Retrospective Thanks '10

As I sit with my family, watching a Jim Carrey movie on DVR, while digesting

- organic, free range, farmer's market whole chicken slow roasted with butter & with hand-picked rosemary from our front yard rosemary bush this morning
- hormone & anti-biotic free spiral cut ham from Trader Joe's
- sweet potatoes that I peeled this morning
- green bean casserole
- French champagne (blog posting later)
- a Tassimo brewed espresso with Van Gogh caramel vodka (Total Wine had a buy-one get one free double box set)
...I've been thinking about how much I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

• Our son is here, recovering from his car / bike accident, able to speak and walk and "back to normal".
• Our home, though massively underwater, is a safe, warm, nice place to live - and defend-able from the coming zombie apocalypse (as long as they don't bring large rocks to smash the windows, or there's not more than 30 or 40 of them).
• My pre-diabetic condition is gone now that I've banished grains and nearly all carbs from my daily intake, and I've never been healthier in my whole life (and that includes high school and college years)
• My wife - who puts up with me, bless her - is happily employed and appreciated in her job as a scientist.
• I'm still gainfully employed, and able to work from home, with a team of talented young engineers.in India and the Eastern US ...and I've just been given a new 'special assignment' by my general manager on an interesting aspect of the business.
• I've still got the nicest and smartest friends from High School - many of who used to be in Science club (GRAMs) or Band or both with me
• My best friend for the last 30 years became a dad this year in Atlanta and I've never seen him happier.
• My old friends from HS were there for me this year when my son nearly killed himself on his bike in October.  I cannot thank you all enough for being there when I needed you.
• I did not have to bury my cat this year when she got a severe infection, had surgery, and has now fully recovered.
• I got to swim 2 weeks earlier in April and through the beginning of October with my fully functional homemade solar pool heater.
• I was able to do yoga poolside, in shorts this afternoon (while the chicken was roasting) with dragon flies and humming birds flying sorties around me.
• I'm still able to donate blood ever 8 weeks, and have no plans on discontinuing the practice.
• Arizona's state Science and Engineering Fair is coming up in April 2011 and I'm organizing the Engineering Judging effort, and I got the Director of the State Board of Technical Registration to include a note about judges volunteering in the up-coming January newsletter that gets mailed to thousands of registered engineers statewide.
• We were able to ADD our son to my wife's company provided health care insurance coverage for 2011 - because she works at a health care company (my employer's health insurance wouldn't allow it since he doesn't live with us), and because the DEMOCRATS passed health insurance reform which the Republi-tards now want to repeal?!?!
• We've got a fridge full of left over ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, normal whipped potatoes (that I peeled as well, but did not partake of) and other fixins that'll last through the end of the month.

Life is pretty good. It's not awesome, but it's not merde either, and compared to where I was 4, or 8, or 16 years ago... it's quite an improvement.

Be well my friends.