Giving thanks on Black Friday

So yesterday was Thanksgiving, but as I'm not American I don't feel the need to mark this day with pumpkin pie, turkey or general gluttony. Equally the phenomenon of Black Friday appears to have been adopted over here, but if I didn't need it already I'm certainly not going to risk a stampede to buy  a larger TV. Anyway, I still think it's a good practice to give thanks and I have plenty to be thankful for so here is my rundown of just the last week.

There are so many people I want to thank, so here's the thanks:

Titia - thank you for taking Big Boy to school this week when Baby Boy was ill and I was feeling pretty rotten too. You're a lovely Mum friend.

My sister - Thank you for driving over an hour to come and take care of the boys so that me and Hubbie could go out for the evening to watch Stewart Lee and Bridget Christie.

Soraya - thank you for the reassuring and supportive chat on the way to work. Despite getting disconnected repeatedly you made the time to keep calling me back and I felt so much better for it.

Neo - thank you for snuggling up to me on the sofa and letting me hold your warm paws. It's comforting when my boys won't let me hold their hands.

Hubbie - thank you for getting us tickets to go to some great gigs next year. It's the most fun going out with you.  

And then there are the things that I give thanks for, so here's the giving:

• I give thanks that I have my health and am able to give blood so I do. When I received a thank you email for giving blood this week I was so surprised as I honestly wasn't expecting it. 

• I give thanks that my children have shelter and warm clothes so I donated to Unicef so that Syrian children can have warm clothes too. 

• I give thanks that I have a home and a bed to sleep in so I gave to Crisis to enable people in need to eat a hot meal and have some basic care needs met. 

• I give thanks that we have food to eat so I gave to the food bank donation point in Waitrose. 

• I give thanks that my children are loved and cared for so I donated shoe boxes to Romanian orphans containing gloves, hats, soft toys and sweets. 

• I give thanks we can keep and feed our pet so I donated dog food and treats to a shelter for abandoned dogs.

We are very fortunate and have so much to be thankful for.

I hope I never forget that.