In all of the hurry and scurry of the season

It's hard to take a moment to sit back and be thankful.

Especially when the woman in front of you in line is nasty to the store clerk because she can't understand her accent.

Or when the person ahead of you lets the door slam in your face rather than taking an extra second to hold the door open.

Or when you get the finger from a sweet little old lady during the morning commute because you stopped at the yellow rather than running the red.

Sigh. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year gets to all of us eventually.

But I AM thankful.

Thankful for

• My wonderful family (even McGrandma), who sticks by me through everything, helps pick me back up and dust me off after a stumble, and somehow finds my personality flaws lovable
• Beau, for being a good sport, giving me so many fun and funny things to write about, and for being my true blue partner in crime (even though I can't stop coughing, which annoys him to no end)
• My wonderful friends who are all so funny, kind, and supportive. I'd be lucky to have just one of you in my life; I don't know what I did right to get all of you
• My cats. I'm a lady who has cats, not a Cat Lady. But I do love coming home to two fat, furry lumps of love every night
• My job. I'm happy just to have a job at a time like this. The fact that I work with amazing people and get to read for a living is gravy
• My health. Ok, I'm not *technically* healthy right now, but I'm on the road to recovery (and it could be so much worse). When I'm healthy again, I'll be even more thankful
• All of the little things that make each day worth it. Little gestures and chuckleworthy situations are what life is made of (they're what this blog is made of too)

And...

• In an effort to be truly thankful, I'm also glad that some folks showed their true colors this year. The big bad wolf is much easier to see (and avoid) when he takes off the grandma disguise. Thanks for letting me know who--and what--you are

Last but not least, I'm thankful for every person who reads my silly blog. It makes me happy to know someone out there cares enough to read it.

I hope your holidays are, at some point at least, happy and relaxing.

And try to be patient with the bird-flipping old lady. Maybe someone slammed the door on her earlier in the day. :)