Thanksgiving

It’s almost Thanksgiving! Woot! I’m feeling a surge of thankfulness this year, despite being all alone (unless you count the kitties) for the first time this year. (I’ve gotten plenty of invites… Thanks everyone! But I’ve been sick y’all, and it is just not worth the risk. I’m also honestly looking forward to a day where I can just guilt free take a breather and do a little self care.

I do however want to share some of the things I’m grateful for:

• My most awesome and wonderful best friend ever!!! Christy, I don’t know how I would have made it through the last … umm… $#%&! let’s stop counting at 25… years without you.

• Martin, even though we’ve gone our own separate ways, you’ve forever left a mark in my world. Thank you for the 15+ years of friendship and more. I hope that we can continue it for many, many more.

• Dave, Grant & Richard - my tech buddies and now long time genuine friends. Thank you for all the amazing advice and support and just general good times you’ve shared with me over the years.

• My awesome parents, who have managed to walk the political divide with me over the last few years while still being a loving, caring family.

• My amazing colleagues at Prime who make work feel like family. It’s not like I’ve not appreciated or valued connections at work, but it is seriously awesome to truly feel that way about each and every person that is part of the organization without exception. I have never had a job that I am more proud of than this. We change lives. What’s more awesome than that?!

• Following up on that, there are also all of those amazing Prime students that have been part of the last 3 years and 9 cohorts. They’ve all been special and amazing in their own way, and left such a mark in my world. While I know I’ve taught them a lot, I’ve learned so much from them too.

• Abby, Kyo, & Fred, the best darn kitties a stuck at home aloner could ever wish for. They also serve as my go to test data for pretty much every demo I do in class. I am especially grateful for the smiles as I enter them into the “Salary Cost Calculator” project: Abby, title Mouser, annual salary $120,000; Kyo, Cuteness, $120000, Fred, Softest Cuddles, $120000. If only they really brought in the $$$…

Obligatory kitty picture to wow up my post…

• Miyavi, who has not only brightened my life with his own music, but also made my spring/summer by sharing videos of music making with his cute daughters. OMG they are so cute!

• Similarly, BTS whose music and particularly their music videos, have inspired me to get off my stay at home ass and get up and dance. They also have been a ray of sunshine through the summer, as they too seem to just be genuinely awesome people in addition to amazingly talented artists.

• All my new friends on Tandem who are patient with my wretched Japanese & Russian, and such a joy to chat with.

I also want to aknowledge that I feel so very grateful for all the things that I have that others don’t right now - key among those a job I can do from home. I have been trying to do what I can to give back and support the community around me, directly and indirectly, but I also totally aknowledge that is a privilege too. My biggest concerns right now are getting my cat to eat without nagging him & should I kick my long term residents off my Animal Crossing island to get others with cooler houses. It is not a hard life.

I could go on here, this is just what is top of mind… but I will say that trying to keep this more at the peek of my awareness on a day-to-day basis has been super helpful over the last year. I don’t generally post this stuff to my blog, but I do try to reflect on these things on a weekly if not daily basis. It’s amazing how much of a difference it has made in my world.