What I Give Thanks For, 2007 Edition

This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for many people and things. Here are just a few, in stream-of-consciousness order:

• My granddaughter, Anastasia (aka Ana). She's usually cheerful, she loves to play with and be held by her grandparents, and she's gorgeous. Also, she goes home after a visit—at 48, I'm so done with parenting babies. ;-)



• That the catastrophe that is Dubya will eventually be gone from office.



• My husband, Ed, who is gentle and sweet and patient (with me and with our children but not with completing tasks that he thinks should go quickly), makes me laugh, is my best friend, and always cheers me on.



• Rebecca, my daughter, and Li, my son-in-law. They are both gentle and loving and are great parents to Ana. Rebecca's laid-back. I admire laid-back people, mostly because I've always wanted to be like them. ;-)



• My son Jared, who is learning to read, looks just like his mom, and has his mom's facility with words. (Note to self: Scan and upload his first-grade photo already! You still have his kindergarten shot up!)



• My son Neil, who is maturing into a more self-confident young teenager, looks just like his dad, and is learning lots of cool do-it-yourself skills from his dad. He wired some of the new huge fluorescent lights in Ed's wood shop yesterday! I don't think that too many eighth-graders have that skill. (Note to self: Again with an old photo! C'mon, poky!)



• All of the people who have helped or are helping Ed set up his new business, Master Cabinetworks, Inc., including our longtime accountant, Martin Wertheim; our attorney, Elena Villafane; graphic artist Lisa Grabowski, who designed MCI's logo (and the Copyediting-L logos, at my request, and is our very good friend); Glenn Court, my friend and colleague who is a whiz not only at copyediting but also at web-site design and who will be building Ed's business web site (what you see there is just a placeholder page that I made); my freelance colleagues, whom I know from subscribing to editing-related e-mail lists and who are business owners themselves and so have plenty of great business tips; and Ed's cabinetmaker colleagues, who have generously given him tips on being a subcontractor and several of whom are giving his contact info to contractors they work with. Thanks to all of them, Ed's business is getting off to a great start, and he's so much happier being self-employed than he was as an employee.



• The health-care providers and bloggers who inspired me to lose weight and who cheer me on as I continue to lose pounds.



• My sons' stupendously talented and caring teachers: Terry Kalb and Maryetta Durden (Neil's) and Michael Dragotta (Jared's). The boys are so lucky to have them.



• Clients, old and new, both for the income they bring me and for the intellectual stimulation that editing their writing brings me. Because of them, I get paid to read—in my home, wearing T-shirts and pants and clogs, away from meetings and office politics. What more could a person want from life? ;-)

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