Thankful For The Here And Now

I wasn't going to post anything today. It's Thanksgiving. A day to unplug completely from the virtual world. However, something happened. Or didn't happen. Tuesday, on the overnight into Wednesday, I was wiped out. I sat on the sofa to do some work and dozed off unexpectedly. Not just for an hour. Or two. It was more like 4 1/2 hours. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. I had 30 minutes to get Lisa's breakfast ready, coffee brewed and lunch made.

She gets up between 3:30-4:00 a.m. for work.

Typically, I fall asleep at 5:00 a.m. when she leaves for work. After a deep, 4 hour slumber, that wasn't happening. What to do. What to do. An hour later I decided to prep our entire Thanksgiving dinner. That wasn't the plan. I went with it. Very little goes as planned in our household.

I chopped, diced, sauteed, mashed, melted, stirred, mixed, baked, and added a pinch of this and that.

By early afternoon, everything was done. Stuffing. Sweet potato casserole. Green bean casserole. Broccoli & Cauliflower cheese bake. Homemade cranberry chutney. Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie streusel tarts. Pumpkin bread. Apple bread. Apple cranberry streusel tarts. The 87 loads of dishes were done. I sipped wine. Listened to cheesy Christmas music the entire time.

Before Lisa headed home from work she picked up wine and 3 Redbox movies. Our plans to hunker down for Thanksgiving were underway.

One. More. Sleep.

After an incredible late-afternoon the following day, Thanksgiving dinner was enjoyed by us and the kids. We savored our dessert while watching a movie. Lisa and I were on the sofa. All 3 kids were on the sofa as well. We have a reclining sofa. Both ends were reclined. I had a Pet Pillow on my footrest. Sophie was lounging on that...covered with a blanket. Lobo was between Lisa and I. Coco was sprawled out between Lisa's legs on her reclining footrest.

I was feeding Sophie and Lobo small bites of pup-friendly pumpkin pie from my fork. Lisa was doing the same for Coco. My hip hurt a bit. Lisa's back was slightly cramped. However, 2 adults and 3 kids on a sofa doesn't leave much room for switching positions.

There we were. Watching Spy. How can you not like Melissa McCarthy, right? I was giggling at a scene and licking Cool Whip off my fork when, out of the blue, I asked Lisa to pause the movie.

"Do you have to pee?"

"No."

Lisa looked relieved. Getting up to pee seems like a petty, mindless task, however, with my footrest out, Sophie lounging on the Pet Pillow and Lobo curled up behind my knees, getting up to pee would have been a disruptive process.

"Why am I pausing the movie?"

"I have something to say."

A few seconds of silence. Lisa continued eating her pie.

"Isn't this the life? I mean seriously, isn't it? Look at us. Never in a million years would I have guessed that at 41 I'd be here. Right now. Doing this. We're married. I love our home. And we have 3 kids. This is one of the best Thanksgiving I've ever had."

Lisa fed Coco another bite of pie, thought for a second or two, and replied.

"Yeah. This is the life. I wouldn't change a thing. We're doing the same thing for Christmas too."

I exhaled. Content. Satisfied.

"Okay, you can turn the movie back on."

That was it. Lobo made one of his noises signaling that too much time had passed between bites of pie. Sophie did her G.I. Jane crawl towards my plate. Coco tilted his head.

Nothing else needed to be said.

Or done.

There we were. Us. In the moment. Thankful for the here and now.