Happy Thanksgiving my friends.

Today is a day we call Thanksgiving, a day when we gather together with family and friends to sit down and break bread together, traditionally it is also a day for parades, football games and naps.

We know from history that the first Thanksgiving in America took place in 1621 and included 53 Pilgrims and about 90 Native Americans.  The gathering was a celebration and thanks for a bountiful harvest and was referred to by the Pilgrims as “A Day of Thanks.”

While our Thanksgiving Day is no longer a celebration of a bountiful harvest, it is a day when many of us stop and reflect about the things we have to be thankful for.

I wanted to start my day off with a nice walk in the woods with Sampson and Delilah, an hour later when we came home I was in a foul mood.  The leaves covered the trail and branches blocked the paths, I stumbled and slipped.  Delilah’s leash kept getting caught on branches, Sampson rolled in something foul and while walking kept my body warm, the parts of me that were exposed were cold.  I realized this when I scratched an itch on my chin and it was numb.

When we got back home I opened the hatch to let the dogs out of the car, and the damn thing fell and smacked me on my head.

I was pretty cranky.

Then the phone ring in the midst of my food preparations.  I rolled my eyes.

Hubby shouted, “It’s out of area!”

My heart skipped a beat and I dove for the phone, “It might be Andrew!!”

And it was.

Andrew is my nephew, he is currently about 10 1/2 months into a 12 month tour in Afghanistan.  He is in my thoughts (and prayers) constantly. Knowing Andrew was ok, (even though he has a cold) really helped me to stop and take a deep breath and put things into perspective.

I have much in my life to be thankful for, I have a wonderful family, great dogs, good friends, my home, and job.

But I also have this great blogville family, a network of people, most of whom I have never met, but who I can count on.  When I’m feeling sad or insecure or I’m just in a foul mood, you will leave me a comment that will bolster my spirits, or you will write an awesome blog post that makes me see things in a different light.

I didn’t want today to go by without letting you know that when I count my blessings today, of which there are many,  I will be counting you among them.

Oh and I’m thankful there wasn’t any butter in the container Delilah destroyed while we were at our daughter’s house eating dinner. 🙂

 

 

Yesterday when I picked the dogs up from daycare I stopped for a quick chat with Sara and Sue  (Sara’s mom.)  The Mellow Mutt has these awesome little dog hitches attached to the wall.  If you’ve never seen or used them, let me tell you they rock.

The hitch is designed so you can hook the looped section of your leash onto the hook and you have your hands free, but your dog can only go to the end of their leash.  I use this hook a LOT when I pick up the dogs and need to keep Delilah from shopping. 😉

Sampson usually walks around, checks out all the baskets and goes to wait by the door.  As excited as he is to go to daycare, he is just as ready to go home when I get there.

We had been chatting a few minutes when Sue said, “Look at him.”

I looked over, and yup there he was standing by the door looking out.

Sue said, “No, look at him.”

As I looked again, Sampson looked back at me and wagged his tail and then I noticed the pig’s ear in his mouth.

While we were chatting Sampson had gone into the office and taken a pig’s ear, that Sue’s dog, Mabel had left on her little bed. 🙂

Sue very generously allowed Sampson to keep the ear and she gave one to Delilah too!

So Sampson lay down on the floor and enjoyed his treat before we went home.

Delilah wouldn’t lie down, instead she ate hers standing up.

Silly dog.