Thanksgiving

I had planned apple pie and vanilla gelato for breakfast.  Sliced turkey and french fries for lunch while we streamed the Macy's Day Parade.  Dinner with our visiting friends at a restaurant we've seen before but not eaten at.

Alas.  Without the pressure of actual Thanksgiving and with Connor's heading to his friend Manuel's house this afternoon to play, I failed on the first two, but we will get to our 7:30pm dinner reservation with the McVeighs.  And I did pick up sugar and cinnamon this morning to make apple pie this weekend at some point.

Today I'm grateful for being here in Viterbo

for our friends who will be here by dinner time

for a job that allows me to read and work with kids

for family back home

for my run this morning around the Viterbo walls

for walking the kids to school today

for Daniel's making dinner almost all the time here

for the kids

for their flexibility and sense of adventure and adaptability

for laughing on the phone with Chrissie last night

for new colleagues who feel familiar already

for mom who made every holiday special and 

still reminds me that special can be simple

in fact, often, is the most special

for tea with daniel, with friends, with the kids

for Mr. Wiggin and Justin and Gram and Mom, whom I thought of today

for heat in our apartment

for Thayer for letting me come to Italy this year

for the TA students who email me this year

for the SYA students who make classes good and fun

for Bar 103 

whose owners put out a cappuccino decaffeinato before I even order sometimes

for Mary's sewing my smartwool sock this morning

for Connor's reading and enjoying his new Roman Mystery books

for Hannah's waking up happy nearly every morning

and cuddling in our bed for a few minutes

for Sebastian's being excited because I'll walk him to soccer today

for friends -- research shows that you live longer if you have good friends -- I am too blessed in this regard, so perhaps I'll get a long life

for Camilla, who picked up the kids from school today

for music: Castle on the Hill (Latin 2H last year!) and Honey, I'm Good to wake us up this morning 

and Italian pop that Sebastian has on his phone and Mary knows all the words to

for the frizzante water Hannah snagged for me this afternoon from the mensa

for health

for love

for people

for today.

Today.