Thankful

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite days -- even in Australia.  My mum is American, and she made sure that Dad and I always took the day off from work and school to celebrate at home.  A day off to stay home with your family, cook a bunch of delicious food, and realise how freaking lucky you are -- what could be better than that?  Even if you do have to overload the air conditioner to compensate for having the oven on for hours in the summer.

So, in the spirit of the thing, here are the reasons why I'm grateful for my lucky lot this year.

---

1.  THIS WONDERFUL HOUSE

---

My parents bought this house almost exactly a year ago.  It's in my mum's home town in New Jersey, which is a wondeful place and looks like it's mostly made out of candy.  It's been our oasis since we moved in, about six months ago.  My parents come here on weekends, and Scradley and I spend probably half our weekends here too.  Mum and Dad have a beautiful apartment in the city, but it's very (very) small, so we've been relishing having a house to make into our family home again. Plus, as any New Yorker will tell you, having an escape hatch to allow you a few days out of the city now and then makes all the difference to your happiness.

---

2.  THE PEOPLE IN IT

---

This year we're having Thanksgiving at home, just the three of us (and the cat). It's nice to travel and see the extended family, which is what we normally do, but this year I wouldn't have it any other way.  My parents are my family and my best friends, and I'm loving our first holiday in our new house!

---

3.  BEING HEALTHY

---

My family has made a little bit of a tradition in the last few years of Thanksgiving hospital trips. First it was Mum, my first year here, then it was Dad two years ago, and this year it was my turn!  Lucky me.  I took a little trip to the emergency room last week after a pretty epic week of asthma struggles. I'm totally fine, but it was definitely a big week. I'm very grateful to be home and on the mend, with a healthy family! 

---

4.  NEW BEGINNINGS

---

I recently quit a terrible job. I was stuck in a bad situation, surrounded by volatile people doing work I was hating.  It was miserable. So when I got sick, and my doctor and parents both agreed that the stress of this job was making it worse, I bit the bullet and got out. It could be a little bit of a worry, since I'll now be trying to piece together rent and expenses solely from my other two (lower-paying) jobs, but to be honest, I don't even care. It feels so good to be free!  Plus, I love those other jobs, and I'm good at them to boot.  Now I'm on the lookout for a new opportunity and feeling like anything is possible. On to bigger and better things!

---

5. NEW YORK

---

It's cheesy, I know, but I'm grateful to be here. It's one of the most amazing places in the world, and living here still feels like a privilege (almost) every day. 

That's my shortlist for the year.  There's definitely more, but I don't want to keep you from your turkey.

What are you thankful for?