Thanks

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm writing this as I gear up for back surgery, and I have to tell you, there's nothing quite like scary surgery (and maybe strong pain medication) to make you look seriously at your life and count your blessings. So bear with me, 'cause I have a lot to be thankful for, like . . .

• my husband. First off, I am no fun to be around these days. Besides being snappish because pain sucks, I need lots of help—help getting up, help cleaning, help cooking . . . every time I drop something, someone's got to pick it up, and it can't be me. Some people (like me) might complain. Jason's been patient and supportive. He even bought me a Grinch T-shirt this week. I'm going to seriously think about being nicer to him.
• my immediate family. When I hear about other people's dysfunctional relationships with their parents or siblings, I say a silent prayer of thanks for what I wound up with. I can decide Saturday at 10 that I want to drop in on my parents Saturday at 11, and my mother is always, "Sure, come on over!" When I get there, my dad is always cooking up brunch while Mom is putting ten different entrees on the table. (Food is love in our family.) And my sister! We talk every day. I don't want to talk to anyone every day except my sister. Enough said.
• my extended family. As soon as we found out I needed surgery, my sister-in-law was texting to ask what she could do to help. My cousins were on Facebook cheering me on (one has even had the same surgery, and told me what to expect: smooth sailing). How lucky am I to have such a great support system? Plus, my aunts. I can't tell you how amazing my aunts are: they've shaped much of who I am today. One of my most important roles in life is being an aunt. Thank goodness I've had such fabulous role models.
• my friends. I've got one from college checking in with me every week to make sure I haven't killed anyone yet while waiting for surgery. I've got another sending me post-surgery cozy sweaters and offering to read my tarot cards over the phone once I'm home recovering. Maybe it sounds silly to you, but this is exactly the kind of fun thing I needed to have planned to look forward to after the big day.
  
• my editing partner/best writing friend. My workplace isn't going to let me work from home as I recover, which is going to cripple me financially. So what did my superhero of an editing partner do? Lined up a bunch of editing work so I will have an income despite my employer's best efforts. Thanks, man. You're the best.
• you. If you're reading this and regularly read this blog, I'm thankful for you. Knowing there's an audience out there for my brain droppings makes it all worth it.

So here's what you can expect as I head off to go under the knife: I have a couple of blog posts set up to run automatically for the next few weeks. I won't be interacting with you right away if you leave a comment, but I will eventually, I promise.

​And I'll see you on the other side.