HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2015

Even though my friends who know what’s going on with me might not agree, I have more this year to be grateful for than ever!

I swear—I’ve always been grateful just about every day, as we all should be. But this year, with my recent shocking health issues, even moreso. I’m seriously grateful just to be alive right now. (Not just because of my own health, but also because of all the evil going on in the world these days.)

I’m always thankful for Mr. X, my friends, even my business associates! But now I’ve added my doctors and nurses at Cedars-Sinai, especially my stroke and diabetes teams. Most of them have been great.

I couldn’t have done better myself, so here’s a beautiful collage from Derek Hough’s Instagram.

And a sidebar of thankfulness here: I couldn’t be more thrilled that Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough won Dancing With The Stars last night!!! Such a deserved victory. You know that I always love Derek, but Bindi is on another level of being from the rest of us. She’s like the Dalai Lama! Every word she utters is so beautiful and genuine. And, as Mr. X pointed-out, no one has ever danced with the pure joy that she does. There aren’t enough accolades in the world for that girl. Or for her wonderful mother and brother. I’ve rarely encountered people like them in my whole life. So, I’m very grateful that at least that show worked out the fair way. (By the way, I did love Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess all season, but even they said Bindi deserved the win! I’m thrilled they were the runners-up, though. This is one season that worked out perfectly.)

Now back to the actual day of Thanksgiving. The ironic thing is that, on this day of giving thanks, which is one of the biggest foodie days of the year, there’s hardly anything I can eat in celebration of the occasion! I’ve had to change my entire diet, which, of course, makes me sad. But, now that I’ve gotten over the initial shock of that news, I’ve even found something in it to be grateful for now. Ready—I’ve lost ten pounds in just four weeks! Without even trying!

Yes, I really do miss hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, ice cream, and all things chocolate. But, after being skinny for most of my adult life, (since I was twelve,) I had gotten a tad chubby over the past few years, when my back issues began, which forced me to cut out exercise and dance. (By the way—I’m pretty sure it was more than “a tad.” But I not only thought a different diet couldn’t make much difference without also exercising, there was no way I had the discipline to change my foodie ways. I just hoped that the pounds would magically come off soon.)

After all, I had been allowed to eat whatever I wanted to growing up, and trust me—it wasn’t pretty. I began the day with chocolate cake and milk for breakfast, the same for my after-school snack, and one more time before I went to bed! No lie. Add to that TV dinners for lunch five days a week, soda at every meal, and candy on the way home from school every day, and I’m beginning to understand why I finally had a mini-stroke! Not to mention that newly-acquire diabetes! [Note: I was actually just writing this to entertain you guys, but now I see why they tell people to keep a food diary. Until this very moment, I really had no idea how poorly I had eaten my entire life, until I saw it on this page in print! Maybe my parents really didn’t like me, after all. I always just thought they were being good to me. Hmm.]

This is the crazy kind of Thanksgiving dinner I’m afraid I’m going to have this year!

So here it is, Thanksgiving, and what is the diabetic stroke victim to eat? (I can’t believe writing that line actually made me laugh. I hope it did the same for you– I’m not writing this to get sympathy; I think I’m just writing it because this is what’s on my mind this Thanksgiving, and nothing else was coming to me when I sat down at the blank page.) The friends I’m going to for Thanksgiving dinner asked me what I can and cannot eat, and then informed me that they’re not planning on making anything different for me. Lovely.

But I really don’t want anyone to go out of their way for me. Really. (I have Mr. X to do that!!! And he’s doing it all the time. Yet another reason to be grateful.) I know that I’ll figure it out, as I’ve been doing for this past month. I’ll have a couple of bites of turkey (sans my beloved crispy skin,) a dollop of mashed potatoes, (I can’t have more because she makes them with mayonnaise,) and as many unadorned vegetables as I can find. Of course, I’m totally sad to be missing out on stuffing, but at least that means that the stuffing inside me should stay healthy for a that much longer. Knock on wood.

So I’m hoping that all of you can enjoy every ounce of Thanksgiving dinner, and then some. And savor it to the utmost. For those of you in the same boat with me, let’s just be grateful that they are a lot of other important things in life besides eating the foods we love. Can’t think of any right now, but… Oh yeah—staying alive and healthy!

On that note, I wish you all a happy, healthy, and fulfilling Thanksgiving! And please remember to be careful if you’re traveling at all, no matter what the mode.

See you back here on Monday! Stuffed with holiday goodness.