Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This does not detract from the fact that Thanksgiving is a terrible, horrible day when we celebrate gluttony and awkwardly ignore the fact of Native American genocide in favor of watching football and eating a turkey who probably spent its life in a fetid coop unable to move. Details!

I’m quite fond of this video, which Wonkette posts each year, along with some sharp snark about the sad sorry state of American politiculture.

All snark and beeyotchness aside, here are some things I find myself particularly thankful for this year:

1. Friendsgiving Without getting into family histrionics, let me say that about a month ago, I found my family members would generally otherwise be occupied this holiday. Luckily, two of my dear friends — B&D — along with my sister, also found themselves in similar situations. Thus, Friendsgiving was born. We are congregating together for a full 48 hours of feasting, including the cooking of a #baconturkey and the imbibing of much wine. I’m betting Friendsgiving is going to be more emotionally and intestinally fulfilling than any festivities I have attended in the past.

2. Pills The legal ones, you guys. I was diagnosed with a panic disorder a few months ago and not to be That Girl, but I think it’s important to acknowledge the presence of mental disorders and disabilities so as to normalize them. I mean really, once you start talking to people you find that everyone is or has been on some kind of mood stabilizer or seen a shrink. Regardless, these common issues still tend to seem taboo. Anyways, I was put on a miracle drug, my insomnia has all but disappeared, and life in general — though still sometimes overwhelming — has become significantly more manageable.

3. A job Not only a job, but a job I love and can see myself building a career around. I know too many brilliant, driven, creative people who for the life of them cannot find employment — never mind a career that requires their qualitative talents. You know how in high school your guidance counselor said, “Kaitlyn, if you won the lottery and money was no object what would you want to do with your life?” I think I said something about painting pictures and going on MySpace. Ok, so my job doesn’t involve a near-defunct social media site or oil paints, but I do get to stalk people on Twitter and sometimes layout websites with this fun thing. That counts, right?

4. Carla Do I write too much about my dog? I don’t have a boyfriend or a kid and I don’t go on a lot of vacations, so…no. This ties in with my job, as I am able to work from home, which makes having a dog practical as a single person. Instead of taking water cooler breaks, or whatever people do in office buildings, I take play with Carla breaks. Though I had about a week of total panic after adopting her (I can’t do this! What if I break her! What if she gets sick! I’m a terrible dog parent!), I’ve found it’s quite hard to be panicky/sad around a tiny dog. She always seems to know when I’m about to lose and it quickly does something cute or weird, distracting me long enough to avoid hopping on the Crazy Train™.

5. This video Enough said.