While I sit here contemplating whether or not to put away the quilted turkeys and the ceramic pumpkins or leave them up a little longer, I'm also wondering why every Tom, Dick, and Harriet I know already has his Christmas tree decorated.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: Thanksgiving gets a bum rap. I hardly get old Tom out of the closet before some goof ball radio station is playing Deck the Halls and Silent Night. Good grief.

On that subject, may I say that I'm thrilled, and thankful to the Chamber of Commerce for scheduling the Christmas Parade after December first! If it's not snowing by then, I can live with that. It's having to wear shorts and flip-flops to view the parade that makes me batty.

I do love a parade, one with lots and lots of music, Christmas music. I beg of you, dear hearts, if we have trouble securing enough bands this year, please bring your portable CD players and plenty of Christmas songs. We'll make this town rock.

I love Christmas, I really do. It calls to mind the birth of our Savior (even though theologians have put the actual time of Jesus' birth somewhere late summer or early fall) and what better to celebrate than that?

Still, there's something about Thanksgiving that makes me feel all warm and mushy inside, kind of like that sweet potato soufflé my niece makes every year.

The weather is cold and the leaves that are left on the trees are getting more glorious colors by the day.

It's the height of football season and if, like this year, we're still in the playoffs we just add that to our list of things for which to be thankful.

Since my daddy died in 1999 we have rotated between my sister's house and my niece's for the Thanksgiving meal, our intent being to lessen the load of all that cooking and cleaning for my mother.

This year though, my younger son called and said, "Mama, what's the plan for Thanksgiving?"

"Haven't decided yet," I told him.

"Well, you know what I'd like?"

"No, what would you like?" I asked.

"I'd love to eat down at Other Mama's again like we did when Big Daddy and Daddy Mitchell were alive."

I agreed that was a marvelous idea and promptly called my mama, who said she'd love it. I told her we'd set things up, bring all the food, and do the clean up afterward. With all twenty-five of us, that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm excited. All of us are excited. And I'm thankful, for so many things.

I'm thankful that my mother, at 86, despite a few health problems, is still as spry and young-at-heart as she's ever been. Her ability to rise at five a.m. and still be going strong at suppertime puts all the women in our family to shame.

I'm thankful for what she means to me and to our family. God has been good to us to let us have her this long and I pray she'll be around a whole lot longer.

I'm thankful for my good husband, two fine sons, and a sweet daughterin law who will soon present me with the most perfect grandchild on the planet.

I'm thankful for my sister, all her brood, and how they've made life interesting and fun for me since I was twelve years old.

I'm thankful for my husband's family, few as they are. And I'm thankful my sister-in-law the missionary has come home for good…to minister to our own motley crew.

I'm thankful for cousins, uncles, aunts, and caterpillars.

I'm thankful for my gas logs. Though my hubby thoroughly enjoyed chopping wood, the dust it produced in the fireplace and all over the house was a pain in the derriére. Plus, he's not as young as he once was and his "chopper" ain't what it used to be.

I'm thankful for a roof over my head, food on the table, the shoes on my feet and the clothes on my back, though I would like for those to be a couple of sizes smaller.

I'm thankful for my MAC computer even though I could understand the workings of a Boeing 747 better. The MAC is big and it's quick, and that's enough for me.

I'm thankful for flannel sheets even though when I crawl under them wearing my flannel pajamas I'm tempted to call 911 in the morning to get untangled and out of bed.

I'm thankful for mind-altering drugs. No, I don't mean the illegal kind. The prescribed ones that keep me a kitten instead of a rabid pit bull.

I'm thankful for Lean Cuisines, diet Coke, and for my cell phone.

I'm thankful for I'm thankful for my country, warts and all.

I'm thankful for our country's Freedom of Choice, Freedom of Religion (not from religion), and for the freedom to work hard, make something of myself, and become a responsible member of society.

I'm thankful for the ability to remember, to feel joy as well as pain.

And, to end this year's list on a lighter note, I'm thankful that turkeys taste a lot better than they look.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with those you love, dear hearts.

Oh, and GO BIG RED!