Thankful.

These days, getting our whole family together requires planning and patience. Somehow, we managed to gather in Ohio, where two of my sisters live, for Thanksgiving. My dad, sister, nephew flew from Des Moines to Dayton. My brother and his family drove the 10-hour drive on Wednesday. I drove down interstate 65 through Indiana on Wednesday, listening to three Tim Keller sermons on my iPod during the 6 hour drive. David flew down on Thanksgiving night, since he had to work all day on Thanksgiving. But by Thursday evening we were all together. My husband, my dad, four siblings, 13 nieces and nephews, and my nephew's fiance. 25 in all. We ate turkey (well, except for me and me niece LiJen, the only vegetarians in the family, plus my 10-year-old nephew Liam who feels too sorry for the animals to eat them), played Scrabble (bro-in-law Jim won with the word "Zen" which was placed on a triple word score for 36 points), and watched nieces and nephews play "Dance, Dance, Revolution". We traded book suggestions, asked nephew Ben how his college applications were coming, watched 11-year-old niece Ellie knit a scarf, played with the new Dixon family puppy, a Yorkie that weighs about 1.5 lbs and is named Sufjan (after Sufjan Stevens), peppered nephew Drew with questions about his college classes at Princeton, teased niece LiJen about her "friends" who are "boys", looked at nephew Eric's pictures from his 5-week trip out West, and listened to nephew Liam play the violin. A good weekend, indeed.

While sitting in front of the fireplace the evening before coming home, I took a survey about what everyone is thankful for. My nephew Ben suggested that we, instead, list things we're NOT thankful for. So, here are 10 things we're not thankful for:

1. Puppies who pee on the floor (nephew Seth)
2. Cellulite (sister-in-law Jerilynn)
3. Working on Saturday after Thanksgiving (husband, David)
4. Football games on TV (niece LiJen)
5. Ten-hour drives home (brother Scott)
7. Calculus homework over Thanksgiving holiday (nephew Ben)
8. Christmas decorations in October (sister Ann)
9. College applications (nephew Ben)
10. Results of the mid-term elections (brother Scott)

But just so you think we're not curmudgeons, here are 10 things we ARE thankful for:

1. Results of the mid-term elections (Husband David)
2. Pumpkin pie (me)
3. 60-degree weather in Ohio in November (all of us)
4. A new puppy (niece Ellie)
5. Dance, Dance Revolution (nephew Jake)
6. Happy tails doggy daycare (sister-in-law Jerilynn)
7. Chocolate milk (nephew Jake)
8. Knitting (niece Ellie)
9. The word "Zen" (bro-in-law Jim)
10. Those rare occassions when our whole family gets to be together.