It's Raining on My Car

or 
Why I'm Thankful
by Bethany Maines

So it’s the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house…  Yeah, Thanksgiving eve doesn’t quite have the same storied tradition as Christmas, does it? The kids don’t get giggly in excitement waiting for the giant turkey to burst out of the oven and give them the gifts of candied yams. (Although, now that I mention it, how fun would that be?) 

Not that the night before Thanksgiving doesn’t have traditions. There’s the frenzied run to the store.  The scrambling for some sort of dinner because the entire refrigerator is jammed with Thanksgiving food. The eating of the sacrificial pumpkin pie (ok, maybe that one’s just me). And of course, since it’s Thanksgiving in the Pacific Northwest there’s a down pour of rain. And now apparently, at my house, there’s the tradition of re-roofing the carport. Frankly, I was expecting more baking and less hammering with my Thanksgiving. But as my husband and I were discussing the additional strain on the budget, and the seriously lame prospect of roofing in the rain I realized something. While it is a serious inconvenience to be relocating all the cabinetry for our upcoming bathroom remodel to middle of the kitchen, well, we have a kitchen. And a bathroom. And a living room. And bedrooms. None of which are leaking. 

When my husband and I moved into our house, we’d spent a month sprucing it up, painting, and remodeling. Then, the night after we officially moved in, I was, shall we say, “released on my own recognizance,” a victim of our new economic reality. I was more than a bit concerned that we were going to lose the house. And now, a little over two years later, I’m worried about the car-port roof leaking like a colander. You know what? I’ll take it. 

The economy has pushed a lot of people who thought they were safe to the brink and every day more people lose their jobs or visit a food bank that never thought they’d be in that situation. The fact that my husband and I aren’t among them is purely due to the grace of God, unemployment and the unending support of our family and friends. So if the night before Christmas is for hoping for presents, then the night before Thanksgiving must be for counting your blessings. I know I’ve been given a boatload of them, including a great virtual group of friends here on the Stiletto Gang.  So to all of you out there in internet land, thanks for being part of my world. I hope you are all safe, fed, and with your loved ones.