Giving Thanks: Fellow Bloggers Edition

Strangely enough, employers in Australia don't automatically give us Americans a day off from work to celebrate Thanksgiving. Not a problem for the unemployed like me, but a bit of a hindrance for making any celebration on the correct day for my gainfully employed cohorts. So, our Thanksgiving celebration will fall on Saturday, whereby our little gang will celebrate with full revelry.

I talked to a couple of American Sydneysiders today, and was - not so much glad - but heartened to learn that I was not the only one unexpectedly overtaken with melancholy yesterday. As those in America cooked turkeys and held their families, for better or for worse, close at hand, we carried on as if it was just another spring day. Hence the bittersweet post from yesterday.

Things look a little happier today, especially since I spent the day in full-on Thanksgiving preparation mode with Mimi. Sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pies were all well underway in her kitchen by the time I came home (and am baking buttermilk-honey corn muffins, as I write this). Never mind that pecans for the pie cost $6.50 per cup, that Karo syrup was a dear $7.50 at the specialty market, or that our 15lb turkey (purchased and affectionately named Kyle by our other favorite couple) cost $60.

Real Thanksgiving: Priceless.

For everything else, there's Mastercard.

The great thing about a Saturday Thanksgiving is that I get to be immersed in the most generous-spirited holiday around for three days straight. I am, of course, thankful for the normal things ... my mom, brother, sister, husband, friends, health, etc. But, in this spot, I want to express some pubic gratitude to the American expats in Australia blogosphere, which/who has/have collectively been beyond generous of late (even on top of buying Kyle for Thanksgiving), and effectively contributing to what feels like a sudden sea change in my life.

On Monday, I was talking to yet another fellow blogger, Sydney Smiles, who said that she applied for a ridiculous number of jobs before getting a bite, but then when it rained work, it poured. I took this to heart, deciding to put faith in the idea that I'd have my moment of "downpour." My rain storm began the very next day, with serious thanks to blogger Little D, whose generosity was a giant cloud in the "rains it pours" storm that is moving in. More later... nothing concrete to discuss, only enough little events to effect a serious mood change in my increasingly disenchanted little world.

Speaking of the generosity of bloggers ... the other day, Mimi awesomely gave me a gift from my care package list: What?!? Dryer sheets!

Hard core good smelling Febreeze scented dryer sheets from her personal stash, at that.



I can't remember when I was ever so excited to do a load of laundry.

And you know what? What a perfect metaphorical reminder for me ... when I'm bogged down by my personal concerns, unable to see where the brightness exists, there is so much generosity floating around, if I only look for it.

Or, in other words, if I take time to smell the newly washed sheets.



Happy Continued Thanksgiving, Blogland, and thanks for all you've done for me! More from thanks giving tomorrow.