In which our hero is grateful for what he's got.

The last two days, if they've taught me nothing else, have given me a greater appreciation for the upside of working from home. I'm not trying to sound gripe-a-rific here or anything, but I've really felt the stress pile on like a ton of bricks since I've been back in the office, and I don't enjoy it one bit. It's a combination of the people I work for having constantly high expectations, and me being very quick to get down on myself when I'm not meeting those expectations. It's sort of self destructive, in a way, and has me very much looking towards my future, and what I really want to do when I grow up. I've got some ideas, but no full fledged plan yet.

On a completely different note, tonight we had dinner with my cousin and his wife, who we don't get to see nearly enough. One of the things I've been thinking about a lot as Thanksgiving approaches is how precious friends and family are, and how I've got to make a better effort for my own part to be a social person, and keep in touch with both friends and family.

"Black Friday" is the anniversary of my grandmother's death a couple of years ago. Of my two grandmothers, she was the one I was least close to, mainly because she didn't live as close as my other grandmother. And I've really come to regret that, as I really enjoy hearing the stories about what a tough old broad she was. And it makes me feel, like I said, like I've got to really work to get to know people the people in my life better and really enjoy them for who they are. I don't want to be left wondering about who they really were when they're gone.