Thankful

I know the sign says "pie," and I am a fan of pie, but yesterday my thanks was for cheesecake. The specific cheesecake was made by my colleague, Tom, cheesecake maker extraordinaire. Despite the fact that I have been retired for over five years -- amazing! -- I returned to my former workplace for a Thanksgiving luncheon and somewhat to my surprise I was completely at home with my colleagues. Yes, there were unfamiliar faces and some people sat in different places, but around every turn there was a familiar face and one I was so glad to see.

Tonight I am filled with gratitude. Thankful for family, for colleagues and high school classmates, graduate school friends and those I've met blogging and via Facebook. There were those I met for the first time in far corners of the world after years of comments traded back and forth. College friends, neighborhood friends and synagogue friends. I'm grateful for the "new" friends,  Weight Watcher and yoga buddies. Around New York, New England and England, Australia and Tennessee, we've pondered the universe over endless cups of coffee and shared laughter and conversation. I can't imagine my life without all of you. I can't imagine my life without any of you.  

 Tom's renowned cheesecakes.

The top cake is pumpkin and the missing piece is the one that went on my plate.

 #absolutely delicious

 



Every wish, my dear blog friends, for a day of gratitude and happiness.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Thankful Friday

Source: existingstricky.blogspot.com via Shanna on Pinterest

Yesterday morning while I was chopping and peeling I thought about the things I was thankful for. At first my mind went around the misfortunes of this year and to be very honest, I didn't feel especially thankful. But as I chopped -- and scraped the seeds out of the jalapeno peppers -- people and things came to my mind and by the time I arrived at my friends' house the list was quite long. It's very specific and I'd like to share my top ten things I am grateful for this morning, in no particular order.  

1) My wonderful neurosurgeon, Dr. Snow. 

2) Heat and light! 

3) The New York City Employees Retirement System, which administers the city pension plan. I'm not there yet, but so grateful it exists.

4) My personal technology consultants, Jess, David, Ben and Brandon. 

5) Baby Charlie, my friend's great-nephew who is two weeks old. 

6) Theater tickets that cost $4.50.

7a) Our (recovered) public transit system and 7b) the forecasters at the National Weather Service, especially G., who kept us informed every day during Sandy.

8) The folks at Mike's pizza in Long Island City, who delivered chicken parm sandwiches during a hurricane, and those sandwiches were delicious. 

9) Blog friends, near and far

10) The good health and well-being of all I shared Thanksgiving with and those whose tables I couldn't join, my Connecticut family and my North Country family.  

The cranberry jalapeno relish was a great hit and it will be making a return engagement next year. I'm going to make another batch this weekend to go with the leftover turkey in my refrigerator. I liked our pomegranate drink, but call me old-fashioned, I think I will stick with cranberry martinis. On that note, here's a toast to all for a great weekend!