No matter how you spend your Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Eat lots of great food, spend time with friends and family, and make sure you get your annual listen of Alice's Restaurant.

Things I'm thankful for..

My amazing husband

My beautiful bright children

A caring family, spread out in states near and far, but always "right there".

Great friends, real and virtual

Food in our bellies

A roof over our heads

Continued good health

My spinning wheel, knitting needles and always growing stash

After finally getting the kids in bed I was really looking forward to watching some of my Wednesday night tv, only to find that the CMA awards took over ABC for the night. CMA? Like, hasn't that been shoved off to cable nowhere land yet?

Anyway, I ended up looking for something to watch on Showtime, where I found a documentary called "All We Are Saying", where Rosanna Arquette interviews musicians about everything from faith, family, touring, the industry and addiction. Twas excellent. Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Maynard James Keenan, Perry Farrell..

Speaking of Perry,  Jane's Addiction actually.. I really got in the mood for some..

This is one of my all time favorite songs.. ever.

It just makes me want to twirl and sing.

In a few days, on Sunday to be exact, I will celebrate my first annual 39th birthday. This is a big milestone, no? Well, maybe it isn't since I plan to celebrate the same birthday every year from here on out.

So I'd like to entertain a little reversal here, and have a little contest. No answering questions, no donations to charities, just leave a comment telling me about a favorite birthday present you've received. I'll pick one at random on Sunday, November 4th and put together a little surprise package for the winner. See, as much as I love receiving surprises.. I adore putting together surprises for others. If the winner is a knitter or spinner, perhaps you'll get a nice fibery surprise in the mail. If you're not, maybe an Amazon or iTunes gift certificate... I have lots of ideas!

And here, I'll get you started. What is my favorite birthday present? Cassidy! She was born just a few months shy of my 30th birthday, and I had always wanted a baby before I turned 30 (weird.. I know!) But besides all of that, Richard and I were both surprised, since we had always thought our path to parenthood would be a difficult one. We were looking at facing lengthy and heartbreaking fertility cycles.. then there it was.. a positive pregnancy test, all on our own. And after a rocky first trimester, when we were expecting the worst to happen every day, despite bed rest and progesterone supplements, we were truly blessed... just in time to fulfill my 30th birthday wish.

Now, go, and tell me all about your favorite birthday present! As you can tell, it doesn't have to be a "thing", it can be "the perfect day", a great meal... anything.

P.S. Scorpios Rule!

No holiday here today. Except that the kids are home from school. And Richard is busy at work.. in an otherwise empty office.

From wiki:

Opposition to the holiday cites the fact that Columbus and many of the conquistador followers treated the American Indians with great cruelty. Columbus directly brought about the demise of many Taino (Arawak) Indians on the island of Hispaniola, and the arrival of the Europeans indirectly slew many indigenous peoples by bringing diseases previously unknown in the New World. An estimated 85% of the Native American population was wiped out within 150 years of Columbus's arrival in America, due largely to diseases such as smallpox, which were accidentally spread among Native American populations. Additionally, war and the seizing of land and material wealth by European colonists also contributed to the decline of the indigenous populations in American.

Well, "treated with great cruetly" is quite an understatement. But it is nice to know that some states get it right..

Columbus Day is not celebrated in the state of Minnesota. However, some city offices in Minneapolis were closed in 2006, as well as libraries across the Twin Cities. In the state of South Dakota, the day is officially a state holiday known as "Native American Day", not Columbus Day. Columbus Day is not a legal holiday in Nevada, but it is a day of observance. Schools and state, city and county government offices are open for business on Columbus Day.

In other news. Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello are in town tonight and I'm not going

Its a good thing I kept forgetting to pick up my ticket. Richard has to teach tonight, and I'm without childcare. To console me, Richard broke out in his version of "Veronica", sung in Bob Dylanese. I'm sure you can image in it.

Getting something done. Sure there are still some things on the shelf which need to find a new home. But I purged a lot and re-organized.

A kid that brushes his teeth before bed, without being asked to do so. What a kid huh? I wish this trait would rub off on his siblings.

Finally getting new Sockapalooza yarn in the mail and in an absolutely scrummy colorway. Cast on at 9PM last night, and given up at 12AM when my right wrist started to scream.

Come on, take a closer look. Sweet, eh? I've said a million times on this blog how much I dislike the color pink, but I think I've been swayed. Its all about companion colors.. and this colorway.. swoon. (For the interested, this was purchased from Etsy seller, Fibersnthreads. Pattern, Roza's Socks from Spring 07 IK.)

Other things which make me smile today?

My new Dansko shoes also arrived yesterday. I didn't know a woman could love a pair of shoes this much.

Richard finding more live Frames for my iPod (The Metro in Chicago 4/18/07) This Frames thing with me is becoming an obsession.

Its not 95 degrees with high humidity. In other words, I'm not melting today. In fact, its rather cool outside.

Connor said, not signed.. "uv oo mama"

I'm expecting a few packages: replacement yarn for sockapalooza, the super secret contract knitting package, some Danksos which I finally snagged on eBay, so incredibly cheap that I'm still shocked. But I didn't expect this one to come so soon! Weeeeeeee!

In case you missed it. I won a contest,.. this orange iPod Shuffle! Its already been charged, loaded up, and just as I said, the "Once" soundtrack was first on. Then The Frames - Setlist. And I'm now done buying music on iTunes for this week! I also put on Dave Matthews Band - Under The Table And Dreaming, Damien Rice - O, and Rusted Root - Cruel Sun.

Just FYI, The Frames - Setlist, is simply put, frickin' amazing.

And because I can't (until the 20th), go see this. If for nothing else, go for the music.. its amazing

BlueGal posted about this today, and I'm not sure how this one flew under my radar.

More musical goodness.. swoon.

The soundtrack will probably be the first thing I load on my new iPod.. Its that good.