A Culture of Gratitude. Day 2.

Today is November 2nd.
Today marks 23 days until Thanksgiving.

Today I am grateful for the impulsive nature of friends. 

I have found, over the years, that people are more the sum of their friendships than anything else. I have a tendency, believe it or not, to hunker down with a good book or movie when I find five minutes to myself. My first thought is not, in fact, to pick up the phone and see who will help me escape myself, even when perhaps it should be.

There are nights that, once The Munchkins are tucked safely away under covers, nightlights on, soft snores wafting down the hallways; I so crave adult contact that I very nearly ache with it.  And you'd think I'd get some of that at the 8-5 I pull five days a week, but that, honestly, is more computer interaction than anything and significantly less...fulfilling than one might think.

So six nights a week I curl up on the couch, tuck my toes under a blanket and pull up a good book, or my sewing machine; wishing I could be out of the house. But on that seventh night? The one when I could be out? I get anxious. I get nervous. I rent Redbox movies and buy TV dinners. FreedomFAIL, no?

And so it is, with great delight, that I find myself surrounded with enough people who pull me out against my better judgement on these days. I blink and find myself in smoky bars or art galleries or Tapas restaurants or local breweries without knowing quite how it happened. I find myself laughing until my cheekbones sting with it. I find myself surrounded.

I am grateful for the last minute phone calls. I am grateful for the mid-week emails. I am grateful for the plotters and planners and movers and shakers that let me tagalong for sanity's sake.

I am grateful for the impulsive nature of my friends.

I'm not sure where I'd be without them.