Thanksgiving 2009

I have to say that Thanksgiving is not one of my favorite holidays. I'm not a big fan of turkey but it is nice to have it once a year and to spend time with family. For the second year in a row we spent the holiday in St Clairsville with Scott's parents (one of the benefits of living close to them). I was only in charge of the sweet potato casserole (my fave) so it was a fairly relaxing day for me. The food was good and Josh and Kody behaved themselves for the most part.

Another reason for me not to like this time of year is that it is the anniversary of when my MS presented itself - it was a year ago on Black Friday that I woke up with numbness on my left side. Its hard for me to feel thankful with something like that in the forefront of my mind that makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry.

So I forced myself to think about what I am thankful for...

• I am thankful for Scott - I am blessed to have a husband who truly loves me, forgives my faults, takes care of me, Josh, Kody and the house. He picks up my slack around here when I simply dont have the energy to do anything and does it without complaint. He cooks, cleans better than I ever do and works very hard at his job to provide a good life for all of us. We have our ups and downs (as every couple does) but I can honestly say that I dont know what I would do without his love and support.

• I am thankful for Josh - I am blessed to have a healthy and happy little boy who makes me smile every day. I cant imagine my life without him and love watching him grow, learn and become a little man. He may drive me crazy at times but my favorite moments of every day involve holding, hugging and kissing him. My heart swells when I see him in the morning and when I see him after a day at the office. I'm glad he doesnt fight me too much yet when I just want to hold him in my arms.

• I am thankful for my family and friends - I am blessed to have such a great support system in my life. It's been a rough few months (to say the least) and the care and concern that everyone has expressed and keeps expressing for me means so much. I am learning who my true friends are and cherish you all.

• I am thankful for my job - I am blessed to work for one of the best companies and to have a job that I really enjoy. A year ago I was giving up this job because of our move and I am grateful that there was enough work to be done that they needed to hire me back. I feel like I work for a boss that has a good idea of my value and talents and love the autonomy of working remotely for him. I've seen what else is out there and it ain't pretty... my 5 months away from PSS taught me to appreciate the culture of the company and all that they do for their employees. I hope I dont ever have to leave again.

• Finally, I am thankful that I seem to have a milder form of MS. No one can tell me how the disease will progress or what to expect but my neurologist believes that with the help of the medication I can continue to live a somewhat normal life. The MS is slowing me down, that's for sure, but I hope all I will have to deal with are my current symptoms - fatigue, mild numbness in my left leg and slight occasional weakness in my right arm. I am thankful for my medication Rebif although I hate the injections and the side effects. If it does its job and slows down the progression of the disease, keeps me from relapsing and developing new symptoms then it's worth it. I look forward to trying the oral medication once it's approved by the FDA but if a shot 3 times a week is what I need to do to lead a normal life then it's what I will do.