Today is Thanksgiving, and as I sit here at my kitchen table, smelling the big fat turkey roasting in the oven, it occurs to me that I should probably talk a little bit about things for which I am thankful. The problem with expressions of thankfulness, especially on Thanksgiving, is that everyone gives thanks for the same things. Family, good health, a roof over our heads and food on the table, and while those are all wonderful things that we should all be thankful to possess, I wanted to think outside the box a little about what makes my world a happier place in which to live. So here it is, my Top Ten List (a la David Letterman) of Unorthodox Things for Which I am Thankful:
10. I am thankful for televised sports. At least once a week (though usually more) I can jump up and down, scream at my television and throw things with no fear of anyone recommending that I be committed. Plus it doesn't hurt that a lot of the pro athletes are pretty yummy!
9. I am thankful for the 1980 Abrams & Zucker classic movie
Airplane! Featuring Moonies getting punched out, a Jive-talking Barbara Billingsley ("Chump don' want da help, chump don' GIT da help!") and the arguing couple over the airport intercom, this movie has some of the greatest lines ever. "The cockpit; what is it?" "It's that little room at the front where they fly the plane; but that's not important right now!" "Surely you can't be serious?" "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." "Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffin' glue." And who can forget the smiling autopilot, the literal shit hitting the fan and the woman thinking "That's funny; Jim never vomits at home." This movie literally shaped my weird sense-of-humor and I will be forever grateful for that!
8. I am thankful for Pink Floyd's "The Wall" album. There is nothing better than sticking both discs into my CD player and just mellowing out for a long ride into some of the best music ever made. Some of my favorite songs are on this album like 'Young Lust', 'Goodbye Cruel World' and 'Run Like Hell'. The record has sold over 23 million albums since its release in 1979 so apparently I am not the only person in the world who really utterly and completely digs this masterpiece. If I burn some incense while listening, I can almost relive my teen years while listening to Gilmour playing his ass off on the guitar; only difference is, now I don't get a bad case of the munchies afterwards like I did back then!
7. I am so very thankful for the amazing novel
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. My older sister Amy took a Comp Lit class in college when I was a sixteen-year-old high school sophomore who was descending into a deep depression unlike anything I had ever experienced. She came home for the weekend and threw the book on my bed. "Read this; I think you can relate." Wow, was she right. Holden Caufield was descending into madness as quickly as I was drowning in my own despair and somehow reading about his plight helped me get a better handle on my own. I had a lot of thoughts of suicide that year; I credit this book with pulling me out of it and am so thankful that with the strength it gave me I was able to grasp my inner demons by their pointy tails and hurl them out of my life forever.
6. I'm thankful for my friend Chris Williams for turning me on to Monty Python back when we were a couple of giggly, dorky 6th graders. She had cable television (something my uncool family didn't have until I was 17 years old) and we used to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus every time I was over at her house. We practiced our own silly walks and knew every word of the Lumberjack Song. We even bought a stuffed parrot at her neighbors yard sale and could re-enact the entire "Dead Parrot" sketch, exchanging roles between customer and clerk at the drop of a hat. I've since lost touch with Chris but I still sing "The Lumberjack Song" to my kids to make them laugh. As a bonus, they both think Monty Python is the bees knees. And I can't help but say "Wink wink, say no more, nudge nudge!" whenever my husband and I are being flirty with one another.
5. I'm thankful for my husband's and my weird habit of giving everyone in the world nicknames. Kirby and I call my mom "Old Spice" (the unsung heroine and older mentor of the Spice Girls). Our oldest daughter Ellie has been Ellie-Bug, Ellie Bean, Elouiscious, Ms. Drop-It-Like-It's-Hot and The Cheeseburgler (robble robble). We called William by the name "Dita" (short for Willdita, since he looked like a gordita when wrapped in blankets) until he was about 5 years old. Now we call him Buddy or Nancy, and also Princess Wilhelmina. Allison is Big Al and Alouiscious. Even the dog and cats aren't immune: we call the cats Violet and Valentina "The Ass Sisters: Fat and Dumb" and Cooper is "Mr. Coopsby", since we imagine that, in his inner monologue, he has a British accent and the bearing of a slightly effeminate butler. Weird, maybe. Fun, oh yes!
4. Okay, this one is a little weird so bear with me; in my family, we have this odd habit of telling the grossest and most inappropriate stories, usually involving bodily functions and embarrassing moments, at our family get-togethers. I can still remember laughing until I cried when my cousin told us the story about how an early morning jog led to his baring his behind to take a poop behind some fir trees only to discover when he was done that he'd been bare-assed beside a state highway while doing the deed! I'm thankful that my family is quirky, gross and irreverent because it just makes life more colorful and a whole lot more fun!
3. I am thankful for junk food. I know it is politically incorrect to admit this these days but there is nothing better than candy, Pringles, popcorn, McDonalds and Taco Bell, and my favorite of all junk food, Big Red soda. Of course it is bad to indulge in these treats regularly but sometimes there is nothing better than sitting around with your girlfriends, bitching and moaning to one another about our love lives and enjoying a big box of chocolates. Or having a heaping helping of nachos at the ballgame. Without disgusting junky food, life isn't worth living.
2. I am thankful for flea markets and yard sales. I grew up with my Aunt Gladie, who was the queen of the yard sale. She could find the gem in a box of junk and know exactly what to do with it to make it perfect for her home decor. In elementary school I was always one of the best dressed kids; little did they know that it was Aunt Gladie's eye for great clothes at yard sales that helped make that possible. And today, there is nothing I love to do better on a warm summer weekend than head to the flea market with my tape measure and a wallet full of cash so I can look for the next piece of furniture to refinish or a quirky globe or picnic basket to add to my collections. And like Gladie knew, the thrill is in the hunt.
And the number one unorthodox thing for which I am thankful is:
1. Baby smell. I have a new grandson, Ben, who is six-months-old. There is something about baby smell, sweet clean baby smell, that just makes me want to squeeze that little boy to pieces. Okay, I said I wasn't going to say anything about being thankful for family but technically, baby smell is what I'm thankful for; it just happens to be attached to this particular baby!
I'd love to hear some comments on some of your favorite "weird" or odd things that you are thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends.