Yes, this is a list! My top-ten list of things that make me thankful today.
1. I am thankful that I only have to cook a turkey once a year. Touching a raw turkey creeps me out so I am extremely thankful that my turkey is all nicely washed and patted and oiled and spending quality time in my oven.
2. I am thankful for my dog, who cleans up after me when I cook–he always saves me from lots of mopping.
3. I am thankful that my family has low expectations when it comes to Thanksgiving food and that the two guys who live at my house will eat almost anything without complaining.
4. I am thankful that the line yesterday at Honeybaked Ham was only two blocks long instead of four! (And I hope the daughter at my house who will NOT eat most anything I cook but who loves ham is thankful that I waited in line for thirty-five minutes on a chilly, windy day).
5. I am thankful that I have a husband who regularly cooks dinner but am also thankful that he won’t be cooking today. While my culinary skills are limited, his are . . . well, you know.
6. I am thankful for a son who willing goes to the grocery store with me, even on the day before Thanksgiving. And I am thankful that he is tall enough to reach the items on the top shelf (I get so tired of climbing up the shelves). (And Alex just informed me that I am thankful for her . . . that she is willing to make a last-minute run to the grocery store for the whipped cream that I forgot yesterday).
7. I am thankful that Food Network publishes Alton Brown’s recipes on the web!
8. I am thankful that I have a dishwasher. Time has not eased the pain of having to wash all those pots and pans at Grandma’s house. There is not enough lotion in the world.
9. I am thankful for my 1970s avocado-colored electric knife that belonged to Mom. It doesn’t scare me as much as it used to so my turkey will be carved today instead of hacked.
10. I am thankful for Ashley, who taught me the word “listicle.” I am thankful that I am generally not a listicle-kind of person! But today, on Thanksgiving, I am thankful that there is much in my life that would find its way to a serious Thanksgiving list if I should ever make one!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Pam Durso is executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, Atlanta, Georgia.