Hello, cyber-friends! I can’t believe another year has gone by - Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Obviously, this is a Thanksgiving like no other; who could ever imagine that we would still be in lockdown after eight months?! It has been great to spend so much time with my family, but I feel as if my life is on ‘pause.’ I’m ready to have my life back. This will likely be a long post (sorry), as I try to work things out (and please forgive the formatting issues - I am just not understanding the changes to the blog platform)...
I’m very fortunate to be safe, warm, and loved during this holiday season, but when I remembered this post was coming up, I was struggling to think of other things to be thankful for this year. Which is selfish and nuts. Of course, there is always something to be thankful for – my family is healthy, we have a new baby in the extended family, I’m able to work from home, my sister bought a new house, my nephew is doing well, and there is still theater to watch.
I’ll admit I have some problems watching too much online at the moment (I guess I’ll do a post eventually about my ongoing vestibular and vision issues/therapy), so when I have the ability to enjoy a piece online, I’m especially grateful. I’ve watched about fifteen plays/musicals online in the last few months and they’ve mainly been wonderful. I’ll talk more about some of them in my annual end-of-year post (my numbers are going to be SO SAD this year!). But in general, I admit that I respond best to plays with a limited number of characters, because my eyes and brain can handle them better. So monologue-type things, like Faith Healer (Michael Sheen = MESMERIZING), Watching the Watcher (Dael Orlandersmith NEVER disappoints), and The Night Watcher (Charlayne Woodard = STUNNING) worked best for me. Special shout-out, though, to Guards at the Taj, which I adored in its original production and loved even more via Zoom, so I could see those amazing actors up close and really REALLY hear Rajiv Joseph’s gorgeous dialogue. More about online theater in a future post, provided I’m able to get my brain really working again. Oh, but I can’t forget to mention the joy of seeing What the Constitution Means to Me again. Absolute.Joy.
So, after whining too much, I realize that I’m so thankful this year for:
- my amazing family, who seriously changed their lives to accommodate mine;
- my incredible wonderful nephew, who simply blows my mind most days;
- my beautiful GNO gal pals AND our wonderful guy pals/plus-two;
- my wonderful extended family, with the coolest aunts, uncles, and cousins around (and welcome to our new baby cousin!);
- all of my dear, darling friends who care, check in, and make me laugh;
- all of my dear co-workers who understand me, support me, and keep me going;
- Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (they will probably get their own post eventually, too);
- Ted Lasso (seriously, people, go watch this right now; I may have to do a blog post just about how it made me so happy);
- generous artists who drop everything to raise money for people in need;
- Drizly alcohol delivery app;
- my new wireless ear buds;
- Amazon Prime (I know, I know, I know,);
- Jose Cuervo premixed margaritas;
- Stacey Abrams;
- board games;
- Great British Baking Show;
- America’s Test Kitchen app;
- essential oils and diffuser;
- brilliant people on Twitter;
- my beautiful goddaughters;
- Manwich;
- Mary Berry;
- Game Show Network;
- my very kind vestibular and vision therapists;
- Wayne Brady and Let’s Make a Deal;
- New York Times crossword puzzle;
- Dramamine;
- Steppenwolf Now virtual subscription packages;
- Turner Classic Movies;
- Golden Girls Trivial Pursuit
So I guess I DID find things to be thankful for! I knew I would. No more whining from me – please enjoy your holiday, everyone, and thank you for joining me here! And, please, for the love of everything, WEAR A MASK!!!
