Outlast, outwit, outplay...

These were taken on Day 23- Tuesday.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

So much has happened in the past two years. Some days it feels like another lifetime and others it like a blur. Tuesday at Thanksgiving Mass-- our pastor joked that he was not going to stand in church alone on Thursday, so service would be two days before --we were challenged to be grateful for our lives and the people around us. There is no way I can say that some days are not difficult. But I know, if someone rewound time and gave me the opportunity not to have been in New Orleans--not to have lost what I had or to have seen some of the saddest days, memories that can still make me cry-- I wouldn't change anything. Because I was there, I have my family. And they have each other. This year has been a bit more abstract, but in time I will be confident that the choices I made were also worth whatever disappointment I have experienced.

This morning on the Today show there was a rabbi who said it is possible to be both disappointed AND grateful--and I understood exactly what he meant. There is so much more to do, but I am so grateful for where things are right now. My parents are back in their home, my grandmother is with them--not always happy about it--and she has their support. Their house is rebuilt and it is home again. I even got my scalawag cats back! Everyone on my parents' block is on a first-name basis with Sam, and he comes and goes as he pleases. Nairobi is here everyday when I get home from work. And as, ahem, eventful as my job has been, I am so grateful that I have been able to start the work of re-establishing myself professionally and financially; that I have INSURANCE and I have been able to deal with the post-traumatic stress symptoms that made last year so very challenging. I am grateful for my friends. They have been so supportive and each in their own way has helped me get through these days. And I include anyone who has read this blog and left a comment.

When I started doing this, it was just a way for me get writing again. To express myself and figure out if I could reconnect with writing. But it literally became a lifeline. This blog was literally how my friends found out I was even alive. How I stayed in touch with the outside world when my family and I were living in a motel room, my parents and I sleeping on the floor for three weeks so my grandmother could have the bed. It was how I stayed sane during so much this year.

But the greatest gift was being able to NOT write about what was happening. Of all things, writing about my hair gave me something else to do and think about for awhile. There were familiar faces--Brunsli and RDP--that I got to reconnect with and so many new friends--some I've met or talked to offline, others I just ''know" virtually. Chatting with you all about hair and the other silliness I write about here, has gotten me through a lot of days. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have been inspired, annoyed, enlightened, and amused by the people I have 'met' through this blog. So I want you to know that. Reading the comments you all leave, following the links to the maze of blogs I like to follow, commenting on the mundane and amazing things you all write about has been wonderful!

So...I have washed and re-set my hair...lol. I am off to express my thanks to some other folks. To scam some turkey and finally wash my daggone dishes and wash my daggone clothes. Yes, I plan to do laundry today--I'm out of clean underwear...lol.

ENJOY your Thanksgiving. Laugh at your crazy relatives and the overcooked turkey. Eat the mystery casserole. I'm still on culinary strike...but maybe next year I'll be back in the kitchen making oyster dressing, turkey AND ham, stuffed peppers, okra gumbo, pumpkin pie, rum cake and eggnog. Makes me tired and hungry just thinking about it. But I am going to stick some Glad-loc containers and Zip-loc bags in my purse and have a great time eating someone else's cooking this year! Yes, I'm the guest who brings her own containers. It's polite, I don't want to take yours...lol. *I'm kidding, I was told in advance I should take leftovers! I'm not that nutty.*