Thanks-For-Giving

Ugh... It's the last day before Thanksgiving. Everyone at school has a temporary short-timer's disease. Half the professors aren't even holding class today. The entire campus will completely shut down at noon. We tried to think of every justification not to come to class today, but we kept having to reluctantly remind each other of all the little (and not so little) things we couldn't just skip out on.

In Bone Pathology we reviewed slides for our next exam, and if it's anything like the review before the last exam, she practically gave it to us and we considered the one-hour time very well spent, so we figured we had to show up today, too. We figured we'd get some more good info and juicy stories in Emergency Care that we all listen intently to with morbid curiosity, but instead we got a 22-minute video of (very real and graphic) childbirth. Not a total waste of time, other than the fact that it was only 22 minutes long and we still have an hour and a half before our next class (the last class of the day) starts. Our next prof'll probably come in and see that there are 12 people here (we're a class of roughly 97 people) and say screw it and talk about sports for a while, cover a few slides, and dismiss us. But then there's the NET appointment at 3pm, and that's the earliest appointment slot, so there's no moving that up any earlier. Oh well. Perhaps I can do one of tonight's massages over lunch and take some of our evening tonight for ourselves.

Thanksgiving is actually NOT sneaking up on us this year. No, I REALLY feel it this time. I haven't historically been a huge turkey fan, and I have never been and will never be a football fan in any sense of the word, but rather I feel the change in the seasons, I feel the fact that we're arriving at a certain point in the annual cycle and it carries with it a certain vibe that I seem to be a little more permeable to this year. I'm really looking forward to spending time with family, to goofing off at the Renaissance Festival in Houston, to having a good dinner and sharing good times, to petting my parents' cats, and to getting out of Dallas for a few days to decompress. While I rant a lot (you ain't seen nothin' yet), I have to admit I DO have a lot to be thankful for. Since I may not have an internet connection out in the sticks, I'll post some of that now. Then when I'm under monthly cycle distress and having a chocolate-craving fit, I have something to reference as evidence that life actually isn't such a nightmare after all.

* My Family. This goes for my new nuclear family created not yet 4 weeks ago with the seal of our marriage, and also for the sometimes-tumultuous-yet-always-loving family I was born into. I don't have sour relations with anyone in my immediate family, and my relationship with my husband (which actually spans nearly 10 years) is strong.

* Opportunities. As much as I rant about school (don't worry; it's coming), I'm thankful that I at least have the opportunity to become a doctor, and I even get to do it without having to put a huge sum of money on the table up front. Yes, I have to pay it all back (contrary to increasingly-popular belief), but at least someone loaned it to me.

* My Health. I do have some issues that I'm working through and some puzzles my body thought it'd be fun for me to spend a few years trying to solve. But overall, I'm pretty healthy. I don't have any of the big stuff. Heart disease, no. Cancer, no. Diabetes, no. Asthma, no. I'm not overweight, I'm not brain-damaged, I'm not paralyzed or quad, and I'm no longer even clinically depressed.

* My State. Despite its flaws and quirks, I really do like Texas, and I'm glad I'm here. I do appreciate it. It has given us so much thus far. It's helping to fund a large part of my husband's tuition due to his disability and his merit. So, I really do sincerely thank the taxpayers for helping him reach his goal. Because of Texas, he gets to do what he previously thought was impossible: become a doctor.

* Our other blessings. Like the fact that we did NOT lose our house when I lost my job. The fact that our cats are happy and healthy. The fact that our male cat lived beyond the 2-year lifespan given by our vet when his health was "mysteriously" (read: Purina crap cat food) failng at 7 months old. (He is now 6 years old and doing great.) The fact that our car accidents (I've been hit 4 times, and NONE were my fault) have not resulted in any perceivable injury.

There are plenty more, but my client called back and took me up on that lunch appointment and I better get a jump on it...