On this day of American thankfulness, I would like to add my two cents' worth. Mind, it should probably be my nickel's worth since it's, you know, crappy old Canadian money.

I'm thankful for my family who loves and supports me.

I'm thankful for my wide-reaching group of friends. This community is comprised of the young and old, rich and poor, professionals and students, meek and not-so-meek-by-a-long-shot, the generous and the reserved, the supportive and the aloof, but all of them have their special gifts.

I'm thankful for my best friend of 28 years, Lisa. She sticks with me through it all, leading me to believe we went behind the portable in Grade Three and took some sort of blood oath I can't remember. Her patience and tolerance deserves a medal, and one day I might just surprise her with one.

I'm thankful for my continued good health.

I'm thankful that I'm accumulating good habits as I age. One of them, maybe the most important, is the ability to move past the bad bits with grace and dignity and not obsess about them. This, I hope, makes me a better person in the long run.

I'm thankful for the internet, which allows me to instant message, write, learn code, enjoy the lives of others , collect feedback, look up random song lyrics at the touch of a button, print out crosswords that match my IQ... you get the idea.

Most of all, I'm thankful for having so many things for which to be thankful.

I hate being asked for my advice. It's too much pressure, thinking that perhaps the person who has asked for it will actually act on it. So I hum and hah, laying out scenarios that simultaneously defend and convict both sides. I guess what I want to do is provide said person with a few new perspectives on the issue, instead of a diatribe on what I would do.

Still, it's nice to be asked.

I can't support this guy's actions, but I definitely think someone should do something. Winding up in jail might not be the most intellingent way to solve the problem.

The walnuts were a hit!

Anyone who wants the (incredibly easy) recipe, just whip over to my journal and email me. The first five requests will also receive my recipe for kick-ass-phyllo-triangles-that-everyone-will-love.

If I ever have a kid, I'm going to have to take a time management class.

I left work yesterday, drove 45 minutes to my hometown to see my dentist (15 years cavity free! Yay me!), hit the grocery story, drove home, cracked walnuts and fell asleep on the chesterfield. The Boy promised to wake me at the crack of pitch dark this morning, as I seem to get fiddly tasks done faster and smarter if I tackle them before I go to work. So at 5:00 a.m., I made coffee, whipped up a batch of spiced walnuts for today's pot luck at work, watched a taped episode of Coronation Street while crocheting a baby afghan, packaged some dog treats to fill an order, showered, did some dishes, dealt with the pup and messed around entirely too much with my hair and some new curl activator product.

The house smells great from those walnuts. I couldn't bring myself to try one, since I'd waited until the last minute to make them and I didn't have a contingency plan if they were shite. But, really, how far wrong can you go with walnuts, icing sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest?

I just don't know how I could manage to wrangle a kid and their complete dependence on me into the mix without someone having to call in Children's Aid. It worries me.

The best part about getting up early on a day The Boy works is having all that quality alone time. I do what I want, in my own time, the remote is mine, the dog is generally quiet, it's all good. So this morning after he left, I popped out his Stevie Ray Vaughn dvd and popped in Season Four of Buffy. And the most spectacular thing happened: I found an episode I had never seen before. Now, I may well have, but I really don't remember any of it, so it's like I hadn't, which is just as good.

The only problem with the 'wee hours o' the morning' sprint is that I will more than likely crash mentally and physically around 3:00. The fact that I'm determined not to reach for chocolate or carbs to rectify the situation leads to droopy eyes, jumbled thoughts and a cranky disposition.

Today, so far, except for the fact that it's raining like I should be calling around about renting an ark and I look like a drowned rat as a result of the walk from the Jeep to the school, I'm in a pretty good mood. Which benefits everyone when you think about it. Just keep your eye on the clock.

You know, it's funny how something you do that doesn't float your boat will wind up providing you with a bit of luck if you approach it with the right attitude.

I'm involved with the office audit. Now, usually the word audit strikes fear into my heart. In this case, it's not personal so I was indifferent about it. Hell, anything that takes me away from reassessing student's files for the new year on the new system is a blessing in disguise. So I've been pulling documentation and preparing to sit down with the auditor for a couple of weeks. She's been putting me off and putting me off, to the point where I thought I needed a breath mint or she'd seen through my cheerleader exterior and knew I was rotten to the core. The deadline for the audit had come and gone and I was starting to worry.

Early Monday morning, I rolled into work and fired up my work email. The first thing I saw was a message from Karla. Turns out her dog snorfed up something suspect during a Sunday afternoon walk and was now sick as a....well, you know. She was staying home with her laptop to keep an eye on him.

Aha, I thought. A dog owner. And one who isn't afraid to stay home from work to look after him. Dedicated. Excellent.

I made a mental note to give her a business card the next time I saw her. Cut to today. Her red head popped up over my CLOSED sign, a sheepish grin on her face. She knows I know she's nervous about this audit, regardless of the number of times I've tried to reassure her that it will be a dawdle. She confirmed her presence at my desk tomorrow morning and I invited her to stay for our pot luck lunch as a reward. As I was talking, I reached into my purse and pulled out a business card. She looked it over and was suitably impressed, as most people will attempt to be when the person who owns the business is standing right in front of them. She promised to take a peek at the website and with a flourish was off.

One hour later, I got a call.

"I'm at your website. I want to make an order and I have some ideas. Let's get together for dinner one night after work. Also, if you need an accountant for your books, I'm your girl!"

Wow.

She's got all these ideas about 'harnessing my untapped potential'. I love the way she talks. She's also a good egg, so I can see that working with her on any project, short or long term, might be a postitive experience.

Add the above to the fact I've got a dentist appointment tonight and I'm looking at 15 years without a cavity and it's another good day.

I'm wondering a few things today. First, the difference between corned beef and brisket.

Second: why are the people (full-time people) in my office so threatened by me? Ganging up on me just isn't nice. Their schoolyard tactics are making me sad.

Third: Won't you be my neighbour?

Today, I'm keying names for cover pages of supporting documentation books to be sent to the Ministry. Not that you needed to know that, it just sort of rounds out the story I was going to tell.

I just came upon my given name, attached to the name of the first boy I ever loved. It looked kind of weird, but got me to thinking about there being another me out there, someone who might be having a better time than someone not shackled to this shitty little life I'm in the middle of. It made me smile.

Man, I'm busy today. Which isn't a bad thing, when you stop and think about it. It distracts me from my disturbing thoughts and keeps me from eating. Both excellent side effects in my humble opinion.

Heh: Karen just showed up an hour early for our lunch date. Usually, she's late and I wind up meandering my way down the three halls to her office to meet her. Today, she showed up, grinning, at my cubicle. I looked at her, confused.

"What time is it? Aren't you early?", I asked.

Her face fell. She was so tickled thinking that I was the late one, I almost felt sorry for ruining her obvious attempts at making me look bad. Next time, I'll be late intentionally and let her gloat.

I'll take a Guinness, thanks.

Auction craziness abounds! Every one of my six auctions will wind up succeeding. And if it turns into a permanent thang, I'm going to take a stab at putting up some jewellery.

Sara makes some of the prettiest necklaces I've seen. Excellent combinations of size, texture and colour. I have a hard time visualizing my pieces and wind up creating on my layout board as I go. I've had a few positive comments on the ones I've made, though, so it's almost all good.

My favourite bulletin board community brought up an interesting point of discussion on Monday. I realize I'm fat because of the willpower I don't call into service. I realize I'm probably fat because I fall victim to the power of the marketer's call. I realize I'm most certainly NOT fat because fat-inducing foods exist. Sheesh, what the hell ever happened to personal accountability?? It's the same with the stupid woman who burned herself on the hot coffee from McDoogers and probably a million other stupid people who resort to litigation to combat society's view of them being lobotomized.

Wow, where did all that come from?

Well, I had an interesting weekend.

Saturday I hit the ground running. Cleaned, baked doggie treats to shore up the inventory, mailed out a few orders from the website. Then it was a lovely drive to the country to visit Mom and my favourite neighbours across the street. They were having a 'do' to introduce the three newest members of the family to their extended family. I guess we qualify as family after 32 years of being in each other's lives. The individuals in question are Maeve (daughter of Jeff and Alison), Andre (partner of Kelli) and Roberto (son of Kelli and Andre).

I fired up my ancient Minolta and spent a few minutes getting comfortable with her again. As much as I love a digital camera for its score on the immediate gratification graph, I love Minnie for her ability to provide me with about 50 ways to take a picture. I snapped a pic of Maeve, her face covered with cereal, staring longingly at a bottle of water that her Gran was holding. Depth of field allowed me to focus in on those gorgeous peepers in just the right way. As for the newest family unit, I had an idea for a photo essay of them since before Kelli even delivered. I discussed it with her and, happily, she was just as excited about it.

Now, I just get to stress about how everything will turn out. I bracketed, used flash and didn't use flash. I was so worked up, I didn't even want to get into the use of filters. Next time.

I also met Lee, one of the numerous aunts in attendance. She's a Conference Manager for a major hotel chain and made it sound so great, I mentioned I was looking for a full time gig. Not only did she spend 10 minutes telling me that I would be a perfect fit for that sort of thing, she offered to call the local joint this morning and get the name of the HR person. Oh, and we traded business cards. I wonder how long it will take for me to get tired of saying, "Let me give you my business card"?

This morning, the maternity leave posting I've been waiting for finally showed up on the intranet. My jaw hit my keyboard as I read the requirements. Bloody hell, I thought, I'm not even sending my resume in for this one on the outside chance they're so desperate for a warm body that they begrudgingly allow me to give it a whirl. Too late, my friend Karen had already given my resume to her boss. See, it's her job. She's going off on maternity leave in 30 days. Her pearls of wisdom about the posting?

"Phooey".

Heh. She says as long as I'm inherently organized, I will thrive. As much as I appreciate the pep talk, I don't hold out much hope. Stay tuned.

Auctions are up and I'm being bid on! I was actually worried that there wouldn't be any interest, but then again that's my worry about everything I do and everyone I meet.

Check them out.

I'm also recycling my money into other auctions, like the bad girl that I am. I've got my eye on a black seed bead/mother-of-pearl necklace right now. Apparently, my bid of $13.50 USD isn't even close to the reserve bid, so it might all end up going pear-shaped.

I've also begun 26 things, Deux. I'm still getting hits on my original page and loving that, hit whore that I am. It was so much fun I'm on board again for sure.