Bowling Braces and Family Recipes

The title of this post came from a conversation I had with some writer friends on Twitter last night. We were all talking about how we all suffer from one form or another of carpal tunnel syndrome from typing all the time. The tendons in my hand hurt all the way up to my shoulder. It's probably a combination tendonitis and carpal tunnel. So we were brainstorming as to things that could help us. Being writers, our imaginations run rampant and these kind of conversations can be both informing and hysterical all at the same time.

Having said that, my first thing I'm grateful for on today's post is my writer community friends I have met on Twitter. The list is long and diverse as far as who they are, what they write and where they live, but we all have things in common, we love to write. We talk about plot twists and turns, problems we're having, or successes. It's just a great community to be a part of.

Don't get me wrong, I love being a music teacher and going to music teacher meetings is great. But this group...they're global and they're always around to give advice, opinions, support or just participate in a conversation that distracts from frustrations. If I started naming them, it would take the rest of the page and I would probably forget somebody. They know who they are and they all have my admiration. :)
And by the way...I do have on my bowling brace and it is helping..but I wasn't brave enough to try the whiskey while I was typing. I will name the names of the ones in the convo last night, because they are so funny. I'll ID them by their twitter handles: @calistataylor @robertklewis @jemifraser and @Lit_Gal  Great people for sure. :) If you find them on Twitter, check out their blogs. They're awesome.

The second thing I'm thankful for is my immediate family. I am lucky enough to still have both my parents, in great health, both my siblings are still in their first marriage, as am I, which now a days is a huge feat. We also enjoy each others company, which is not always the case in some families. Lucky for us, there's not really any major family drama that goes on, and I, being the middle 'peacemaker' child, thrives in that. 

I'm also grateful for passed down recipes. Namely, Mom's dressing. I love it. It's the best thing ever. I could just eat that and not worry about the turkey or chicken. I'm also grateful that my sister-in-law has learned to make it. She's been making it for several years now and has gotten it down to as perfect as my mom makes it. So, at some point, I'll have to bug her about giving me 'dressing lessons'. :)  I've perfected another of my mom's recipes, her chocolate chess pie. This pie is so good, my oldest daughter asked for it one year instead of a birthday cake. That's how much she loves it. Must've inherited that from me. ;)

I'm leaving now to start my day of preparations for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast at my mom's house. I hope all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving, or just a great Thursday if you're not in the U.S.

Cheers!

Suzanne