Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.

 If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.

Oprah Winfrey

I'm alive! And well! After an unintentional blogging hiatus, I'm back in all my glory. Whatever that looks like.

My uncle was on the East Coast, so we had him up for Thanksgiving. In addition to loads of food and vegging, we took a day trip around Southern Vermont and spent a night unofficially touring Boston. I tried my hardest to remember everything I've learned in my dozens of visits, but my tour guide skills were sorely lacking. Still, it was laid back and fun.

All the work I intended to get done over the break? Untouched. It's time to put my game face back on so I can power through the last 3 weeks of the semester. Although tired and a bit off-kilter today, I had a moment of profound realization: A single semester is all that stands between me and a college degree. If someone had told me I'd be here five years ago, I would have called the nice men in white coats. Crazy. 

I'm so thankful for my family for seeing me through this. And I'm really proud of myself. I should say that more often. We all should.

Speaking of thankful, here's a glimpse of my Thanksgiving merriment:

Clockwise from top left:

• Mister said "No more schoolwork!" by taking a looong nap on my bag. If the cat says...
• With Husband by Boston Harbor. It was freezing and the wind was raising quite the ruckus, but we had a great time. 
• Cupcakes for the last day of Kiddo's art class.
• The most amazing Italian bakery. Their pistachio macaroons literally made my heart stop. We stop there every time we're in town. If you haven't been, book a flight to Boston. Pronto.

• After freezing our tails off on the harbor, we dined at an amazing Irish pub. The bottom picture is the story printed on our placemats. It's where the Revolutionary War was planned. No biggie.
• The window boxes around Boston were still lovely. This ornamental, um, cabbage (?) was no exception.

•  After dropping Uncle off at the airport, we headed for breakfast. We always stake out the best local eateries...and this was amazing. I abandoned my omelet obsession in adulthood, but I had to make an exception for this lox special. Smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado...the works. Husband had the avocado BLT with garlic cream cheese special. This was all that was left come picture time. If you're ever in Boston, visit Mike's City Diner on the corner of Washington and East Springfield. Deeelish.

Rest and be thankful.

William Wordsworth