Chemo Round 1 ends tonight. Chemo Round 2 starts tomorrow morning...

And that's why I'm thankful. Bizarre, isn't it? But it's one more step to beating the crap out of cancer, and moving on with my life. Every delay has meant keeping me from finishing off my chemo treatment. Which delays my reconstruction surgery. Which delays my hormone treatment. Which delays my 5-year of being safe. Which delays my ability to say that I am officially cancer-free.

Here's what else I'm thankful for...

1. My Valkyrie knit hat by my cousin, Adina
2. For the first time in my life, we had a conflict-free family Thanksgiving. And I wasn't even drunk, nor did I have a significant other at the table to distract me
3. The morning steroids I had to take for chemo that got me zipping around the house like a maniac to get the turkey done, clean the house in order to make up for the fact that the cleaning lady didn't make it yesterday
4. The strength that it took for me not to kill the children this morning
5. Shower-free cleansers stolen from the hospital on a morning when I wasn't able to take a shower this morning
6. My Aunt Susie's rendition of my grandmother's potato kugel
7. My son's pumpkin pies (thought he gets a negative point for having eating a quarter of the pie tonight when he was supposed to be washing dishes, which I discovered he ate when he was on his way to bed)
8. My mother's rendition of my grandmother apfelkuchen
9. The wine my uncle brought in abundance
10. Scented soy candles
11. Southern Living's accessory line that makes me look professional
12. My nickname - Martha Jewart
13. Vacuum cleaners
14. My father washing the dishes

And, now, for your video-watching pleasure...

And, just for you... one of the more humiliating moments in my Thanksgiving life...