bright black friday

[2eclipse]

has been very good to me this year.
so was thanksgiving for that matter.
ross and i got up late yesterday and went to his friend deborah's for turkey-day. she has a lot of very nice friends and the food was amazing. there was a LOT of homemade middle eastern and indian food as well as sweet potatoes cooked with jack daniels that was fabulous. and turkish coffee....and cherry pie....
yes, i know you're supposed to have pumpkin pie on thanksgiving and there WAS pumpkin pie, but my favorite is cherry. any day of the week.

so then ross and i came home around 6 and made root beer floats with root beer schnapps (very good if you haven't tried it) and watched the prophesy and hung out with his friends susan and mick. today was of similar laziness. lots of talking and snoozing and movie-watching (hannibal today, except i had to hide during the part with the brains).
i woke up this morning utterly limp.
that almost never happens. and it is the sign of truly having enough sleep. a luxury i almost never indulge in.

i have so much to be thankful for.
ross...who is everything i wanted and never dreamed was possible in a man. i am spending two whole more days with the man i love before i have to get back and face reality.
my family...who take such good care of me and are always there for me with their interest and support even when i am no fun.
mom and i are going to make xmas cookies when i get home and decorate the house with my grandmom's decorations.
my vocation...i may not have the details figured out, but it is a gift to feel your life claimed by something bigger than yourself.
my friends...who are there for me in ways that i don't deserve and never expect, helping out when i don't want to admit that i need it.
my cats...lets face it, cats are snobs. adoration from a cat can only be interpreted as a compliment.
i have enough to eat.
i have a warm place to sleep.
i believe (knock on wood) that i have finally heard the last of the cough that has been hounding me for the past few weeks.
i have comfort and christmas music and next year i can look forward to having a christmas tree in my own house for the first time and never having to spend holidays away from ross anymore.
i have work that brings me joy and stretches my understanding of the world.
i have a great distraction from my work in the form of owbn.
i get to go to south africa soon and have my life changed by another culture.
i am thankful for music.
i am thankful for dancing.
i am thankful for seeing the stars at night without any city-glare.
i am thankful for fast computers that play really cool games and let me communicate with my friends from far away (and make my papers SO much easier to write).
i am thankful for good books.
i am thankful for stories.
i am thankful for hot baths that leave you awake and smelling good.
i am thankful for the chill in the wind that smells like leaves burning and leaves you itching for snowball fights and nights by the fire.
i am thankful for the smells that bring good memories
and the opportunity to make more of those memories.

Comments

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i like upstate new york except for it's conservatism. beatiful waterfalls up there. and silly place names. one of my good friends is in syracuse right now.
colorado is pretty, but it makes my nose bleed.

i'm so sorry for your loss. i don't know what else to say about it.
ross's cat, tar had kittens in his lap once, but that's a joyous thing(if somewhat messy). i can't even imagine what you must have felt...but it is a lovely thing that she trusted you that much.

[keisolo.livejournal.com]

Syracuse is actually closeish to the place I actually lived. One of those little baby township places.
Have you ever been up through the Finger Lakes?

Animals that know me have a habit of coming to me for their last moments, if they can. An oddly beautiful, if wrenching, thing. And yes, the trust implicit in it is intense. Schrodinger was a particularly sad case, though. What killed her was essentially depression. I'd been handfeeding and watering her for days, sometimes actually having to stroke her throat to get her to swallow - but it wasn't enough - she'd just given up. She'd lost a litter of kittens - they came far too early - and we thought she'd healed her heart by taking over for her daughter. It certainly seemed to work, until the last two were found a home. Then she just stopped.
I can imagine the joyous... and know all too well the messy.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i have never been to the finger lakes, but i hear they are beautiful.
i have never seen kittens being born...i would love to have the experience some time.

there must be something about you to make them trust you. animals and small children like me, and i thought i had a way with them, but i've never experienced the sort of thing you have. schrodinger must have been a very sensitive and connected animal to become so depressed as to lose interest in life.

luther died because all of his bone marrow turned to fat and scar tissue - he didn't have enough red blood cells to transport oxygen efficiently to his body, but even the vets at the university couldn't figure out if it was primary or secondary or come to a diagnosis. they said it could have been cancer or FeLV or some other immune virus (i doubt the FeLV because madeleine is negative for it and symptomless - which is possible, but rare). he gradually stopped eating much and spent more and more of his days hiding behind the couch or the door in the study. it was pretty clear when he was ready to go.
i have loved all my animals (i grew up with dogs and gerbils and mice and guinea pigs and potbelly pigs and fish and butterflies and frogs) with the exception of the fish. but luther's death hit me harder than any of the others ever have. as much as my dogs have been devoted friends, i have never had love from an animal like luther loved me, and i have never loved an animal the way i love him. he went out of his way to let me know, and he came into my life at a time when i sorely needed him.