The Late, Great* Gratitude Post (Year 8)

You know, every year I do this list a little later, and every year I make a bunch of excuses for why I didn’t post right on Thanksgiving, but I’m not gonna do that this year. Because no one cares. No one wants to hear my sob story about how I slowly slide down a panic spiral every holiday season and at press time, our Christmas tree was still sitting in its sexy Christmas fishnet body stocking on our front porch in the rain. Anyway, no one’s like, “Sweet Jesus, when is The List coming out?” and if they are, The List is not this one. It certainly wasn’t this one. Or this one either.

I’m also not gonna worry about repeats. Oh, did I mention this cheese before? Sorry not sorry as Demi Lovato, the poor man’s Selena Gomez, once said. I’m never gonna apologize for being too thankful for cheese.

Speaking of cheese, I discovered a new one at Whole Foods. It’s called Kaasaggio Robusto (which I suspect is a made up name along the same lines as Ikea furniture or my friend Jean’s made up Italian word for thank you, multapprecio) and while Matty tasted it and said things like, “What’s crunchy in here?” and “Why is it so salty?”, he knows less than Jon Snow about cheese or food or taste, so do not let that factor into your review. Also, there’s nothing crunchy in it.

Oh look! The List (this one, not a cool one, like Sophie Vershbow’s holiday gift list) has begun. Let’s do this. In no particular order, here are some things for which I’m grateful:

My grammar skills (Did we all notice that I didn’t end the previous sentence with a preposition?)

My iPhone alarms, which, like my car horn, I use liberally. If I don’t set an alarm for every meeting and every little thing I have to remember to do during the day, I will completely forget.

My incandescently awesome niece, Cassidy, now living on the east coast

My home office corner of the toy pit

Puffs Plus – the only tissues I use (within reason, I won’t throw a Kleenex back in your grandma’s face if she happens to hand me one. I’m not a monster.)

The Loud Cup™ – it looks like an insulated coffee cup, it sounds like an air horn when you blow on it. Perfect for embarrassing my kids at their various sporting activities. A fabulous gift from my sister-in-law. My in-laws are killing it with the sports-related gifts, y’all.

All my carpool peeps for soccer and baseball – Coach, Sara, Jeremy, Gina, Gigi (current holder of the esteemed “Coolest Mom of the Carpool” title), and everyone else who masters the spreadsheets, puts up with George’s Spotify playlists (95% Eminem, 5% Elton John), and doesn’t judge me for consistently being 5-10 minutes late. Three toots of the Loud Cup horn for all of you!

My heated scarf

These recycled book journals – they make these notebooks out of (very) old books and they leave a few of the original book pages in the notebook. I like that I can learn about something else while taking notes at work. Also, the company is darling and the owner personally emails me every time I order them to thank him for supporting their business.

Teen dramas (on TV), old and new – Hazy and I are watching Gilmore Girls, my friend Rosa and I are rewatching the OC, my friend Beth and I recently binged both Fate: a Winx Saga (so bad, so good), and I’ve been rewatching Buffy in my “free time” <laughs self-pityingly>. All are glorious non-guilty pleasures. And before you judge me for being in love with Ryan Atwood, let’s remember The Idea of You, the recent smash success book/movie (which I told you about, Dee!!!) which featured a 41-year old woman dating a 19-year old boy/man. It can happen, guys.

Paul at Spectacle Eyewear – who not only serves me rosé while helping me pick out the best glasses to fit my face, but helped me replace my frames for free after I face planted a week after getting them. (PSA: don’t run in wide-leg pants, even if you’re late to the George Michael Live musical.)

Tatte’s Shaksuka

Lambrusco, which is a sparkling red wine. Regular red wine is already fantastic and now it has sparkles? Come on!

The abundance of good TV that’s on these days: Kaos, Somebody Somewhere, Nobody Wants This, Hacks…

Karaoke, especially with a full audience. Remember, it’s more important to be a good performer than a good singer. I will die on this sword. One time my friend Misong and I sang in various NYC karaoke bars for so long that I had complete laryngitis, but they still had to pry the mic from my cold dead hands as I whisper-shrieked Kiss Me Deadly to a ravenous crowd. That was a great night.

The Resistance, in all its forms: Toby Morton, my Facebook groups (I’m old) like the Unquiet Woman and Alternative Facts, Angry Staffer, all my friends who wrote postcards and observed polling locations and knocked on doors in swing states. You give me hope that there’s still a better world worth fighting for.

The Cake Decorators at JP Licks – These heroes will put almost anything on a cake. Their own limitation is what they can fit.

The Family Group Text – AKA, Skibidi Toilet Rizzlers. It’s 90% memes and calling each other slang names that half the people don’t understand, but it’s fun to be reminded that we made funny kids.

The daily Wordle Text Club – Every day, Jess, Alix, Cindy, Nina and I text each other our Wordle and Connections results and one pic from our lives. I like seeing how my friends’ brains work and I especially like to get a little glimpse into their lives.

Terry and Vladimir – our plumber and dishwasher repairman, respectively. Terry is like a father figure to Matty. Once, they realized they have the same plaid shirt, and sometimes before he comes over to work on something in our house, Matty asks Terry to wear “the shirt” so they can be twins. Terry will also try to coach up Matty over the phone to save us money on simpler jobs. Hot tip from Vladimir: Bosch dishwashers require the least maintenance. Unfortunately, he told me that after we bought a KitchenAid. I’m still grateful for you, Vlad.

With gratitude and until Festivus (for the rest of us),
Natasha

*Is it *great*? Maybe not. I’m a little rusty in the blogging department. I promise to return with a vengeance for my Festivus post.