Lisa Carnley is managing editor of the Lampasas Dispatch Record. With the Thanksgiving holiday rolling around again, I have much to be thankful for, including the fact I am still here to welcome another Thanksgiving holiday.

I have been contemplating lately some of the things I appreciate in this life, and though the list is long, I will share my top ones.

I am thankful I have my own home, and the only thing (or person) I have to share it with is my dogs. They don’t care if my floor is scrubbed (which it usually is not) or if the dishes are done (which they usually aren’t).

I am thankful I don’t have to cook a full turkey dinner; my new daughter-in-law and her husband (my son) are taking care of that this holiday. (I might change my mind after the meal.) They have decided to cook the turkey “a new way” this year. Though I’m not sure what that means, I have visions of a microwaved bird dancing in my head.

They asked me to make corn casserole, an annual holiday staple for me. At least I know what will be in that dish -- and how it is being prepared.

I am thankful I can get on a plane in Killeen and be in Dallas in about 30 minutes. Even though it’s usually a bumpy flight the whole way and there isn’t enough time to catnap my way through it, I’m thrilled it is only a 30-minute flight and that we won’t be running into much traffic along the way (at least that is the general idea at 18,000 feet).

I guess what I am most thankful for that day is when the wheels touch down and the plane stops on the runway -- and I can get off. I would kiss the ground, but it probably would look foolish since I haven’t just returned from some foreign land. (Yeah, I’m not much of a flier.)

I am thankful I finally have a daughter to hit the after-Thanksgiving sales with me.

When my boys were still at home, it wasn’t much fun trying to wake them for a shopping trip to Wal-Mart while listening to them complain that I wanted to show up for the 5 a.m. sales at 3 a.m. I had to be sure the items I wanted hadn’t sold out, and I mainly needed a cart-pusher and a television-lifter, and they were good candidates -- but not good sports. It wasn’t like I didn’t warn them the night before. I guess they thought I was either kidding (I wasn’t) or I would change my mind (I didn’t).

My daughter-in-law will understand (or at least pretend to understand) my need to keep up tradition and fight the earlymorning crowds to grab those $5 tins of flavored popcorn and those $3 DVDs. I think I can even con her into joining me -- if I can get her out of bed early enough.

And finally, I am thankful to have two wonderful sons, an awesome daughter-in-law (and the most wonderful grandson) who all put up with my quirks, whether it is lining up to shop at 3 a.m. or filling my holiday plate with just stuffing and corn casserole. (I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try the “new” turkey.)

My kids know the reality is that it’s easier to give in and give me my way than to try to get me to change.

This is one old dog who doesn’t want to learn new tricks. But I don’t mind teaching the old tricks to the new dogs. After all, mother knows best.