Top Ten Tuesday: Thanksgiving Freebie!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original and weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

~~ Thanksgiving Freebie! ~~

~~ Things I Am Thankful For ~~

I'm a day late for TTT, but a day early for the actual holiday, so it all balances out, right?  =D

The topic for this week's TTT is, as stated above, is a freebie for Thanksgiving.  As Thanksgiving is not a traditional Asian holiday, the tradition of sharing what we give thanks for is not something our family has always done.  I'm not a stranger to the concept, but as many people do, I also spend a lot of time outside of Thanksgiving giving my thanks for all the great things I have in my life.  I've just never bothered to put them all in a list of any kind (OMG!  Ani didn't already have a list for this?!), despite how much I love making lists.

So here are a few clumsily thrown together items, in no particular order since I'm writing this as I think of them:


Ani is Thankful for...


...my family and support system.  Life has been kind of crazy at work lately with some down-sizing possibly happening.  At times like these, I'm glad I have my family I know I can fall back on if anything life-changing were to happen, such as getting laid off, or a consideration of a career change.

...my best friends of 10+ years.  We've been through thick and thin, and even though we're not on a constantly communicating basis, we can still greet each other like we've just spoken a couple days ago.  Everyone has such busy lives now, and everyone is just at a different stage in their lives now.  It's hard to find time to be together as we once were in high school.

...my general good health.  Aside from the little medical snafu at the beginning of this year, I have always been an overall healthy person.  I might be a bit obese (as my doctor has diagnosed me), but I can still walk, I can still work, and I have no problems doing strenuous physical activities if it is required of me.

...books!  This is a given, really and needs no elaboration.  =D

...the fact that libraries are still in style.  Too many people I come across in real life, as well as on the internet, are so convinced that libraries are a dying concept.  But no matter how many times I go to the library (at least twice to three times a month), the place is always full of people!  And it makes me happy to know that people still use the libraries in town as much as they do.

...food.  I love food!  That is all.

...the first person ever who thought that peanut butter and chocolate was a good combination!

...dairy-free egg nog!  There are a lot of things I cannot eat anymore, because I have to admit that I can no longer stand the discomfort that comes afterward.  I suppose being young had its perks, but I can no longer deny that milk products such as ice-cream, chocolate milk, and creamy sauces doesn't affect me.  I hate that I have to avoid so many foods that I always loved, though I've grown to a point where I don't miss drinking milk or eating ice cream.  But I love egg nog, and was ecstatically happy when I discovered that there was a So Delicious brand made from coconut milk that tastes so declicious!

...wine!  Wine is a great way to spend the evening with a book, some snacks, and nothing else on your mind.

...hot tea!  Hot tea is a great way to spend those cold winter nights with a book, some snacks, and nothing else on your mind.  :P


That is ten things I'm thankful for, but before I end this post, I also wanted to include a couple more items.  Because, obviously, I am thankful for more than just ten things!


First all, I'm extremely thankful for the great bookish community I've been able to be a part of for these past couple years.  Booklikes has brought out a blogging, book discussing side of me that has been a lot of fun!  And all the members I follow and who follow me are such wonderful people who have made me feel very welcome and very involved.  Thank you to all of you!

Along that same vein, I'd also like to give thanks for the blogging community I have been following outside of Booklikes as well, thanks to some lovely reading challenges and bookish memes.  They are a pleasure to discuss books and any number of bookish subjects with every once in a while whenever I break out of my lurking mode to insert a comment here and there.

Another bookish thanks goes to all the bookish activities I've ever participated in that just adds onto making reading so much fun!  Reading challenges and Read-a-thons and Book Bingos, alike!


Finally, I'm thankful for this little guy!

He is using my hand as a pillow.  He will sometimes use my foot if I'm sitting on the floor.

Baby has been in our family since 2008 and is still as hyper and impish as he was when he was just a baby.  And in this household, he loves attention, loves to play, and just loves to love!  He's also very punctual about his daily activities and knows exactly when everyone gets home from work, when it's time to wake up or go to sleep, or when he's supposed to get dinner.  Especially when he's supposed to get dinner.  And when you deviate from that time at all, he often shows his displeasure by putting his butt in your face, or snorting at you.

I have over 300+ photos of this little guy on my phone.  I'm going to have to start sharing more often.  Because as much as he loves affection, he doesn't really like taking his picture and will turn his head away, so whenever I can, I take a picture of him doing whatever cute thing he's doing.