It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and people will be busy doing the last of their yard work, taking the last trip to the cabin and preparing goodies for the Thanksgiving family dinner. Because we have no family living anywhere near us we have adopted family here in our hometown who we love dearly and are closer to us than most people who are actually related to us simply because we are in each other's lives on a daily basis and have shared a lot of hard times and good times. One family in particular are very dear to us and we celebrate pretty much all holidays and family milestones with them every year. Our meals are simple but delicious! For Thanksgiving on Sunday we will have turkey, dressing, potatoes, gravy, a green salad, buns, pickles and probably apple and pumpkin pie...oh yes and cranberry sauce... can't forget that. It will be a great time as usual.

You always get asked what you are thankful for around this time of year and it's a great time to reflect on what brings richness to your life (doesn't include money!). For me, my most important thing I am thankful for is my health. This year I am ten years free from cancer. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease back in 2002. Because I am healthy I can be the best wife, mother, friend and nurse that I can possibly be. That means I can do the things I love to do; sing, play music, cook, quilt, knit, scrapbook, go for walks and sleep like a baby when I'm tired. I can laugh and have fun. I am thankful for the sunshine and rain that make my flowers and my garden grow (even though I totally suck at growing zucchini and have to scam them from my friends!) and even though I don't like snow very much I am thankful that it comes and protects my perennials so they grow next year and also that it provides moisture for the ground. I am thankful that I live in a country where I have the freedom to choose, speak out, read what I want, travel freely and that I have the means to feed my family and provide a very comfortable life for them. It's all good. Even when things go sideways it is still good.

Oh... and I am truly thankful there are two quilt shops right in town so I don't have to drive a gazillion miles to get fabric to create fun things to give to people. That's where I'm off to this morning... I'll go there first before I take the cat to the vet which should be a real adventure. Thank goodness the clinic is only about a km from the house because I don't look forward to driving with a cat on my lap! She's only been to the vet once in her whole 10 years so this should be interesting!

Have a wonderful thanksgiving weekend.