Thankfulness

My annual grab-bag of stuff I'm thankful for. This is not an exhaustive list.

Cheddar cheese so sharp it makes you pucker
Sesame crackers
Our azalea plant
Our ivy plant
Cats
Get Fuzzy
My blog
Other peoples' blogs
George Lucas
Star Wars
My dining room table
Klein screwdrivers
LED flashlights
William Shatner
Sela Ward
Mary Stewart's Arthurian trilogy (on the roster for a re-read)
Stephen King

The hardware store in my old hometown
Angle grinders
My new jigsaw
The glory years of the Buffalo Bills
Watching Star Trek: The Next Generation every night at college
Surprising The Daughter with a new Webkinz
Ms. Pac-Man
Sergei Rachmaninov
The Beatles
Van Halen
Baked pasta dishes
Pizza
Cookies
Harry Potter
Guy Gavriel Kay
Space opera
Planetary Romance
Chestnut Ridge Park

Big, thick poetry collections
Jerry Sullivan, Buffalo News sports columnist
Small, artfully illustrated poetry collections
My drill
Schopp and the Bulldog (Buffalo sports talk radio guys)
Fried chicken
Italian sausage
The music of Les Miserables
That in 2012 I will finally get to see Les Miserables
That in 2012 I plan to read Les Miserables
The Amazing Race
Canada and Canadians -- you folks rock!
Pseudo-ethnic cuisine that I love because it tastes good, and which doesn't bother me for its lack of authenticity

Brian and Stewie on The Family Guy
Everyone who ever acted in a Harry Potter movie, at all, ever.
Elections
Aaron Sorkin when he's on his game
Steak
Chess
Comics
Big breakfasts that leave me full until mid-afternoon
Light breakfasts that take the edge off until a nice lunch
Firefly
The Mentalist
Tasting something good at a restaurant and figuring out how to make it at home

Ice cream at the roadside place down the road
The County Fair
Libraries
JRR Tolkien
Route 20-A in the fall
Sandals
Using the scissor jack at work
Blue denim bib overalls
Hickory-striped bib overalls
Pie with ice cream on the side
Seeing a pie in the face
Receiving a pie in the face
Monty Python
Aquariums and science museums
The Origin of Species
Complete collections of Shakespeare
Thick, fuzzy socks in the winter
Two thriving ivy plants, one grown from a cutting off the original, which we've had since The Daughter was born

Eggs
Watching the Super Bowl
Watching figure skating
Discovering new authors
Liking books on the re-read that I didn't like the first time
Daniel Craig as James Bond
George Lazenby as James Bond
The Y
My MP3 player
My cell phone
The Burchfield Nature and Art Center
The Daughter learning the string bass
John Williams
Hector Berlioz
Toronto
Pittsburgh
Dremel rotary tool
Having already purchased The Wife's Christmas present
Castle and Beckett
Nathan Fillion
Stana Katic

Dr. Sheldon Cooper
"[knock knock knock] Penny? [knock knock knock] Penny? [knock knock knock] Penny?"
A Tale of Two Cities
Thin-mint Girl Scout Cookies
Roast turkey
Chicken wings
Coke Zero
Princesses In SPACE!!! (not the actual title.)
Anthony Bourdain
Rachel Maddow
George Carlin
Hayao Miyazaki
On balance, President Obama
Zooey Deschanel
Using my wok more this past year than all the years prior, combined
Anyone who reads this blog
Baby Fiona
Little Quinn
The Daughter
The Wife

I'm sure I've missed a veritable ton of stuff...but hey, I'll add some more next year. Happy Thanksgiving, faithful and constant readers!