Molly's Rambling Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving, and I'm sure I won't be the only one, but one of a gajillion blogger voices listing what they are thankful for. But I don't care, I'll begin anyway. Hopefully I'll have some more time this extended weekend to post and read more!

- I'm thankful that I finally have time for the first time in weeks to surf blogs and add a new post!

- I'm thankful that Honey is a great husband and a great friend. I'm thankful that we are friends, since I think friendship outweighs lust any day. I'm thankful we've still got lust!

- I'm thankful that Mom and Dad are available on Thanksgiving Eve to happily confer with me about a grammar question, and then help me solve it.

- I'm thankful, despite three close calls this year, Grandpa made it to his 88th birthday the other week. And that he's pretty keen, still, if going deaf. I'm also thankful that he is a man who has been totally at peace with death my whole life, if not his, so that when it does come he'll embrace it.

- I'm thankful my suegra arrived safely yesterday and that she pre-ordered the turkey.

- I'm thankful that my sister-in-law is in charge of the stuffing and pies.

- I'm thankful for last weekend's visit to dear friends and for seeing how their daughter is growing. Additionally, I'm thankful that today is said daughter's second birthday. She's so adorable. ... and calm - an attribute that makes her even more adorable!

- I'm thankful that Babydog and CootieCat like to snuggle me in bed in a kind of mommy sandwich on lazy mornings like today: dog on my lap, cat across my head.

- I'm thankful for past Thanksgivings some spent on picnics in the desert, eating cold cut turkey sandwiches in the car, visiting foreign cities and most with family still with us and family departed.

- I'm thankful that our friend serving in Iraq feels thankful. And I'm thankful she's serving.

- I'm thankful for the millions of unsung heroes who will never get a medal or a parade who work every day to make life better by reaching out to those in need, by reaching across to those who are emotionally isolated or collectively ostracized, by building bridges across social fissures and chasms and stitching the rips in the fabric of human history. They remind us that we are all part of the common family of God.

- I'm thankful for my job: that it is great, that the bulk of the project is over, that I've met great people working there and that it will (hopefully) lead to even more work when this project is completely ended for me.

- I'm thankful for my current health and my ambulatory ability.

- I'm thankful for finding organic beef raised near the town of my youth.

- I'm thankful for every person who has blessed me and grateful to those who have cursed me. It is easy to give thanks for the former group, but I thank the latter group because their mishaps or ill-will challenges me to learn how to forgive and see them as merely human, too. (I'm still learning those lessons!!)

- I'm thankful for who I am, where I am, when I am and how I am. I'm thankful for the present.

Wonderful Wednesday

I love it when my fears are dashed!
I don't know if last night's wins will cause drastic change, but I am so more than ready for this shift! ... maybe with the departure of Rummy, we see that they're already effective!

thoughts on election eve

First, of course some items a la Clare to clear a little fog and burden:

Uno - spending the weekend in a small town in upstate New York. I hadn't spent an overnight or downtime in a small town in so long I couldn't remember the exact last time that I had. (pretend that made sense, gramatically.) My favorite part? Upon stepping outside of our friend's dad's house late one night, I paused and turned to Honey and said, "do you hear that?" Our friend smiled and Honey and I exchanged satisfied looks, "Yeah," he said. It was the music of stillness. It sounded the way fine wine tastes.

Due - seeing our friends' marriages and feeling gratified that our friends delight in each other.

Tre - treating a friend to lunch, today.

Churchgal wrote a nice post about the Ted Haggard disgrace, today. I commented on the blog, but I'll tell you now, her sympathy for him is really moving, to me. Guffawing at his shame is easy and shallow (that's why we all do it), sorrowing for him is blessed.

Tomorrow is election day. Midterms. I do hope the Democrats take the House and the Senate would be nice, too. But that's just because I am a Democrat - well, mostly because I'm a Democrat. But my optimism is very cautious for a few reasons:

A) I don't feel like the Democrats have a clear, unified point of view which the nation at large can identify, unlike, say the Republicans' "Contract with America" in 1994.
B) I no longer underestimate the ability of the Dems to either screw it up in the end or lose a lead. Likewise, I don't overestimate the effectiveness of Bush machine attack strategies. Look at how they treated Max Cleland and John McCain - taking character assassination to new lows.
C) Living on the East Coast, the general energy among people I talk to is, "the Dems are going to take this one; maybe not a landslide, but certainly at least the House." Mmm. I dunno. You have to be careful you don't live in an echo chamber. In 1992, I lived in West Texas and was surrounded by Republicans, there were a few supporters of Clinton (most of whom went to our church, ironically) but by and large, we all thought Bush would win because that was local sentiment. We were wrong. In 2004, people around me thought Kerry cinched it. Nope. Living in conservative areas of the country, I've heard people look at nationwide polls that show a more liberal leaning in the response and say, "i don't know ANYONE who feels that way; who are THESE pollsters talking to?" and living in this more liberal region, i've heard people say the same about nationwide polls that show a more conservative response. We are a huge nation with varied opinions and limited interaction with people outside our own ideologies. I can't assume the Dems will bag this.

... but I hope I'm wrong.

Frankly, I don't know if a Democratic majority in either the House or Senate would make things "better" per se, but I do think it would at the very least create an environment that embraces dissent. We always say we want bipartisanship and I do think every so often we see shifts in political power to make sure one party doesn't control everything (as in 1994), so hopefully we'll see some bipartisan compensation tomorrow.