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Nagging not withstanding, I've just had nothing of any import to write about lately. All I've been doing is mundane things like working, sleeping, eating, making groceries, doing laundry and taking out the trash -- my biggest accomplishment in the last 4 weeks is not biting off any of my fingernails. But don't get me wrong, here; I've got a lot to be thankful for this year.

There are a lot of computer programmers out of work these days, and I'm extremely thankful to have a job at this point in my life. Not only for the normal reasons, like money, so I can pay the rent and eat -- not that I'm not grateful for that (smile) -- but much more important than that, I need to be able to support a wife before I can import one.

I'm thankful for this apartment that the aforementioned rent gets me. I've got a comfortable place to wait for Lee, and where we will begin our life together. I'm also thankful that I can afford a cleaning service to come in once a month until she gets here. :)

I'm thankful for a grocery store that delivers -- and, of course, Domino's delivers, too! I'm certainly not getting any thinner while I'm waiting.

And speaking of food, I'm thankful for friends like Butch and Gerrie, with whom I ate a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings -- great stuffing, Gerrie! The Green Bay Packers, however, gave me nothing to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day; they lost 22-14 to the Detroit Lions on Thursday.

But most of all this year, I'm thankful for my wife, Lisa; I thank God every day for bringing us together. I will always cherish the memories of the 4 weeks in April/May when Lee came to visit, which is when we fell in love and got engaged; and of my trip to South Africa, where we were married and I was saved.

That said, though, this waiting really sucks! Since returning from my trek to South Africa more than 3 months ago, I've been in a holding pattern. I'll spare you the details of my routine, but it's not much different than it has been for the last 2 or 3 years and I'm ready for a change. I still don't know when Lee will get to come over, but I'm still praying for Christmas. Stay tuned to this space for updates. That is definitely going to be something worth writing about.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I got that book I told you about in my last column, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," last week, and I'm very thankful for that escape from reality. So if there's not a new column here next week, you know what I'm doing.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to take out the trash.