Complete a Race? Have a Fabulous Thanksgiving? Check and Check.

Today, I'm giving thanks for the fact that I've crossed one more thing off of my list. In the week and a half that I have left, it's unlikely that I will complete everything on my list, and I'm okay with that. Still, crossing this particular item off is pretty satisfying. A month ago, I could barely jog a half mile, so finishing a 5K, even at my pitiful pace, feels like a success.

We were up and at 'em in Balboa Park by 7:30 Thanksgiving morning. My dad decided to run with me and Tom at the last minute, so we planned to meet at the end of the Laurel Street bridge. Turns out, that's also where 12,000 other people were lining up to start the race.

 
We saw Father Joe cruise by in his pseudo Pope-mobile...

Unfortunately, in all the chaos, we didn't manage to find my dad until right before we crossed the finish line...

All in all, it was a great way to start Thanksgiving. Plus, starting the day with a little exercise and fresh air helped to minimize the guilt incurred later by all the eating...

Later was lovely as well. I was bummed to miss my brother's call early in the afternoon, but I got to my parents' in time to Skype with Meghan.

It obviously pales in comparison to having the real, live version sitting at the table, but Skype has been a pretty great tool for keeping in touch with my siblings who are scattered across the globe. After Skype-ing, there were many hours of eating, and drinking, and Trivial Pursuit-playing. Tom and I won, just saying... Almost all of my pictures came out blurry and poorly composed, I'm choosing to see this as evidence of the fun I was having rather than a commentary on my photographic skills.

The pre-Thanksgiving moratorium on all things Christmas was officially lifted today, and I did not waste any time. As a result, tonight I am also thankful for my very patient husband who, if he had it his way, would probably not get into Christmas mode until December 20th or so. Despite his ambivalence about starting Christmas celebrations in late November, Tom put on a festive face and took me to the Del to see their tree and then to the lot to pick ours out. He then wrestled with the tree stand for a half hour, put the lights on the tree, found all of my Christmas music on the hard drive, and surprised me with the new Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli Christmas CDs despite his personal distaste for said music. I'm a very lucky girl. Pictures tomorrow.