Thanksgiving Dinner 2008.

Thanksgiving is in my view the best holiday of the year. You have plenty of time while you are baking or cooking to remember how many things you are grateful for.

I managed to bake a couple of pumpkin pies and make my famous cranberry compote for our dinner. Leroy did the rest: turkey, flank steak stuffed with mushrooms, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, mushrooms, and homemade rolls. I'm sure I left something out of the list.

Joining us for dinner were former graduate student and now teacher Travis Feldman, James Searle, and Hazard Adams.

Diana Adams also joined us for dinner. And you can see Leroy and Hazard, discussing pending cuts to the university budget, below.

On thankfulness: Tracy wrote a most complete list of things for which she is grateful on her blog (go to http://tracy-breastcancerandme.blogspot.com/) and I could not come near to matching it, except to say that she makes me realize that I am thankful first of all for my health and for my family. I am also thankful for my work, including the volunteer work I do, and for the independent interests that I have outside my work. Penny, leader of the Kindred Spirits team, just finished a 60 mile walk in San Diego last weekend. For a third perspective on what it means to be grateful, check out her blog http://pennykellam.blogspot.com/. Penny is a survivor of both cervical and ovarian cancer, and of the death several years ago of her oldest son. She leads a 100+ person team in training for the Seattle walk, and usually walks in one other city each year as well. Both Tracy and Penny exemplify courage and grace under pressure, and I'm grateful to have them as friends and role models.