Not super easy to come up with 30 things for which I'm thankful, right now - without repeating everything from previous lists, but here's part two of my 2021 rundown, in no particular order:
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| 70,000 overheated, exhausted young people being transformed. Wembley Stadium, London - 13 July, 1985. Photo a stolen screen grab. |
11. Freddie. Master of the greatest 22 1/2 minutes of live rock music ever performed. Good thoughts, good words, good deeds. We could all use a dose of Freddie, about now.
12. Indoor plumbing. Can you imagine not having it? Yikes.
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| Will she make four different kinds, this year? Stay tuned... |
13. [Maris]'s cookies. Even with a terrible, mean-spirited oven, she turns out cookies that are always the envy of the office - and stars of many a family Christmas. I'm thankful for her gift, and her willingness to share it.
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| "Yeah - happy moosday to you, too." |
14. The empty office. I understand that not everyone will approve of this one. March of 2020 hit a LOT of people extremely hard. Not being able to go to our places of work and see our coworkers and be social was unbearable for some. Sorry, extroverts, I found it an absolute pleasure to go into a 99% empty building and do my work in solitude. I still do. Some days it seems as though it's just me and the cow in the office. I'll kind of miss it.
15. Meal kits. Two things: One - If you knew how [M] and I cooked 99% of the time, before meal kits came along and helped us to see the light... well, apart from her awesome baking and my awesome grilling, we didn't bring a whole lot to the table, so to speak. Two - I forgot what two was. Probably something about how many ingredients we've tried that we would never have gotten around to, on our own. Thanks, meal kits!
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| Cheers! |
16. Sorry, meal kits, but as much as we've learned to love cooking cool stuff for ourselves, there's just nothing like dining out. For many years, [M] and I have been going out to dinner with my Mom about twice a month, alternating who pays and trying to maintain a good mix of new restaurants and old favorites - and it's just the best tradition. When everything shut down, this and in-person baseball attendance were the two things I missed. Pretty much the only two things I missed.
17. Words With Friends Art with [Maris]! Behold...
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| We have many, oh so many more... |
18. Should have gotten this one out of the way in the first batch - and yeah it's kind of self-evident, but whatever - VACCINES. "Oh, but we don't know what's in it..." You don't know what's in BEER! Shut up and take the shot, you giant dumb baby! "I don't believe in vaccines..." It's not Santa Claus. Shut up and take the shot, loser. Sorry - the only ignorance that's truly abhorrent to me is willful ignorance.
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| The least I could do. |
Click on this>>> FLAMES!!
19. Yep. Two words: Madeline Kahn. I hate that she's gone, but so grateful to have the treasures she left behind, for us.
20. This one was going to be its own post, but for now... Some years ago, I got this cheesy little Cracker Jack style "prize" - I think in a box of cereal that I'm way too old to keep buying, but do anyway. It's a two-and-a half inch tall cardboard black Spiderman dude. For the past couple of years, I've been putting him in random locations throughout the house and waiting for [Maris] to discover him. Cupboards, drawers, behind the TV etc.. Here's a basic one:
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| Hey. |
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| What. |
There. Another ten thankfulness things, in the book. Thanks for hanging out for a while.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone - I hope you can find a few things for which you are thankful. You probably can, because unlike me, you are probably a normal human.
