And Now for Something Completely Different...

This is a pic of my family from 1989... Trust me, none of us look like that anymore. But I love that pic of my Mom laughing her a$$ off! I miss her most about this time of year, but I sure am thankful to have been raised by such a fantastic lady!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Most of you will be spending the day stuffing your gob with decadent deliciousness, watching football and either enjoying or enduring family and friends. Some will be cooking themselves into a frenzy. Some will be burning up the highway making the rounds of different dinners and holiday obligations.

And some of you will, like me, be at work.

Now, before you say it, no "awwww's." This is not going in the whiney, self-pitying direction that sentence implies, because I'm a nurse. People don't stop being sick or injured or in need of care just because it's a holiday.

In fact, Thanksgiving being about.... well, being thankful, I find Thanksgiving at the Ranch to be gratitude inducing.

First is the obvious...I'm healthy enough to be at work and not in one of the beds.

Second, my family is healthy enough that I'm not sitting a vigil in the ICU waiting room, pacing the floor while someone I love is in surgery, or impatiently waiting for a doctor to see my family member in the Emergency Department.

Third, I am in a unique position to make a difference. I can make a craptastic situation a little less feces filled for my patients and their families. A smile, a kind word, an extra orange jello and lemonlime shasta... it's little, but when you feel like ass, it's a lot.

And finally, I get to cook on the weekend rather than Thursday, which means, of course I get the turkey after they go on sale!! Usually about half price. So I'm frugal... don't judge me.

So that's what I'm grateful for in working on Thanksgiving.

In general, I'm thankful for my family, my home, my friends and both of my loyal readers! I'm thankful for the opportunity to express myself freely and be accepted for who and what I am. Y'all rock my socks!

This year, I am especially grateful for some new friends in my life, both people I have met on these intrawebs and in-real-life. My life is richer for them.

Soooooo......

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope the food is fantastic, the football team you root for wins and drunk Uncle Joe doesn't tell any embarrassing stories to your new significant other about the time you.... well, fill in the blank with your most mortifying childhood memory.

Oh, yeah.... don't forget, friends don't let friends drive with the itis... take that nap before you hit the road for home!