This morning, after not getting a whole lot of sleep (long story), I woke up with the thought that maybe I should brave the wonderful Washington State Ferry system and go visit my husband for the holiday.

I wasn't too worried about us missing Thanksgiving since he's off for the whole weekend, starting tomorrow, and we would just celebrate on Friday. My original plan for the day included staying in my jammies as long as possible and watching football. It sounded like a good plan to me!!

But for some reason I actually woke up with a fire in my behind. Or a bee in my bonnet. Or whatever the phrase is supposed to be. So I got Gracie ready, preened and primped myself, and hauled my tushie across the water to go have Thanksgiving over on my husband's ship.

It took me four hours to get to the ship, but it evened out because I got home in a record one hour and 15 minutes. Having Thanksgiving with my husband, even with ship food among the odor of diesel fuel, made the whole trip worth it.

One of the things I am most thankful for this holiday is the ability for our family to be together one last time before Kurt's deployment.

We didn't stay too long; just long enough to eat and watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose badly to the Dallas Cowboys. It made me sad because I'm a Bucs fan. Our team stinks this year, though.

As we left the ship, I took this one last photo because above all, I am thankful to be an American. I may not agree with the way the country is going or what it's done in the past, but I am glad to be an American.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!!