Thankful

Lest I let the opportunity for the cliched "What am I thankful for" blog post roll by, I am muddling through my post-ASHA convention and now sick stupor to try to write a coherent post about what I'm thankful for. Since lists are easier than prose, I'll make it easier on all of us and go with a list of five things I'm thankful for this year:

1. My health. Yes, I did just say that I'm sick right now and I am, but at least I'll be better in a day or two. This past year has definitely proven that the older you get, the more precious good health becomes. So many friends have been affected by cancer this year, either battling it themselves or losing loved ones to it. Cancer is pure evil, as are the other ailments various friends have had to suffer through this year. Lupus is the main one that comes to mind, as I watch my friend Stephanie Kennedy battle it daily via Twitter and Facebook. So here's to enjoying good health every minute you have it.
2. My family. Somehow my teenaged children were more entertaining than they were obnoxious this year, so that's good. And I still have a year left until I have to deal with being the parent of a kid who can drive. And who wouldn't be thankful for an adorable husband like Patrick McGary, who cooks, cleans AND is always willing to talk about association stuff?
3. Pinterest. Ok, not as profound as health and family, but seriously, have you seen Pinterest yet? So fun. Since this blog is about social media, I have to throw in something social media-related, and Pinterest is by far my favorite new thing in that realm.
4. Friends. Having just returned from a visit with two of my favorite friends who unfortunately I only get to see every few years, I'm extra thankful for friends both near and far, "real life" and online. Yes, I do have great friends who I have yet to meet in real life but still consider them to be friends. But this year in addition to the visit I just mentioned with my Cali friends, I've traveled to England to visit a great friend, gotten to spend time with my sister who lives too far away, and am gearing up for girls weekend with my best friends from college next weekend. I've made new local friends and tried to be better about actually spending time with them offline. And of course, I've also spent WAY too much time hanging out with real-yet-virtual friends in private Facebook groups and other places...but hey, I'm trying to be offline more.
5. This blog and you. While writing in a private journal is fun, I admit there's something to be said for writing stuff that people actually read. I am deeply thankful for the people who read this blog, and who share the stuff I write. I am particularly thankful for Kiki L'Italien who regularly shares my posts on her weekly Delcor Social Media Sweetspot show--she makes me feel super famous and important.
6. I know I said this was going to be a list of five things, but one thing I'm seriously thankful for is the fact that Blogger FINALLY added the ability to have links open in a new window!! This will make no sense to you unless you use the Blogger platform, but as someone who's been using it for over five years now and begging for them to add this feature, I am SOOO thankful they finally added it.

Ok, I'll leave it at that--I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving if you're in the US and an awesome regular Thursday if you're not.