This will be a short post but nonetheless a very important one to me. A good friend of mine, Jason Strate (Blog | Twitter), posted a blog, "What are you thankful for?" In this post he asked all of his readers to also take a few moments and blog about the same. So here we go…

Most know that I recently changed jobs. This change was pretty big for me. The reason this was not a small move is due to leaving a production DBA role and moving into consulting. The commute is longer as well but as odd as it may seem, I don’t mind the drive. The drive gives me time to catch podcasts and other audio type training materials. With the change I find myself extremely thankful for the fact that I have a great amount of support from another good friend, Aaron Lowe (Blog | Twitter). Moving into this role has been nothing but smooth. Finding things, meeting people (which are next to impossible when consultants are in and out), knowing what and where I need to be and what to focus on are all things that typically is a bumpy ride when you jump in. That hasn’t been the case this time and between Aaron and my new management, has been extremely pleasant. An added bonus has been Wendy Pastrick (Blog | Twitter) also working alongside helping me pave the way forward with the new company. The SQL Saturday in Chicago crew took it to the next level of working together!

Family is everything. This is to me is even more important given my own past and family. I am thankful for the opportunity to give my sons and wife as much and all that I have. I owe it to them, it is my responsibility and I will do nothing short of my best.

Friends are family. Over the last two years I’ve made friendships that have truly made the years enjoyable, less painful and more motivating. Remember this time of the year to thank your friends. I think if you step back and look at what they’ve done for you, you will see just how much you really have to be thankful for. Even if it is just a phone call once or twice a week, an email or an IM that picks you up here and there. A large part of who we are is the friends we make. I have a handful of friends that have made me better all around and I thank them very much for helping me get where I am today and where I will be in the future.

SQL Community is a family. The community may be a different type of family but a family, it is. One that I’m still astonished by how many people involved in it will drop everything to lend a hand to those in need or those just simply looking for a place to vent, praise or congratulate accomplishments. Over the years, everything that I have accomplished I sincerely thank the community for helping me with. The community isn’t just a cool social gathering like twitter and a hash tag or a SQL list; the SQL Community is a cloud that follows the ones that embrace it and accept it as a place of vast knowledge, extraordinary offering without expectations of payment and exceptional respect for our specific technology we all hold so close to our hearts.

That is what I'm thankful for (abbreviated list). I hope you find yourself thankful for the same things and many more. In my eyes, to be thankful for anything means you are using everything around you to better yourself.
Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it! I hope to see you all out there in the community soon.

PS: I’m also thankful to have had the chance to meet Rob Farley and find out he really didn’t think my tattoo was a tribute to the commerce server logo.