Thankful

I've just about made it through the completely crazy chaos that is November in this family: four birthdays followed in quick succession by Thanksgiving. The run up started with my brother's birthday on the 11th (sushi dinner); followed by my Grandpa Jack's 80th for which I (unintentionally) made him probably the worst peach pie ever; Garion's birthday with my family, my sister-in-law, father-in-law, and new baby niece; followed by my birthday the next day (sushi dinner again). On to Thanksgiving which has meant three separate groups of company at our house for various time periods starting last week up through last night. My brother and sister in-law from Seattle came down with their two girls and another sister and brother-in-law came in from North Dakota. We also had Moses's parents (who live in the middle of nowhere about 45 minutes away) and our college-aged niece who lives in town. *Side Note: I swear I should not be old enough to have a college-aged niece. Actually, the really scary thing is that Moses's siblings are so spread out in age that I actually have a nephew who will turn 30 this year, but I just don't think about that because it's too weird. *
I could not have asked for a better Thanksgiving. We had a fantastic feast, the turkey came out perfect, Moses and I were organized AND! did not bite each other's heads off. There were no major arguments or, even more unbelievably, any kid melt-downs (baby excluded). We totally won the Thanksgiving lottery.
Tomorrow, we'll have breakfast with my dad and on Saturday we'll visit my mom's brother.
Whew. I feel like there ought to be some kind of finisher's medal for making it to the end of this year's November. But....I'm grateful for all of it. For my brother, who makes me laugh. For my Grandpa who is smart and meticulous and who taught me how to drive a stick and be careful with my money. For my baby boy who I cannot believe is already 7 and who has so many ideas firing through his head he can barely talk fast enough to tell me all of them. And for the 34 years I've been given so far on this earth and everything those 34 years have brought me. And for my husband and his family who are so different from the family I grew up with but whom I wouldn't trade for anything. And for my family, that I did grow up with, who shaped who I am and how I walk in this world. And finally, I'm grateful for this little bit of quiet time that I have before the the last few crazy days of November.