List of things to be thankful for is lengthy

I will be home Thursday, for the first time since spring.

//

I'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful to see my older sister and 11-month-old nephew. Both will be in town Thursday for the first time since moving to the Midwest in April.

Their husband and father, my brother-in-law, was deployed to Iraq last month. I'm thankful for his safety thus far. Were he here Thursday, he would make chicken wings and be the only one thankful to watch the Detroit Lions.

My younger sister will celebrate Thanksgiving in Thailand, where she has been since March. I'm thankful for the letter I received from her last week, and also for Facebook and Skype, which make the world smaller.

I'm thankful for my younger brother's return home from college for the week. He's working toward a degree in pro golf management.

People outside the family wonder how it is that I watch sports for a living and that my brother will make his living playing golf. Their perceptions are off base, but not by much.

I almost chose turf management after some great summers when I was a student working with the grounds crew at the local country club. I would have cut grass for a living. I'm thankful to be doing something I enjoy, no matter the perceptions. And I'm glad to have been offered this job when I was.

I'm looking forward to watching football Thursday and not getting paid for it, although one should be paid for watching the Lions this year.

I'm thankful the area sports seasons are in transition. I like that each season makes you feel it's the most exciting of the year -- until you get to the next one.

I'm thankful for my parents' health and for the health of our family dog, Rusty, who has been with us for 14 years.

Rusty has lost most of his hearing and sight, but he needs neither to find your lap and curl up in it.

I'm thankful for a new puppy, who has been alive four months.

I'm thankful for my girlfriend, whose anniversary gift this year was said puppy and who realized how good he was to have around when tragedy struck her immediate family last month.

I'm thankful for the readers, who I'm sure have plenty of their own Thanksgivings to share.

Happy Thanksgiving. And go Lions.

Three Cavs named All-State

The Augusta Prep volleyball team, which finished runner-up this year in the Georgia Independent Schools Association after two consecutive state championships, placed three of its members on the GISA All-State team.

Senior Jen Hicks, junior Alex Daitch and sophomore Sarah Sussman earned All-State honors. The three also were selected All-Region for Region 4, along with teammates Jozlyn McCaw, Emily Shafer, Mary Glenn Yort and Elizabeth Hayes.