To all my readers outside the U.S.: Happy Thursday!

Here are things I’m thankful for:

• my handsome, good-natured, patient, shrewd, funny husband
• coffee
• sci fi books that tell of hopeful futures
• music
• cocktails
• purple
• the cute birds that visit my bird feeder every day
• people who help other people
• recipe blogs
• videos about how to make cocktails
• people who make art, music, and other creative things
• people who take care of us when we’re sick
• books
• my eccentric, sometimes infuriating relatives who probably find me even more bewildering than I ever do them
• not having to spend any holidays with (especially) the most infuriating relatives this year
• that chunk of ice that is always stuck in the body cavity of the turkey no matter how many days the turkey was in the fridge thawing before the holiday
• that wonderful feeling (after I nearly give myself frostbite in both hands getting the neck and giblets and the last of the ice out of the turkey) as water runs over my hands and slowly warms them back up
• audio and video conferencing services that let me spend time with friends
• vaccines
• podcasts
• gravy
• audio books
• people who work retail
• rain
• tea
• people who write fanfic
• science
• olives
• people who love
• my smart, sweet, sexy, super capable, long-suffering husband (who definitely deserves to be on this list twice!)
• pie
• online friends
• people who review and recommend books
• radio and wireless technologies
• playlists
• gadgets
• people who fill the world with joy
• kittens and puppies and tigers and otters
• teddy bears and mousies
• stuffing
• friends who will group text with me while we’re all yelling at the same football game on the TV
• gin
• cherries
• the Royal Back Channel gang (you know who you are)
• the many almost magical computing devices that I can now wear on my wrist, carry in my pocket, and otherwise use to bring a wealth of information and possibilities that were barely imaginable when I was a kid
• all my wonderful friends—who are talented, kind, giving, and clearly the most patient people in the world, because they put up with me
• have I mentioned my kind, clever, cheerful, hard-working husband (who definitely deserves to be on this list three times!)?
• people who read my blog

Thank you, each and every one. Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving today or not, I hope you have a wonderful day full of blessings, because you deserve it.