Giving Thanks - Laughing in Blind Bay

*sigh*

I'm in Blind Bay for Thanksgiving weekend with my beloved Barb and our families. The sun is shining, the Fall colours are amazing and I'm in heaven. The first thing Barb and I did once I arrived (literally, within 5 minutes) was grab a bottle of merlot and walk down to the lake to sit on a picnic table in the dark, just talking and laughing. (Thank you David and Len for putting up with us). What a great start to a wonderful weekend.

As I sit here, David ('Houseboy' to Barb, 'Father Nelson' to me....) is whipping up yet another amazing breakfast for us, Len is playing his guitar, the boys are playing Playstation (Guns, violence, blah, blah, blah), the girls are watching Juno ("Your eggo is preggo" LOLOLOL) and Barb and I are laughing which is what we do best. Our husbands have spent most of the weekend rolling their eyes and shaking their heads at us. While they don't understand us entirely, they do know that our friendship is sacred to us both and they support/endure/tolerate it for our sake. Thanks again, boys. We really do appreciate it.

I have much to be thankful for. I won't list all the reasons here because that seems quasi-cheezy, but it's enough to say that I'm a lucky person and I am grateful for it. Blind Bay seems the perfect place to spend Thanksgiving. Barb's Mom, Julie (a.k.a. Nana) came for dinner yesterday and it was a great day on the whole. My kids don't really have involved Grandparents in their lives, and Julie has taken my Brats in as her own Grandbrats. When I told Jack and Bridget that we were coming to Blind Bay for Thanksgiving, one of their first questions was "Is Nana going to be there?" Nana is one more reason that I'm grateful to have Barb in my life.

The upcoming week is going to be batshit crazy. Literally. Breathing and sleeping will be luxuries, honestly. So.... I'm enjoying this weekend even more, knowing what the next few days will bring. Barb and I have been staying up until (at least) 3:00 a.m. each night, partly because we just aren't tired, but partly because I think we want to enjoy every minute that we can. We're like 6 year olds who don't want to go to bed because we might miss something. Last night, we watched part of Texas Chain Saw Massacre; The beginning. We almost threw up. But we also laughed (I know. What a sur-prise). Then we had so pick Sara up at a house on a dark road in the backwoods. We were convinced that a chain saw wielding maniac was going to jump out and kill us... which made us laugh even more. Sara thinks we are completely mental, but she laughs with us (at us?!!!) too. I look forward to Sara joining us in our laughter more and more as she gets older.

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope your weekend is one full of family, laughter and many reasons to be thankful.

Yay Team!

I work with the most amazing group of people. We work hard, support each other and laugh our asses off on a daily basis.

One of my colleagues popped into my office and started laughing at me today (not an unusual occurrence, I have to admit). She pointed out that my office and the one beside mine couldn't be more different. When you walk into mine, it's high energy, coffee buzz, and usually there is heavy metal music playing. Next door, it's ylang-ylang essential oils, bamboo plants and zen. Here's the best thing; it doesn't matter. That was the next part of our conversation... we talked about how diverse our team was, but how supportive we all are of each other regardless of (because of?) those differences.

There is an amazing ebb and flow to this incredible group. We all have busy lives and families and with that of course, comes all kinds of personal successes and challenges. We have all taken our turn at trying to deal with our careers while navigating personal crises. When one of us is wounded, the others form an unspoken circle of support and we compensate for our friend in need. When one of us has a success, we all celebrate.

We got together the other night to eat appies, drink wine and watch a movie meant for 14 year old boys. We laughed til we snorted and giggled about it the next day. (S... I'm still waitin' for that crab walk, darlin'!). We work hard and we laugh hard.

So, here's to you, my work peeps. I know you all read my blog, loyal friends that you are.... Yes, here's to you -- thanks for making Monday to Friday, 8:30 - 4:30 fun, productive and challenging. Y'all keep me on my toes, make everyday fun and I love you for it! Mwah!