Godless heathenism + Easter = springtime Thanksgiving

I've been a godless heathen for about 15 years. One thing that's kind of blowing my mind right now is how many people celebrate Easter - and assume I do too. I really feel assailed by it.

And even though it's not my holiday, I still have to attend an Easter dinner with my family.

What to do?

This morning I was reading through Facebook and spied a post by my pal Bill Bradley wherein he declared his gratitude for the people and good things in his life. And I thought, "That's the ticket!"

Starting today, I am now thinking of Easter as springtime Thanksgiving. Here are a few things I'm grateful for this springtime Thanksgiving:

• The Count - We met five years ago in May. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me and I'm so glad we're getting hitched in June.


• My family - Sometimes they drive me up a wall, but I love them and am grateful to have them.


• Scott's family - One of the benefits of marrying my one true love is that his family gets to be my family too. When I was having my girlhood imaginations of in-laws, I couldn't have imagined people so lovely, loving and kind.


• Our friends - We've assembled such a lovely group of people to love and love us. We are uncommonly blessed.


• That everything is going to work out just fine - I had a minor meltdown a couple days ago over the wedding planning, but I know everything is going to work out just fine and that no matter what happens at our wedding, we're going to leave it married and that's the whole point.


• Health - I've written extensively on this blog about plantar fasciitis. I've been over it for a couple years now and I can walk for fun and fitness again like I used to. Not being in near-constant pain has been such a glorious, glorious gift.


• My job - I had two goals when I took my corporate-America job nearly five years ago: 1) save for retirement and 2) buy a house. I started saving for our golden years immediately upon hire. Two years in, we bought our house. It's a huge bonus that I love my job and my colleagues so much. It hardly even feels like work most days.


• Our house, in particular, our newly renovated kitchen - Cooking food in a space intended for that purpose is so much better than the situation we had here before. I nearly forgot how much I love getting my bake on. We're living the good life!

Happy springtime Thanksgiving to all!