life, the universe, and donna

You know, I would write more blog posts if I actually sat at my computer more.

So anyway. It’s Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for, so I’m going to go over it.

The funny thing is, I can’t help but cringe a bit when I read last years Thanksgiving post, what with the “hey, my boyfriend is awesome!” thing was followed up a mere two weeks later with “oh hey look, I got dumped”. Ok, so less awesome than anticipated, but I imagine this is some sort of learning process.

Last Thanksgiving was also the day that my mother got really sick — well, after I wrote the blog post about it, that is. For those playing at home, Mom’s last round of chemo two days prior to Thanksgiving was the likely culprit of an intestinal blockage that landed her in the hospital for weeks, required 6 feet of intestine to be removed, and scared the bleeding jesus out of all of us. And worse, she didn’t get to enjoy ANY of the Thanksgiving dinner. Good god, cancer, intestinal blockages, hospital stays, and NO TURKEY? So unfair.

Anyway, good news — we had Thanksgiving dinner last night with my parents, and Mom was able to enjoy it greatly. As were the rest of us. I even contributed more than “peel those potatoes and set the table” (I did also peel the potatoes and set the table.) Lately, I’ve had some minor culinary successes that I am quite proud of. So, I also contributed homemade cranberry sauce, cranberry chutney, apple butter (for the ham), and half of the dessert, which was utterly delicious pumpkin cheesecake squares. Dan supplied the other half of dessert, pumpkin creme brulee. I am a fan of any dish that requires a blow torch.

Things I am thankful for include:

- The fact that my mom is healthy. Hell, the fact that my mother is alive. The alternative is about the most terrifying thing I can think of. I’m not done with her yet. I don’t think I ever will be.

- The fact that I am infinitely stronger than I realized. Last October was the hardest month of my life. I started a new job, which was great, but still stressful. My mother was extremely sick. The man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with dumped me rather harshly. I mean, in the end, that turned out to be a good thing, but I certainly didn’t see it that way last October. And as a result of that, I had to move out of an apartment I loved without a lot of warning. So yeah, a shitty month all around. But you know, a mere year later, I am doing so much better than I ever could have imagined. I honestly thought I was going to be an utter mess for at LEAST a year, but fuck that noise. I’m better than that.

- And you know what? I’m even thankful for my ex and for getting dumped and for going through utter hell for months (ok, maybe not so much for the hell, but you get the idea.) If it wasn’t for Nick, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, and that person is awesome. I’m pretty sure I can handle pretty much anything and come out of it even better than before. And if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have…

- My amazing boyfriend. I had no idea it could be this easy and this amazing and this awesome and this wonderful. I’m so frigging happy with Dan that there’s no way I can put it into words, especially not without making people roll their eyes in disgust. Thanks, sweetie. I love you.

- My fantastic apartment. We’ve only been here a few months, but holy crap this place is great. I HAVE A CRAFT ROOM. Yay me! (Man, if you told me that I’d be this stoked about a craft room ten years ago… but making things is awesome.) One of these days, my bizarre schedule might even allow me to throw a housewarming party. On a night people can actually make it.

- My pets. Justice continues to impress and amaze me every day. People who have known her for a long time credit me for how much of a better dog she is than she used to be, but honestly? She deserves more of the credit. Yeah, I helped, but she’s just such a good dog and she tries to damn hard, I can’t help but be utterly crazy about my adorable dog. And not to be outdone: I’m rather fond of that gray fuzzy thing that is getting brave enough to venture into the rest of the dog-dominated apartment.

- My job. Yay job!

- Making things. Making things is awesome. Goes with the craft room thing, but there is very little that makes me happier than being creative and creating actual tangible STUFF that other people are also stoked about. My latest creative joy is stained glass, and I have so many plans for projects. So many!

All in all? Life is pretty damn good. And even better is that I still have a bunch of those pumpkin cheesecake squares in the fridge. Can you say lunch? Hell yeah.