2010: A YEAR OF THANKSGIVING

Sure, we could call it a four month hiatus, but let's call it what it really is.  I have been a very bad blogger.

I hope to restart blogging in the new year.  But in the meantime, I found I couldn't let Thanksgiving go by without my now-ritual noting of the things I am thankful for this year.

If you've read (or used to read!) this blog for a while, you know I start each month by writing down 50 things I am grateful for from the previous month.  And every Thanksgiving, I start at the previous Thanksgiving and work my way through the year, picking 50 of the year's thankfulness entries at random.

Here's what I have been thankful for in 2010:

1.    Hosting a Christmas Eve supper
2.    Hanging out with my students
3.    Good grades for the kids
4.    Playing Alchemy online
5.    My computer
6.    Faith
7.    Sabrina being concerned that I would have good Christmas presents
8.    Ease in dealing with Leisure World officials re: my mom's condo
9.  Getting over 20,000 YouTube views for my "church history in 4 minutes" video
10.  Our friend Susan's surprise birthday party
11.  Having fun writing my own "Deathly Hallows" script
12.  Joining our friends Keith and Kim in their small group for Lent
13.  Sleep
14.  Being told I'm a "treasure" as a teacher at USC
15.  Peaceful days
16.  Starting work on a new spec script
17.  Shopping with Sabrina and her friend Sophie for their "Double Day" outfits for school
18.  Cory being invited into the Summer Intensive Acting Workshop
19.  Harvard-Westlake
20.  Sabrina working so hard on her part in "Annie"
21.  Joel's performance of "More I Cannot Wish You" in Living Room Musicals' "Guys and Dolls"
22.  Jack showing the video of the b'day party we threw him in Vegas 10 years ago at his party this year
23.  The forums on TheHogshead.org
24.  Watching "The Amazing Race" with the fam
25.  Getting applause for a pitch
26.  Praying for the kids on the way to school each day
27.  Facebook
28.  Going out to working lunches with Lee
29.  Our mother-daughter book group
30.  Pondering and discussing the finale of "Lost"
31.  "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
32.  Dinner with long-time friends Jeff & JoEllen
33.  Watching "So You Think You Can Dance"
34.  "Toy Story 3"
35.  My small group at Premise
36.  Cory playing the bass with T.J.'s band at church
37.  Arbitration on "Smoke and Mirrors" moving forward
38.  Our friend Aleta helping Living Room Musicals' "The Music Man" come together
39.  Emails from my friend Kitty
40.  Cory's audition tape with his friends Daniel and Tori
41.  Lee getting over his migraine
42.  Getting to see my friend Kathy act during Living Room Musicals' "The Music Man"
43.  Watching "Glee" with Sabrina
44.  Clothes-shopping with Sabrina
45.  Emails from my friend Tom
46.  Cracking a difficult story for a pitch
47.  Easy Halloween costumes for the kids (Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Dr. Who)
48.  My MFA students at USC
49.  Mindy Smith coming to Harvard-Westlake to speak
50.  Cory writing beautiful music

And here's to the end of 2010 and a new start in 2011!