So thanks.

A buddy of mine gave me a nudge a few days before Thanksgiving to write a post of the things I'm thankful for. Sounds easy enough, right? Many many bloggers published posts like that right around Thanksgiving. But as I rolled it around in my head, I got stuck.

Surely there are things for which I'm thankful. As I continued to ponder this subject over the last few days, my list grew, and I figured a "What I'm Thankful For" list is better late than never. So on that note...

I'm thankful for my outrageously generous parents, who continue to be an enormous reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year. My two sisters and their families and I all converge upon my parents' house for a day of family bonding, good conversation, a few good beers (and one not-so-good beer...pointing directly at the New Glarus Berliner Weiss on this one, which was my selection, so I should be pointing at me), and a bountiful feast that would feed 20-plus, but instead allows the 11 of us plenty of leftovers to take home in care packages and have a Thanksgiving The Second on the following Friday.

I'm thankful...or at least I was on this day...that the Lions looked like turkeys on Turkey Day, rather than choosing that one day this season to do their best King of the Jungle imitation and play like a professional football team. (I picked them in a loser pool. I guess I was pretty safe.)

I'm thankful as well for the rest of the people around our full table on Thanksgiving Day: two sisters, two brothers-in-law, two nephews, two nieces. A pretty stellar bunch to hang with during the holidays and plenty of other times throughout the year.

I'm thankful for cheese. Because if you're from Wisconsin, and you're not thankful for cheese, I think maybe they kick you out and make you go live in Idaho, or somewhere.

I'm thankful for a Muse who stops by on occasion to visit (a bit more often lately) and tells me things that aren't too difficult to hear, and makes me want to be a better writer.

I'm thankful for a group of good friends who are smarter and funnier and hipper and cooler than I could ever learn to be.

I'm thankful for the outcome on November The Fourth, and the optimism I feel heading into the next four, or eight, years. And I'm thankful for the freedom to express my opinions here on this page, and among all of the people with whom I have discussions that go deeper than our favorite colors.

I'm thankful...very thankful, actually...for the ellipsis.

I'm thankful to have a job that I know will be there tomorrow...and the next day...during these tough economic times.

I'm thankful for general good health.

I'm thankful...for the power...of words. And music. And laughter.

I'm thankful for eggnog. While I wouldn't be thankful for it all year 'round, 'tis the season for a sip of good quality nog. (I'm also thankful that no one ever thought to try making an asparagusnog.)

(And I'm as thankful for the parenthetical aside as I am for the ellipsis.)

I'm also thankful for the visitors to this blog...whether you're a first-time, one-time, or all-the-time reader. Thank you.

I'm thankful this is an incomplete list that can be added to at any time...because I've got a lot to be thankful for. (Including the option to end a sentence with a preposition if I so choose.)

"I am thankful for laughter,
except when milk comes
out of my nose."
—Woody Allen