Answer: When you clean up their vom.

Ben had his wisdom teeth removed last Friday, and yours truly played the role of nurse for the weekend. (That might have conjured up a sexy image for some of you, but let me assure you that it was anything but.)

After cleaning up projectile vomit (he had a bad reaction to the sedation), I decided that you know you love someone when you clean up their bodily fluids without anger or disgust. And, since I’m not a mom, I can only remember doing this one other time. It involved my best friend’s 21st birthday party, 21 shots…and Japanese food. She had an exam the next day, so I just put her in bed and wiped down the floor. And walls. And toilet. And sink.

On Thanksgiving, per usual, my dad went to my mom’s house to eat lunch. And, per usual, he was wearing something hideous.

Over the years, I have lived through many a horrendous outfit worn by my father. The high-water jeans, the lack of socks, the ties that I’m certain he found in a dumpster – I could go on and on. One time, when I was in high school, I drove up with a group of friends to find my dad wearing a shirt that read, “Cheerleaders are Athletes.” Being MY t-shirt, you can imagine how tight it was on a grown man.

So, it’s usually expected that my dad will have on something embarrassing. (In cases where it truly matters, like weddings and the like, I hand pick an outfit and threaten his life if he changes the plan.) But, when that man walked up wearing two different shades of denim, I almost busted out laughing. Denim shirts really weren’t acceptable when they were “acceptable” with a pair of khaki pants back in the 90’s. Yet, there he was: Denim on top, denim on bottom. Yowza.

Just when you think you’re immune to his bad style, he shows you that it can always get worse. Bless his heart.

They (whoever “they” are) always say that one wants what one can’t have. It’s true, isn’t it? For me, this is absolutely the case when it comes to my hair.

I have this God-given curly hair that, at times, rivals any 1980’s hair band member’s locks. I wear it curly quite often during the work week (when my give a damn is busted), but I blow it out straight on the weekends (and important work days).

I remember being in high school and desperately wanting to wear my hair straight. At the time, all I had to “straighten” my hair after the blow drying process was a curling iron that I would run down my hair to get the curl out. As you can imagine, it didn’t work that well at all. A few times, I had a girlfriend iron it, but again, that didn’t work quite as well as I had hoped.

Enter my first flat iron circa 1999. This little invention has changed my life, so today, I speak for all the naturally curly ladies out there when I say that I am oh-so-thankful for my flat iron. For giving me what I always wanted – but couldn’t have.

Having a few days off for Thanksgiving was a much needed break in the daily grind. I loved the good mood everyone was in last Wednesday…even the postal workers I saw had smiles on their faces. (Before you send me hate mail, my stepdad is one of them. I love me some USPS workers, ok?)

Being back to “business as usual” today makes me even more thankful for the time I had off work.

I’m thankful for a family who loves and supports me every day. This Thanksgiving, I’m especially thankful for a new addition to our family – my niece, Haley. (Sure, she’s stolen my former closet, but at least she isn’t old enough to hog the pumpkin pie.)

Many of us will celebrate Thanksgiving without a member (or members) of our family. Some are off serving our country abroad, some live so far away that traveling isn’t possible, some are not on good terms, and some of our family members are no longer with us. My hope is that whatever your situation is, you can be thankful for your family. If they are in the military, I hope that you are thankful for their bravery and contribution. If they live far away, I hope that you are thankful for a phone call (or Skype date!) and that they are happy/healthy. If you are not on good terms, I hope that you are thankful for the memories when you were. If they have passed away, I hope that you are thankful for the life they lived – and that God gave you the gift of knowing and loving them.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Every day, I drive past under an overpass that is the “home” to people who have no other place to go.

Today, I’m thankful for all of the things I so often take for granted, including basic necessities like a place to eat, sleep, stay warm and out of harm’s way. We are all much more blessed than we realize.

Yes, it’s true what they say about country music. It’s either about someone leavin’ (or wantin’ to leave, or wantin’ to come back), drinking, cheating, or about some small town. I like all different types of music, but my favorite tunes to belt out at the top of my lungs are the country ones.

I’m thankful for music, (and not just country music) how you can hear lyrics someone else has written, and think that they stole the words right out of your mind.

You know, the universe really could be messin’ with me. November, the month of thankfulness, has been pretty unlucky for me. And by “pretty unlucky” – I mean that if I were any one of my friends and a thunderstorm came up…I’d exit stage left. As quickly as possible. (During the first three weeks of this month, I’ve managed to have a camera and two cell phones stolen from me.)

On Friday night, while sitting with friends at a bar/restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina, my friend Meigs’ husband looks out the window and says, “Someone just hit that white car out there and kept going!”

That white car? Well, OF COURSE IT WAS MY CAR. And this guy (girl?) took the term hit and run to a whole ‘nother level, as they didn’t even think about stopping. Not even for a second. They just side swiped my drivers side from the back bumper to the front mirror (which landed about 15 feet away) and kept on a-truckin’.

After the police report was all taken care of, I marched back into the restaurant, promptly ordered a shot of tequila and had some laughs (ok, fine, and said a few curse words) with my friends. Because sometimes if you don’t laugh, you’ll go insane, right?

So, today – I’m thankful for body shops…and tequila.

Side note: Stop testing me, November.

So, if you don’t want to read a sappy love entry…don’t continue. Seriously, you’ve been warned.

I’m incredibly thankful for my boyfriend, Ben. Our story begins a little differently than most – with him being a young and somewhat nervous lobbyist in Columbia and me being an older and overly confident House (of Reps) staffer. We were only friends back then, but it laid the groundwork for what would become our love story. (Is Taylor Swift singing in your head yet?)

Ben came into my life again at a dark time for me, and our roles had completely reversed. (Except for the young part, he’ll always be younger than me and he’ll never allow me to forget that.) My confidence level was non-existent, and I was certainly the nervous one. Nervous about my future, nervous about what other people thought, nervous about being single again…sounds completely attractive, huh? Well, that’s the thing about Ben. He knew all of that, and he wanted to love me anyway. And so he did.

I vividly remember typing a vent to him (thanks, gchat!) that went along the lines of, “I mean, who would want to date a 29-year-old divorcee?” His reply was quick and simple, and something he probably didn’t give a whole lot of thought to. He said, “I would.” Boy was he in for it.

If I wrote a list of everything I wanted in a partner, Ben would have everything on that list and then some. He’s caring, helpful, sweet, funny, loving, fun, intelligent, interesting, handsome, patient (let’s keep it real, he needs the patience when dealing with yours truly), and loves my family and my dog. I think I hit the jackpot.

It’s about damn time.

Today I’m thankful for my DVR, as I have episodes of Glee and Oprah to watch when I get home. (Oh, and that Dateline special about Prince William and Kate Middleton on NBC, too.)