Let me tell you about how Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The general reasons are typical: good food, no present stress, and lots of love. But the specifics are what it's all about...some of my favorite thanksgivings have been:

The one after we graduated college and I stayed at Z's in DC in the room with the treetop deck and heard the lions roaring at the zoo in the morning. We made cornish game hens and ate cool whip.

The second one in Austin when everyone and their brother came to our house and it was a fabulous mixed mash of SLC people, and ILAS friends, and MBA students, and we played games into the night and drank and ate from the 20 pound turkey that I made all by myself.

The one with my Dad at my house, before I had actually moved in. It featured Canadians, and the beloved mother in law and the FIRST FRIED TURKEY.

Last year, when I was bursting with Eva and napped all day while everyone else cooked and the kids played in the snow and there were just people EVERYWHERE.

It's been a long time since I spent Thanksgiving with my mom, so that's a goal for a Thanksgiving future.

This year, I am thankful for the Junior Miss and to Bill for bringing her into our lives with me and to the Junior Miss for bringing Bill and me even closer. I'm thankful for our families and their support of us. I'm thankful for the people I work with and their commitment to women and to each other. I am thankful for a warm house and lots of food, and love love love. But most off all, I am pretty sure the thing I will be most thankful for tomorrow is Emeril's recipe for stuffing which has artichokes and spinach and BRIE CHEESE.