Thanksgiving on Thursday

As I've mentioned, a lot of my hours at work are invested in social media. When I'm not tweeting, posting and creating Google text ads, I'm most likely reaching out to mommy bloggers who are potential ambassadors for my organization. 


After a year following the words and ways of mommy bloggers, I've started adapting to their cult behavior and coded lingo. While I'm not ready to shift my blog's content to the terrible twos, better baby strollers, postpartum depression, weight watchers, and bargain buys. I might be ready to employ a trick of their trade or two. 


One of the things you pick up right away, is that mommy bloggers like to direct their content throughout the week so they always have something to write about and an angle in which to do it. To facilitate the process they have created themes for the days of the week. For instance:  

• MomAdvice rattles off her notebook of bargains and best buys on Monday. 
• Ardentless does a role call of her favorite Charities on Tuesday.
• Most everyone posts a particularly compelling photograph on Wordless Wednesday. Pioneer Woman's are the best.
• One of my favorites, The Heir to Blair posts 'Thankful on Thursday' every week. 
• And on Friday everyone gives each other "Follow Friday" shout-outs throughout the Twittosphere. LA Story always gives me love. 

Now I know, if you were anything like me before I took on the job of blogger outreach, you will find this stuff bizarre and irrelevant. But after a year playing in the virtual world of bloggers, I've started to understand the environment and think I might just be ready to participate in some of the cult behavior. I figured since I'm in a particularly thankful mood this week, I would follow The Heir to Blair's lead with a Thursday of thanksgiving post.


(As a side note - When I was in kindergarten, we were told to make Thanksgiving placements as a crafting project. We were supposed to fill in the phrase, "I am thankful for ..." and then draw a picture to match. Most everyone wrote "my family" or "my friends." I wrote "corn bread" and drew a picture of a piece of Jiffy cornbread. So, in keeping with that spirit, a lot of my thanksgiving stems from the edible category.)


I'm thankful for the cooler evenings at the end of the summer that make grilling a little cozier. And the pizza that was on that grill Friday night that ended up fueled my 20-mile marathon training run this weekend.  

I'm thankful for a giant smoked turkey that has been the main source of subsistence this week. It made great club sandwiches on the best picnic ever on Sunday, tasty lunches, and a host of miniature Thanksgiving feasts this week. 

I'm thankful for the Monster Truck because it has been there for me time and time again. It helped me move to Naperville, it carried our bikes to the Morton Arboretum, and it's there for me today when my polar opposite Mini-Cooper has to go into the shop for an oil change. (Yes, I'll be driving a monster truck to work today.)

I'm thankful for the fresh loaf of bread I made last night and the 'good job!' rather than 'nice effort' it garnered. Oma and Grandma Barry would be proud.

I'm thankful for champagne, the cute boy that opens it for me, and the sister-in-law who is keeping it on tap for me this weekend. 

I'm thankful for my shiny new thing, all that it represents, and all the love and support I have received this week from friends and family. 


Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!


Lo. 


And now let's go make some change!