So. Here we are. Another Thanksgiving is nearing and we are, once again, dealing with the backlash of active addiction.  Whether you see it coming,, whether it sneaks up like ninja in the night, active addiction is hard to understand, live with, and watch. It makes life depressing. And it makes it hard to appreciate the good things in life.  The events occurring all over the world certainly put life into perspective.  Instead of running a long narrative about how our family has been chasing JoDee, dragging her home, and watching her detox, again, I decided to focus on what I am thankful for this year. These are in no particular order of importance.

1. My children. All 5 of the Brayden/Cortes kids. I’m am grateful for their personalities, their troubles, their successes and their relationship with us and each other. Fist fighting, swearing and name calling one minute, all huddled under a blanket watching scary movies the next is the best medicine and I would have it no other way.
2. My compadre. My spouse. My husband. Ours is a unique story that isn’t really all that interesting but we certainly do a good job of keeping everyone entertained. From grammatical errors on his part that make me die laughing, (ex: I got here first than you) to fights that end up with one of us (I will let you guess which) picking their previously clean close out of the freshly used kitty liter box. It’s a roller coaster I never want to get off.
3. The middle finger emoji on the new IOS9 update. I can’t even stand it. I use it frequently and with the giddy delight of a pre-teen giving someone the actual finger.
4. That I was able to hold back and not say what I wanted to say to the young woman at Dunks by my work. Never looking up from her phone, she ordered her large ice coffee with 5 creams and 7 sugars, walked out of the store to get into her car, which was parked in the only handicapped parking space without a handicapped plate or placard hanging from the rearview mirror. Believe me, I understand invisible disabilities (hello MS?) but that was not the case. I watched her drive out of the spot and out of the parking lot, with her phone still in her face. I don’t believe she looked up from her phone long enough to notice the handicapped sign. In case she knows who she is (off 128 in Stoneham) shame on you. Anyway, I was going to say something else that ended in you but I refrained so, ya, I’m thankful for that.
5. That Jay J was able to enjoy and experience a wonderful trip backpacking Europe. And that he was home safe and sound before last week’s events occurred.
6. Ex’s. Mine and his. We have a strange network. We have very unusual circumstances in both of our families and our children. I am thankful that we are all in a place that when we need to AC and I and OC/SC mom can all band together to support the girls. And when my three (though let’s be honest, we really mean JoDee) needs it, AC and I and Ex Numero Uno and his wife can come together to support each other and the kids. We have all come a long way and grown as adults and families. #Weirdbutworks
7. Friends. Mine, of course, but in this particular instance JoDee’s. I’m not always sure that JoDee realizes how nasty she is when she is caught up. I don’t know that if we told her she would truly believe that it was as bad as we say. And she isolates and finds herself shutting off and shutting up all the people that care about her. As her family, we sort of have to take it on a different level than others. I am thankful for her strong network of people that care for her and help and welcome her when she comes back.
8. Chopped and The Big Bang Theory. The two things I can watch hours of without remembering how life is shitty, in that particular moment. Thank you Food Network and Major Network Channel that I can’t remember at the moment. #Theydomeasolid
9. I can wear jeans to work on Fridays. No further explanation is necessary, I’m sure.
10. Please. You all know what is coming next….. come on. Baby Kitty and Mommy Blu (that I shouldn’t call Mommy because Blu is a boy and my kids all make fun of me when I call him in a high pitched voice “mommy Blu, come see me Mommy Blu”) My two fav’s. The only two that rarely get in trouble. Even when I hear them rummaging in something in the middle of the night so I get out of bed to go look and they have opened the cabinet with the cat food and are both ass-in-the-air, heads-deep-in-the-bag having a midnight snack. Even when Blu brings me baby mice that he lovingly leaves at my feet. And they are dead. Most of the time. Even when Diego decides the best place to sleep is on top of the book I am reading. Even then… I am so thankful for them.It goes without saying g(then why am I saying it?) that I am thankful every day, not just at thanksgiving, for our family, our health, our wealth (even the lack there of) and our lives. Addiction has made me all too aware of how bad things can be. I’m glad that we had only 2 relapse so far this year, that is half as many as last year. I am glad that I have seen she can do it, she managed 7, almost 8 months, of clean time. It’s encouraging that she realizes how toxic a situation she was in, and that she needs to change her behavior.