Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful ...

• That I look very good for my age. (I hate to sound conceited, but I decided that I will be happy to be a great looking forty something instead of lament the fact that I no longer look like a twenty something.)
• For Tiffany at Wild Iris Salon
  
• For my Honey who loves me just the way I am (no matter which personality I am expressing at that moment).
  
• For my Children. They are my reason.
  
• For teenagers that like to write creatively. They turn water into wine.
  
• For Brenda Kinsel. She gives me hope.
  
• For the Pyramid Corporation. They give me style (when I can afford it).
  
• For the Office of Letters And Light, a group that makes my Novemebers so much more interesting and exciting. Someday I will finish a novel that I start. This year so far I have doubled my word count.
  
• For the Chicago Writers Association, a group that has taken me under their wing and into their fold. They are there for me when I need a touchstone.
• For the gang at Artist's Way Play (a yahoo group) they have given me so much emotional and creative support this past year. They are my light house to weather my storms of confidence
• For the folks I know at NASA. You are pushing the boundaries and you inspire me because I see you living your dreams.
• For The Pretty Girls because you make me feel welcome.
• For mineral make-up
• For the Abs Diet. There is a lot less of me because of this.
• For my dance teacher, Austria. She Monday something to look forward to.
• For my contact lenses.
  
• For so much more than I have time to mention.
  

The Box

In the past two weeks, I have had the pleasure to meet a couple of women who I have made an instant connection with. This is unusual for me, so I feel pretty good about it.

Both these ladies just felt right from the moment I met them. They are very independent women, intellectual, and they definitely come from a place well outside "the box." It has been a long time since I felt like I made a new friend. Maybe I still have hope of becoming secure about who I am and attracting people who appreciate the same things yet.


It was suggested to me the other day that the limitations I complain about and the box that I fight so hard not to be stuffed into are self-imposed. I do believe that is so. In the sense that I must willingly enter the box and must agree to stay imprisoned there. However, I do not believe that I constructed the box. I believe that it was there long before me.

I will say that I do not believe the box is as strong as it once was. It is no longer made of solid wood or antiqued pine. It is constructed of material closer to thick cardboard now and requires less effort for a woman to push out of, although, for me at least, it requires solid effort to stay out of.

Anyway, here's hoping that my instincts are right. I can always use more intellectual challenge in my life.