Those unusual sorts that actually like to cuddle when they nap/sleep.

35. French fries. Steak. Shoestring. Crinkle cut. Hashbrowns (they count). With salt only - have never acquired the taste for catsup, even with the food revolution. I live a relatively condiment free life. But dipping a french fry into a shake - goodness!

36. The Swede, and that he's still the kindest person I know.

37. That I live where I can experience all four seasons. Only one climate? Schmimate.

38. My stoopidly curly hair. It's mine. It may suck, often vex, and frequently thwart, but others can be way, way worse.

39. The clever. The cheeky. The witty. The smarta**es.

40. DVR and the remote control - on demand, baby.

41. Fantastic conversations that employ heart, wit, authenticity, and words with more than three syllables.

42. That I'm learning, albeit slowly, to hold on to what's important, and let the rest go.

Mark Tonra's James