Happy Thanksgiving

Everyone has some sort of Thanksgiving tradition handed down to them from each generation to the next. Some continue and some are tossed in the trash like the public school system. My family tradition is to watch football, eat, watch more football, eat again, watch even more football, eat even more food, then fall asleep in what ever position you have been watching football in.

My wife’s family is a little more Norman Rockwell about the annual day of giving thanks. They watch the parade and I watch football during the commercials, they listen to satellite radio (Christmas Songs), and I watch football when my mother-in-law is in the restroom or in the kitchen, they have wine with dinner, I have wine with everything, and most importantly we talk.

The range of topics is immense and often edgy. Sometimes we talk about politics, sometimes about religion, and sometimes we talk about other more mundane things (everything else). Every Thanksgiving, we spend time bashfully telling each other what we are most thankful for, certain not to open up too much and become vulnerable to interfamily ridicule. Most talk about their spouse, their children, and their jobs. This year I would like to give you my list of things that I am most grateful for.

1. World Peace (With the exception of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Korea, Somalia, Mexico, and well you get the point.)

2. The “TSA Pat Down” (No extra charge, can you believe it, no extra charge! Another example of more government waste. Charge $10, be slightly more invasive and put Vegas out of business.)

3. Sarah Palin (Ironic, but so true!)

4. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (After reading this book about staying present, I realized that the more I focus on the present, the more I think about what I’m going to do once I get there. I am pretty sure I am absolutely helpless.)

5. The Tea Party (Give them a break, they're big picture people. They have no need for the details, they can leave that up to the politicos. Wait, isn’t that what we did last time. Ooops!)

6. Sarah Palin’s Alaska ( I love the show’s premise. Call it Sarah’s Alaska then watch her do things that she has never done before. Maybe they should call it Sarah Palin Discovering Alaska for the First Time.)

7. Most importantly, not having to say thanks over dinner (I am much better on paper, sometimes)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!