THANKFUL

I don't know what's wrong with me, but instead of the usual winter slump (a.k.a. mild depression) that usually hits me by the time this dark time of the year, I continue to be basically HAPPY -- you know, cheerful, ready to sing "The hills are alive..."
What gives? Instead of getting grumpier as I get older, I get happier. I'm just plain old THANKFUL for the good life our family has. Soppy, I know...

It's been a very nice relaxed Thanksgiving for the Borealkraut family.
On Turkey Day, Eldest came for the feast together with her 2 roommates, and we really enjoyed visiting with them, including playing a rousing game of "Apples to Apples" and telling various embarrassing stories of when the kids were small. Eldest wrote me a sweet Thank you email the next day, where she shared that she and her roommates thought our family was very "loving". Shucks -- I'm just a sucker for stuff like that -- I'd have been ready to hand over my car keys if she'd asked for them right then...

We did not end up going on our annual ski-into-the-cabin trip the next day: the Prof and I both were suffering from back pain, and decided that we just were not up to pulling sleds and sleeping on hard bunkbeds (yes, we were definitely being whimps, but we're allowed at our ripe old age!). So instead we just laid low and enjoyed hanging out with the kids, reading, watching movies, and nibbling on turkey left-overs.

But other good things happened as a result of us not going to the cabin. We got to meet Wolf's new girlfriend, A, and her family: first we had a chance to meet them all at the sledding hill in a downtown park, and then tonight A and her sister came over for dinner. They live in the Valley (another valley than our little valley: so it's at least a 30 mile drive), so the families meeting was a big step -- yes, a little awkward at first, but I think it went well, and we're really pleased how nice A and her family are! It's like in the movie The Sound of Music, when Maria tells of how Mother Superior always said "When the good Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." Not that I'm particularly religious, but I have to admit, I'm really happy for the Wolfman that it worked out that way -- Howl!

Photo credit: http://www.artknowledgenews.com/files2009a/Julie_Andrews_The_Sound_of_Music.jpg