Things I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving Day.

As yesterday was thanksgiving day, I decided to make a list of the things I'm thankful for this year, 2010. I started by being confused about how I was going to decide the things that merited being thankful for and those that didn't, as, being a Christian, I've been taught to be thankful for all things, being that I wasn't supposed to know what was good or bad for me. After quite a bit of consideration, I decided to start by choosing the obvious things.

So, I'm starting out by being thankful for good health and family; wife, kids, parents, siblings and the whole works. I'm thankful for friends, good friends who are not back biters or back stabbers and who are reliable in all situations and under every condition. Then, I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head; not many people do in this climate.

I'm thankful that we can afford a thanksgiving meal even if the turkey had to, necessarily, be the smallest (cheapest) we could find. I'm grateful that Black Friday follow the thanksgiving day so I can have the strength to stand overnight, in line, after the heavy thanksgiving dinner. I'm not sure I could have done that on any other night without the fuel of the thanksgiving meal.

Then I'm happy for the Black Friday sales, proper. I'm thankful that it makes it possible for me and others, to afford a lot of things that we couldn't, otherwise. I just got a 46 inch High Definition Television set for less than six hundred bucks at Wall Mart - doesn't matter if I need it or not. I'm also thankful that online Mondays has made it into the mainstream. I'm glad that those who didn't have the strength or the time to stand overnight for the Black Friday sales can hit up online shops like Amazon.com and still get in on the deal.

This thanksgiving, I'm glad for the Rogain foam for helping me and many men maintain a fuller head of hair. You wouldn't understand  why if you have never had to face the mirror with trepidation every morning not knowing what you were going to see. Then I'm grateful for the holiday rest that the Thanksgiving holiday affords me, and the opportunity the day provides, opportunity to spend time with family, and bond with the kids, and see the smiles on their faces when they realize that mom and dad are staying home for the day.

On the political end, I'm thankful that Obama is still president and I'm thankful that the tea party and the Republican Party fell short on their goals to take over the United States congress. I'm thankful that the Democrats were able to retain control of the senate. I'm grateful that the Republicans will not be able to repeal the health care reform law which would have taken us back to the dark ages.

I'm grateful that extremists like Sharron Angle, Ken Buck, Joe Miller and idiots like Christine O'Donnell, among others, didn't make it into the senate. I'm thankful that Bristol Paling didn't win the dancing with the stars competition; that would have been a perfect example of what the phrase "travesty of justice" means. Also, thinking back, I'm thankful, again, that John McCain and Sarah Palin didn't make it to the
White House. I can't imagine what our lives would be like, now, if they had.

I'm thankful that Tom Delay, after so much delay, finally got a little of what he deserves. I'm thankful for people like Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Howard Fineman, Ed Shulz and all good progressives out there, who love and care about their neighbors. Above all, I'm thankful that I have the privilege of living in a country which had been the greatest in the world and has every potential of getting back to that position.

Now, having stated all the things I'm thankful for, I wouldn't be human if I didn't have a few things that I'm not thankful for. This being an occasion for giving thanks, I will limit the number of these things to the barest minimum. The first thing that I'm not thankful for is the Republican Party take over of the House of Representatives. The second thing is the hard line stance they have taken against working with the president which will make for a very unproductive two years in Washington to the detriment of Americans.