a big winner

I've seen many gratitude posts in the last few weeks, and I intended to play along, but clearly, that hasn't happened, so I thought I'd do them all in one today, since Thanksgiving is a mere two days away. I do try to be thankful year-round, but like most others, I get a bit wrapped up in life and sometimes don't remember how blessed I am.

I came home today and found a Thanksgiving card from my grandmother in my mailbox. Years and years ago, she and my Grandfather began what has become a silly and beloved family tradition of sending five scratch-off lottery tickets to each of us for holidays. Usually, one of us (the five grandchildren) will maybe win a dollar or two. Occasionally I win $2, and it is an exciting moment. Tonight, I scratched off ticket one, and came up empty. Ticket two brought me $2, followed by another $2 on ticket three. Ticket four was another loser, but I was pretty thrilled with my big $4 win, until I got to ticket five.

$25!!!!

That means $29 total. So, so exciting.

So, in addition to being thankful for the NH lottery, some of the many thing that I am thankful for include cupcakes and Albanian babies, the DC public library and my sewing machine.

Of course, I am so thankful for my amazing family, friends and boyfriend, but really, I think that goes without saying.

I'm heading to Iowa this afternoon to spend the holiday with Steve's family. I haven't actually been out there in more than a year. We'll go to the Festival of the Trees and visit the Amana Colonies, both of which I adore.

I'm excited.

How will you spend your holiday? What are you thankful for this year?