Gratitude

I intended to write this post this morning, but things were insane, then family showed up and so on.

It's Thanksgiving so it's a good time to list all the things around here I'm thankful for.

--First and foremost, my family. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am today, at all.

--My amazing friends

--The hockey bishes--seester, Spokant (and Mr. S), Baums, You Took My Seat, Mikaela and D, Nat, McP

--The friendships I've developed through having this site, with bishes and other bloggers. You are all inspiration and for that I thank you, you keep me sane and laughing. Closest to my heart:

• Ms. Conduct
• Eyebleaf
• bkblades
• Reasonable Doubt
• Q-Girl
• Scotty Wazz
  

--All the wonderful contributors and lurkers for the liveblogs. It's fun being able to come together and talk hockey (and whatever else) with cool people. It's something I didn't ever think would become a must-have feature on this site, but y'all make it happen.

--My amazing readers and commenters. Obviously, if you weren't around, I wouldn't be here. Well, I might be, but it would be rambling at myself. And that's no fun, trust me, I do that enough.

--I'm grateful for the ownership, management, and coaching of this team that make them competitive, exciting, and fun to watch. Even if I don't like every move, I have to believe it's all gonna work--it has so far.

--The billets to care for these boys like they are your own when they are away from their families for a huge chunk of the year. You don't get the thanks you deserve and if you do, it's still not enough. I've gotten to know several billets over the years and am amazed at how they make it all work with gigantic teenagers who could eat pallets of food from Costco.

--Thank you to the parents who let their boys come from all over Canada (and the US and Belarus) to Tri-Cities to live their dream. You've sacrificed so much for them to get them to this point and now they are growing up before our eyes instead of yours, I can't even imagine how hard that would be. I try to do what I can by providing photos of your sons on dvd throughout the season. But THANK YOU. As fans we appreciate all the hard work you've done and we appreciate your boys.