(no subject)

Reading Material:	The Sackett Brand by Louis L'amour
	The Mummy Congress by Heather Pringle
	Bats: Shadows In the Night by Diane Ackerman
	The Unschooling Handbook: How To Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith
	Conversations With J.K. Rowling by Lindsey Fraser
	+ asst. romance novels and children's books

What a trip, I feel like we've been gone for much longer than a week. We arrived home late on Thanksgiving evening. What a blessing to open the freezer and discover it stocked with convenience food. Mmmm, veggie corndogs, frozen french fries of a suspiciously brilliant gold, even a carton of ice cream for mixed drinks later. I'm all about being thankful. But, being a materialist and all, 'thankful' has always fit kind of tight in the shoulders. I can thank the Fates, I guess, Alan once suggested rather crankily that we thank the corporation that employed him, but while the Fates may be comfortably metaphorical these days, it's still not quite right. I'm glad. Yes, I'm glad for everything that could have been ever so much worse, but wasn't (and if there's one this world specializes in it's infinite varieties of 'worse'). I'm particularly glad for those things that could not have been better. I'm glad for the roof over my head, for the bounty of food that is available to me, for this grand and rare opportunity to tweak the path of my life according to my own notions. Every night before I sleep, I am brim-full of gladness for my husband and son and the warmth of our bed. I'm glad that Alien is just a movie.