Thanks!

This is a crazy week for everybody, which is why I missed yesterday. The Noonan house is a flurry of activity in preparation for Thanksgiving. Yours truly is doing the cooking and for once I am not panicking. I've made Thanksgiving dinner for the last seven years and except for the first one I haven't had too much trouble. I'm confident in my skills and recipes since they are the exact ones I ate growing up. Trays of bread have been drying around the house since Sunday which has given the place the feel of a bakery outlet store. I shopped early to avoid the crowds, and tonight I will do some prep work and make a couple of things to ease my Thanksgiving burden. One year, I'll experiment with some new recipes. That may work out on a couple of levels. If everyone likes them, success. If everyone hates them, they won't want to come back and I won't have to entertain. Win, win if you ask me.

I'm not sure why, but I tend to take a lot of things for granted. Even at Thanksgiving, I usually don't put a lot of thought into what I am thankful for. For some reason, I started thinking about that today and thought it might be fitting to write about some of the things I'm thankful for. I'll try not to get to maudlin, since I know how we all hate that. Fell free to make a list yourself. I don't plan on reading this at the table tomorrow or anything, since sharing my feelings is even harder for me than taking inventory of them. Without further ado and in no particular order, some things I am thankful for.

-"Wife" If I didn't put her first, I'm sure I would pay some terrible price, but I am thankful for her support and faith in me.

-"Daughter" See above only replace first with second.

-Sometimes I don't know how I got here, but I'm really thankful for having a comfortable place to live and the resources to keep us all warm and full. Mostly full, since I could always put on a sweater.

-Sweaters

-Good friends who I can count on to make me laugh, make me mad and listen to my crazy theories.

-As much as I complain about them, I am thankful for my family and the fact that some of them will be joining us tomorrow. They are a pain sometimes, but when the chips are down I know I can count on them.

-The chips being up.

-My unfailing sense of humor. (see above)

-My dogs. (ask me again in January when I'm out picking up after them.)

-A job that I love and the good fortune to be on the road to success after a big life change. (Speaking of the job I love. I'll be filling in for Steve and Johnnie Thanksgiving night from
11pm -5am and then doing our regular show Sunday morning from 1-5am on WGN. Listen, it will help you digest your dinner or ate night sandwich.)

-My swarthy good looks.

-My ability to bust a rhyme even though I'm a white guy in his forties.

-My new recliner.

-TiVo

-Talent that I sometimes doubt, but am always aware of. It is a gift and I try to be thankful for all the time.

-The internet. Because without it I wouldn't have...

_You. The folks who read and comment on this. I don't know how many of you there are,(I hear there is a way to check, but I'm sure the reality wouldn't live up to my fantasy) but I write this for you. Well, I write it for me too, but if you weren't there, I'd keep the thoughts to myself and that can lead to nothing but trouble.

That's a good start. I'm sure there's more, but I've got cranberry sauce to make. Have a great Thanksgiving. I'll talk to you Monday. Later....Brian