thankful 2011: sleep-deprived edition.

so our Thanksgiving celebrations officially ended yesterday when we left Wyoming after lunch in Montana with Mom and Dad. when we got to the airport and had finished all our teary goodbyes, i realized that i hadn't really said goodbye to my brother the night before, and he had already left for school by the time i finally woke up that morning, so just real quick right now i need to say i love you Goob and i miss you and thank you for letting me lounge around on the couches in the big room with you this weekend reading my books and watching you play zelda. it was awesome.

after a long day of car rides and airplanes and layovers and more airplanes and a shuttle bus and another car ride, we were welcomed home in the twee hours of this morning rather unceremoniously by our dark little house, complete with its plastic-covered floors and the smell of paint still lingering in the air. the good news is that all the people who might have been thinking about burglaring our house while we were out must have taken my disclaimer the other day to heart and the house was just as we left it, which is good because i had a little moment of silent anxiety on the drive home from the airport just thinking about what a mess it would be if our travel-weary selves all of a sudden had to deal with police and insurance and all those other things we would have to do ifwe had been burgled and i'm just so glad that we were able to just brush our teeth and fall into bed before having to wake up WAY too early to head back to those pesky 9-5 jobs of ours.

but before i am forced to fall headlong into the Christmas season, (which i am REEEEEELY excited about in case you were wondering, and YAY for all the time Christmas music stations on the radio!) i still have a few more thankful things to share.

86. that the only thing that Mark lost while elk hunting was his phone, instead of something important like his toes.
87. that Mark was going to get a new phone in December anyway, and that he can make due without a phone until then.
88. cell phone alarms in the morning.
89. moms who will act as an alarm and wake you up in time to catch your flight home when you forget your phone in the kitchen and sleep through your alarm, even though she would rather you just stay at her house forever.
90. only having to take one day to travel across the country, instead of driving for three.
91. bathrooms that are not on an airplane.
92. being able to save time in the morning by picking out an outfit the night before.
93. being awake enough this morning to NOT drink the ladybug that found its way into my waterbottle.
94. perfectly hemmed pants to wear to work today.
95. knowing my route to work well enough by now to not have to think about it too much.
96. free coffee. twice as much as usual this morning.
97. having a suitcase full of wrapped Christmas presents to jumpstart my Christmas mood (they are not all for me, and none of them are from me either, but they are at my house so if you are my sisters and would like your presents, then you better plan on coming to my house!)
98. short weeks.
99. finishing the list.
100. home. and being able to leave home and come home all in the same day.