Thankfulness

"Each day offers us the gift of being a special occasion if we can simply learn that as well as giving, it is blessed to receive with grace and a grateful heart."

- Sarah Ban Breathnach

The Today Show discussed how a record 40 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this Thanksgiving. Well that not us this year! Beloved, G-Unit and I are WALKING less than ½ mile to Lynne and Amos’ home. Yup, that’s right. Hoofin’ it just like the Pilgrims and Indians.
We like to think of it as 'stumbling' distance from home should the need for tasty spirits arise. Our contribution will be Beloved's scrumptious crab dip with parmesan cracker bread, a giant salad and many bottles of vino. I raided Costco's wine and seafood aisle last night! Lynne, her pretty gal Katie and her hunky hubs Amos are going whip up the rest of the feast.

We were invited over for Thanksgiving by several of our friends and for that I am so very thankful. As we enjoy food and time with Lynne’s beautiful family, all of my friends will be in my heart. As life deals its wacky cards I realize more and more how precious and wonderful it is to have truly good friends. I love my family so very much and I pray for their health and happiness forever, but family has let me down a lot this year. A whole lot. Never before in my life have I been more cognizant of how important my friends and their support are to me. I feel as if I have my very own army of defenders and well-wishers. It feels so warm, so good.

Mom and Bobo have decided to either go up to L.A. to my cousin’s house (something I DID not want to do) or just hang out at home and have my uncle come down. I told Mom we should spend Thanksgiving together (meaning that Ed would be included) and she just stared at me with a blank look. So, I’m going to let them do what they want to do and I’ll do what I prefer to do, which is spend my holiday with my baby doll and my close friends and my....

...Golden Boys! :-) Yup, Achilles and Milo were also invited over for Thanksgiving dinner. I'll make sure to brush them and dress them in their best golden attire. They're going to be SOOOO excited once we turn the corner towards Lynne’s house. They loved staying there while we were gone. I really think Achilles went through withdrawal for a while when we picked them up. Lynne was worried about crossing some imaginary line by wanting to be around our dogs. Whatever!

I LOVE anyone who is truly good to my furry babies. Lynne & Amos love our puppies. Their Macky Marshmallow was an incredibly happy and well cared for girl. I love Lynne & Amos even more because my pups are so happy to have been with them that it was hard for them to leave. It shows that my pups were loved and taken care of the way I’d care for them. Plus, it is just so good for an animal’s soul (dog or otherwise) to receive affection, attention and love from as many humans as possible, especially if the love is heartfelt. Rescue animals emanate an extra glow of happiness when they receive love and affection from us. I don't know how long Mighty Achilles and Milo Bear have with us, but whatever time they'll have here on earth I wish for them to never have their fill of love and affection.

Friends who make me strive to be more like them are priceless. Bobo always tells me to be with friends who make me want to be more like the good in them. So, to all of my Phenomenal Phriends out there, Happy Thanksgiving!

But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine. - Thomas Jefferson