Thanks giving, Week 3

There are eight adults, one child, and two dogs in my house right now, so this will be brief.

I am thankful for family that visits, but also for family that goes home. I know it sounds horrible to say that aloud, but as much as I look forward to people coming to visit, oohing and aahing over our house and our child, I'm also really looking forward to a return to normalcy. I can't wait to vacuum the floors and see them stay clean for more than 30 minutes. I can't wait for my counter tops to be clear and clean. It's nice to have people to make the floors dirty and the counter tops full, but in the wax and wane of life, there must be both. Wes took the Christmas tree to the park today to have it mulched, so now I need to put away the decorations (including the singing cats and -- a new addition -- a moose in a rocking chair singing "Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer -- what did I ever do to these people?). I look forward to spending tomorrow afternoon with boxes of books, arranging and rearranging them and other things on our new bookshelves, which Wes finished a few days ago. I have Monday off from work, then go back for a few hours each day for the rest of the week. I bought my books for next semester, and I'm looking forward to perusing them next week whilst brainstorming my capstone project. And also to not cooking for the next week, which I've been doing non-stop for the last three days.

I'm thankful that 2009, with all the blessings it brought, is behind us. 2010 is a year in which -- I assume -- we will not move homes or move jobs, something many others have had to do recently or will do soon. I'm thankful for stability, security, and much love in my home.

And now I'm going to enjoy one more evening with the crowd that's been keeping us company for the last few days, who have traveled from faraway states to have this time together. And I'm going to enjoy the warmth of the fire that Wes is building, and the glow in our little boy's gorgeous eyes.