Blogging instead of Brining

I got up early to brine the Turkey.  I am now distracted by the internet, and I'm thinking I may have missed the brining boat anyways.  As I recall it didn't make a huge difference last year so I am not going to cry big salty tears over it.  Although, now that I think about it... huge salty kosher tears may help tender my bird a bit.  Perhaps I should think of something sad while giving him his sink bath and paper towel pat down.  It wouldn't take much to make me cry as I am a crier by nature.  I cry these days when thinking about my poor suffering brother.  I cry over a misunderstanding I have recently had with someone, I cry while listening to This American Life, I cry when I think about my oldest leaving the nest.  Well... for that last one maybe I just get misty.  He can still be a teenager you know.

But on this Thanksgiving morning I should not be thinking about sad things.  I should be focusing on what I have to be thankful for.  For I truly believe that when you are down, all you need to do is make a list of what is good in your life and things will start to look up.  It's a tried and tested theory in my life.  And giving thanks IS my love language after all.  So here goes!

Lately I have been thankful for my body.  I know- weird right?  But as I progress in years I look at my mortality a bit more and think about what I can do to make this vehicle last for the long haul and not have it get in my way by slowing me down with problems.  So for totally selfish reasons I have started working out with more regularity.  I've stopped making excuses like "my bed is too comfy this morning" and I have been walking with some friends (about 3 miles) each morning.  I tried running but my body just isn't there yet.  I get ankle and foot pain that tells me to stop.  And yes, I have good shoes.  I have also been taking an intense 'cage fitness' class on Tuesdays.  I like telling people that "I am training to be a cage fighter" and then I watch for signs of a Napoleon Dynamite fan.  It's a good litmus test for coolness.  So the fun part has been seeing myself progress.  It has been good and I am proud of myself.  I have now lost 10 lbs due to this and eating better.  So I can say that I am thankful for my body this Thanksgiving.  Then I can eat with careless abandon and feel sick afterwards!  (Seriously- I tried eating pizza and fries the other day for my birthday and I about vomited afterwards.  I think my body was rebelling..... what's up with that?!)

I am thankful for the Gospel in my life.  I look around at the things of the world and all it's madness and I am so grateful for the guidance I have.  I am so glad I was raised the way I was -in a religious home.  For things that just come naturally to me, like eating meals together, spending time together as a family, praying and reading scriptures as a family.  Those things have made a huge difference in my life and I hope to pass it on.  My church means everything to me.

I am thankful (every day) that we have enough money.  Things have been tight in the past and I am grateful for those times too and for the lessons that struggle brings.  This year, however, I am thankful for the abundance we have been blessed with.  All those years in school and residency were worth it.  Now don't get crazy thinking we are rich.  We aren't.  But I am thankful we can give our children braces and music lessons with out sweating it too much.  Now I am thinking we need to pay it forward and bless someone else.  What a better way to show gratitude than to help someone else?

Well now it's almost 8:00 am and I'm thinking it's time to roast the mushrooms for the stuffing.  Can't miss that boat! (the mushroom boat- ha!)  Here's to hoping that Big Boy won't even notice them in the mix.

Happy Thanksgiving to my bloggy friends!!!