Giving thanks after Thanksgiving

This year has been a blatant reminder of how quickly things can be taken away from us such as people in Puerto Rico who are still without electricity or transgender people in the military facing uncertainty about being able to keep their jobs. It is so important to appreciate what we have because we may not always have the good fortune we enjoy today. Although I was too busy cooking and hosting to do a gratitude list on Thanksgiving, I am doing one today. There is no wrong time to give thanks.

Here are 40 things for which I am grateful:

1. My husband
2. My kids
3. My family’s relatively good health
4. Insurance (because our relatively good health still has its challenges)
5. Being able to host friends for Thanksgiving
6. Having enough food and space that when my husband tells me someone we know doesn’t have a place to go for Thanksgiving I don’t have to hesitate before saying yes to inviting him to our place
7. Mark Bittman’s make-ahead gravy recipe
8. Hugh Acheson’s slow cooker Southern-style green beans recipe (from this book) that both gave me a side dish that dish use any stove or oven space and was also delicious
9. Leftovers
10. Pilates
11. Being a “woman in tech” but having a job where I don’t experience the problems associated with being a “woman in tech”
12. Being able to get a play produced occasionally
13. Getting to perform occasionally
14. Having a five day weekend
15. Great neighbors
16. Reliable public transportation
17. The Current‘s time machine weekend
18. Getting to see the movie Coco with my family
19. Free shipping
20. Warm blankets
21. Long socks
22. Being able to check out Kindle books from the library
23. Online bill pay
24. Coffee
25. Sunny days
26. The New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle
27. Christmas cookies that freeze well
28. Appetizers that freeze room
29. Having a big enough freezer for all my Christmas baking
30. Good playgrounds
31. Sleep
32. Time alone
33. Time with my family
34. Chicago beaches (although not so much at this time of year)
35. Having my annual Shutterfly order done already
36. Relevant search results
37. Suitcases that roll well
38. My husband getting my kids out of the house so I can get stuff done (including this blog post)
39. ChicagoNow (both as a place to write and as a community of friends)
40. People who read lists all the way to the end 🙂

What are you thankful for?