Every Thanksgiving at dinner, Drew's mom asks everyone to say one thing they're thankful for. Usually I can't think of anything, so I just say them, for inviting me. And everyone laughs, because it's the same thing I said last time. Seeing how I just lost my job and my book sales aren't exactly looking like they'll make up for the lost income (reminder, it's only a mere $3.99), I'm sure they'll understand if I fall back on the old gag once again tomorrow. But I've spent the last hour or so thinking about it, and I've come up with a few things that legitimately deserve mention.
Here's what I'm thankful for:
1. Yesterday outside Safeway, a woman and her daughter were giving away kittens. There were four in the box on my way in, and three left on my way out. I never had a pet when I was a kid. Rob never wanted one in the house. I don't think Janice did, either, but she would have caved if I had asked. Rob, not so much. I stopped and peered in the box just long enough to lock eyes with the mouthiest one. Black all over, with white paws and a white stripe on his nose. I needed someone, and he needed a home. I had to ask the woman to save him for me while I went back in the store and bought food, bowls, litter, a litter pan, and a little toy mouse. Free kittens are expensive. I'm not sure Drew was 100 percent in support of it, judging by his perplexed expression when he came home from work. But he knows me enough to know I'll clean up after it, so all he said was, "What's its name?" As it was literally biting and scratching me simultaneously at that moment, I went with Diafol, Welsh for Devil. It's not as mean to call someone the devil in another language. He is a little devil, but he's so cute, and he really seems to like me. So I'm thankful for Diafol.
2. Over the past year or so I've really gotten to know my kid brother, Shane. He's a good dude. I must confess I wasn't all that excited when he was born, and once I left for college I never saw much of him. But once he hit his teens, we started to find some common ground, and I have a ton of fun hanging out with him now. Amazing that such a moron like Rob could sire such quality offspring twice.
3. Severance packages. Yeah, getting laid off sucks, but I got paid today for sitting on the couch and playing with a cat. What did you do? I have another 15 1/2 weeks before the gravy train runs out. Of course, I would have gotten paid for tomorrow and Friday anyway. If you think about it too much, it sucks a little harder to get laid off right before a paid four-day weekend. I'll try not to think about it too much.
4. My health. Seriously, this is not a cliche. My health insurance runs out when my severance does. If I don't find a job in the next 15 1/2 weeks, I lose my insurance. I'll have to bubblewrap myself every time I leave the apartment.
5. Drew. We've been friends for so long it's literally almost impossible to remember life without him. I couldn't ask for a better roommate. I mean, he had every right to be pissed off about Diafol, and he barely flinched. Maybe if I'd brought home a ferret ...
6. Life after McGlothlin-Zilch. And by life after being relegated to the Unlucky 7, I mean I got a text from Laurel just now. I was about to wrap this after five entries when my phone buzzed. Diafol, who was curled up next to it, jumped about three times his own height. I didn't recognize her number at first, because I wasn't bold enough Friday to actually enter it into my phone. I mean, it seemed like we had a date all but nailed down and I hoped she would call, but deep down I didn't figure she would. I was planning to call her, or text her at least, but it felt like a bullet better kept than fired. If I texted and she didn't reply, then what? So I was going to text her, at some unfixed point in the near future. And there she went and texted me. So I wrote her back and went back and forth long enough to arrange a meetup Friday. She was serious about wanting to see the Ingmar Bergman documentary at the Grand Illusion, it wasn't just the drink talking last week. So I'm thankful for new beginnings coming from the smoldering ruins of my boring career in the educational forms industry.
Hope you have something to be thankful for this week. If not, linger outside the grocery store and maybe you'll find a furry new friend waiting for you. It's a good place to start.
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