So here I sit at the end of the thanksgiving weekend. A few days of not having to do much of anything were nice. It's been a while since I've had that kind of time to relax. I think it did me quite a bit of good. I'm thankful for it.

We had a tasty thanksgiving meal, played quite a bit of Age of Empires II and Ticket to Ride, helped set up Skype for Sheri's mom and my parents (and enjoyed chatting with them over it), moved some furniture in the livingroom around and then put up our christmas tree & other decorations. We've also reached the time of year when Sheri will generally be insisting Christmas music be played a rather large percentage of the time.

The next week or two compose what I've come to know as the 'lull': a (too) brief period between the busyness at thanksgiving and the busyness leading up to christmas. It's generally a good kind of "busy" for us, but there's not quite enough time to relax in my opinion.

Currently I'm at our church, as is typical of a sunday afternoon. I've just sent out some invitations to a sort-of birthday party thing for Sheri and I - basically, we just wanted another excuse to play some games with our awesome friends. I hope people can come, I know it's a busy time of year. I'm also preparing to send out a couple of gaming-related emails. Sheri was telling me yesterday how she's been wanting to play. It's been quite a while, but there's been a lot going on. Alas, it'll probably have to wait till 2k10.

We're still trying to work out some of the final details regarding our trip up to IN this christmas. I'm looking forward to it.

~PS

I'm currently sitting on the couch in the livingroom with my laptop, feet propped on our little round ottoman, watching Ally nap in the warm sun which is brightly streaming in through our large, bay window on this mild autumn day, and hearing Sheri preparing tasty food in the kitchen (where I really ought to be helping her) - some faint aromas of which are starting to drift toward my position.

I'd say I'm thankful.

I make a concerted effort to be thankful all the time, actually.

I remind myself fairly often that, with respect to the other several billion people that live on this planet, my life is most likely in the upper 90% in terms of what can be considered "good".

I'm thankful most especially for Sheri (who's wonderful :)) and all my awesome family and friends (because you *are* awesome), but also for having a job that i love and that pays the bills (and for the turkey currently in the oven), for our cozy little house, for our adorable Ally, and for my variety of hobbies that keep me creative and entertained.

Sure, there's things I still wish after (some of those desires more petty than others) and a number of troubles or concerns like anyone has, but I have a lot to enjoy.

I'm thankful.

~PS