Being Thankful...Sort Of

Got home from a family filled weekend in Maryland. Another part of growing up that is weird is enjoying being around family. We had a great time, both with mom and dad's side. Saw my cousins who I havent seen in quite some time, met the new one who is too cute for words, ate A LOT, sat around at relatives houses, bars, friends houses, restaraunts etc.

Hung around the Lamiano house every night after designated family time, which is really just like going home again. Despite all the changes they have made to the house (and we have made in our lives) over the course of the last few years, the basement still looks exactly the same. It makes me feel 10 to be down there again and I like the way that feels. Nothing really makes me feel very nostalgic anymore so I cling to the things that inspire those feelings in me.

Came back this afternoon and finished Wally Lambs new book "The Hour I First Believed". It has made me very contemplative and I had planned on blogging about it, but I cant quite organize my thoughts yet. Lamb uses beautiful representation and really powerful ideaologies in his work, but he never comes across as overbearing or pretentious. He takes sophisticated thoughts and turns them around for the average reader. He is definitely worth the read, both this new one and his last two novels "I Know this Much is True" and "Shes Come Undone". Plus, this particular story was inspired by a trip to New Orleans and the idea was hatched in St. Louis Cathedral which makes it infinitely better in my mind, although the book was not about New Orleans. (It was so good that i literally devoured every page, including the acknowledgments at the end and the source list).

After, I started window shopping apartments on Craigslist and started having a mini panic attack so I stopped. I am ready to move but I wish that someone would just pick a place and a roommate for me and then magically transport all my furniture there. Is that really too much to ask? The serious looking starts after the new year. Ugh.

Anyway, I am thankful that I had such a great thanksgiving with such an amazing family. And that my family isn't as fucked up as Caleum Quirk. That I wasnt in India or at a Wal*Mart on Long Island (or anywhere else on Long Island...). Thankful that I can work during the recession and actually enjoy my job. Thankful for homemade appletinis and solo-wine nights. Thankful that 2009 is an exciting year rather than 2008 (which was really just scary and sad when it comes right down to it). I am Thankful that Bring it On is on TV right now and that being a semi-adult means that staying in on a Saturday night is okay. I am thankful for my friends but NOT thankful of all the distance between some of us. I am, however, thankful www.airfarewatchdog.com so maybe one of these days I can actually get around to visiting them. I am thankful for more than three digits in my bank account and proud of myself for making it that way. Thankful that my adult sensibilities have started to kick in, but that I still mostly feel like a kid.