So here it is the night of Thanksgiving Eve here in the United states, and some time tomorrow I will likely be extra stuffed with Turkey and fixin’s and have begun to prep to do some shopping on Black Friday (if not catatonic from the mythical wonder tryptophan. @mythbusters, there is one for you) However, this is not just a day for Ben Franklin’s favorite fowl (he thought it should be the national bird!) but since the name of the day is rooted in “Thanks”, well, why not a “thankful” post. And to be quite honest, this won’t be completely Un-SQL because a reasonable amount of what I am thankful for has to do with that topic.

• First and foremost, my family – Yeah, I will probably take some guff for not listing each person individually, but if I did, this post would be crazy long. I am thankful for all of my family members, starting with my wife, mom, daughter, grand-daughter, son-in-law, mother-in-law, and many others too. Fact is, they are all really great and life would be far worse without any one of them.
• The SQL community – Up until a few years ago, I had two SQL communities. A few people I saw yearly at PASS, and a few regulars on the forums. Today, thanks to twitter and SQL Saturday events, the community is really becoming a year round thing. I won’t name names, but I have a few close friends and a lot of people that I count as friends due to that community.
• Everyone who has bought one of my books, follows me on twitter, this blog, or even just recognized me from twitter and said “hi”– Sometimes it is really hard to keep going producing content, and you all encourage me to keep going. So pretty much anyone who is reading this blog is included here… Thank you!
• My company – Like a lot of people, I gripe occasionally about my company on occasion, but honestly it is a wonderful place to work (there is a reason the grass always seems greener on the other side). I have been there 13 years and wouldn’t mind being there 30 more if things continue as they are.
• SQL Saturday Organizers – Technically these people are part of the SQL community, but the SQL Saturday movement over the past two years has been pretty awesome.  I have been to over 10 now, and every event has been run well and had interesting speakers.
• Technology – And not just SQL. Over the past few months, I have been working to get my mom in an assisted living home. The easy part was getting her in there (she is happy and doing well, since she decided it was time to go,) but the hard part is dealing with her house and other belongings that no longer are needed for her.  Using technology like laptop computers, Verizon wireless devices, etc, I have been able to work from her extremely Luddite house for nearly a month this year (and probably the same early next year.)  In past times I would have had to miss all of this time as work (of course I probably would have moved a little faster on the job, but who is counting).
• Medical Technology – It has now been over a year now since I had my hip surgery and I haven’t had pain there again… Not everything is perfect, but the hip is pretty much awesome.

Here’s hoping that you and yours will have a fantastic holiday and upcoming year no matter who you are or where you are.