Thanksgiving is Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and football. Smells coming from the kitchen are so inviting taste testers. To much food, and to little exercise make this day a time of family and friends.

The year is almost over. It seems the period of time between Thanksgiving and New Years Day is the payday for the work done the rest of the year. Today, is the day we set aside to be thankful for what has come our way. It does not matter if has been good and bad. Things could of have been a lot worse.

We are thankful for:

Are you ready for tomorrow? Tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year. Have you been getting all those fliers in the mail? Have you been getting all those emails letting you know where big saving are going to be happening on Black Friday?

If you haven’t been getting them, you must of have been cut off from any contact with the outside world. Local and national news has been filled with there own versions of where the best deals can be found on Black Friday.

Today is Thanksgiving. It is a time of food, family, and friends. The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. It is when store offers blowout deals to start off the Christmas Shopping Season. My sources have all been telling me that this is the most optimistic Black Friday in years.

This year for Thanksgiving I decided to have a little contest. I wanted to know what people were planning for Thanksgiving Dinner. We announced it first on the radio station KKNW during The Northwest Traveler. Then later on Facebook.  We set the radom selection of the winner to be noon Eastern Standard Time on November 17th.

The randomly selected winner was Janice from Boise Idaho. We will be sending a $20 gift card from Winco.  She said her Thanksgiving dinner will include Smoked Turkey, Twice Baked Potato Casserole, Veggies, Homemade Rolls, and Pumpkin Pie from Scratch.

After reading her email, I was very impress how the bulk of her and her families meal will be homemade from scratch as opposed to getting out of box or in some form of container where it is pre-made. For me this is the essence of having a family Thanksgiving Dinner.

This Thanksgiving Day 2009, I want to take this time and thank all the people in my life who has had a perfound influence. I may not of have listen to them when I should of have, but I can sit right here and say they have had a positive influence on my life. Because of that influence I am very thankful.

Lucile and Everett Cussins Sr. – Mom and dad weren’t very well educated or articulate about how they felt. They love my brother and I. They wanted the best for us. They wanted us to work hard and make the most out of what we have.

John C. Cussins – My brother, who was more like a older brother, in later years. He is the more stable, critical thinker.

Wally and Beverly Walrath – An older couple who opened they home up to a bunch of crazy hippies and teenagers. It was through them many lives were changed.