Celebrating Thanksgiving

What a wonderful week--truly it's a time to reflect and give thanks. First of all, I was delighted to see Monday and Tuesday come and go. I worked as hard and fast as I could go at school so that I could leave caught up and with my desk cleared. I don't like to leave on vacations with projects left behind and having to go back to unfinished tasks when I return to work. By 3 o'clock, I was ready for the official holiday to begin.

Bryan came home from campus on Friday night with his truck loaded down with stuff and Micah and Rhyne arrived Monday night about 8:30. If nothing else, when I have my entire family at home, I have everything I need. There is no feeling like it in the world. Since our NOLA children got a late start Monday, we ate about 6:00, and then, I pulled the roast out of the oven for the second time which had continued to stay warm and served dinner at 9:00. Tuesday morning, I put chili in the crock pot before leaving for work. Everyone was in and out so much on different schedules, chili was being dipped at different times all day. Aren't crock pots wonderful?

Wednesday morning, I sipped coffee for a while in a quiet atmosphere and enjoyed the leisure time. Micah was up before too long, we dressed, and away we went on our traditional shopping spree. We made it to Hobby Lobby, the Mall, TJ Maxx, and Wal-Mart. We had to get back home to snap a family photo and get to Grandmother's and Papaw's house for our family's Thanksgiving meal. Our meal was wonderful; the bar was filled with a smorgasbord of tasty delights. I don't think Mom could have possibly cooked one more dish. It was delicious; if she is my mom, she is the best cook in the county. She is the queen of "cornbread dressing." Even at church for the fall harvest meal, everyone has come to expect that she will make the dressing. We had dressing, of course, chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, white butter beans, corn, hot rolls, fried apples, tomatoes, mince meat pie, pumpkin pie, and Oreo dessert. I hope I didn't leave anything out.

Thursday, Collin was off and he and I were up fairly early to enjoy our coffee while the house was still quiet. We enumerated many of our blessings shared over the year once again. Our NOLA children were leaving to spend the remainder of the holiday with the Putman's, so activity at our house began to change a bit. Collin and Bryan spent the day blowing, mulching, and ridding our yard of it's thousands of fallen dried leaves. We had put our Christmas tree up in spurts on the previous Sunday, so I began dragging in the boxes of remaining house decorations and began getting us ready for the next holiday. When the guys called it quits and came in, I quit too, and we all got ready to travel to Brookland to have yet another Thanksgiving meal with Collin's mom and dad. Mamaw Joyce had a wonderful meal as well. She served ham with dressing and yummy vegetables.

Friday and Saturday, I continued to clean and decorate our house for Christmas. I finished the task complete with outside lighting. Saturday afternoon, Micah came back to the house for a little bit, and since we didn't have time to shop at Kohl's on Wednesday, you guessed it; back to town we went for one final outing. Back home from a short little shopping spree, we said goodbye for their return trip home.

What a wonderful week. Time spent with family, lots of food, and lots of shopping. Collin even got in a little deer hunting and snagged a trophy--an 8-point buck. Tomorrow all activities return to normal, but now we can all look forward to Christmas.

Marcia

Looking Toward the Holidays

The leaves are changing and many are already beginning to fall. I love the colors of the harvest season and the activities that come along with autumn. Crunching leaves under your feet, the smell of wood burning in the distance, and the taste of hot dogs from the grill or roasted marshmallows from the fire pit are all a part of the tradition that ushers in fall. I always look forward to decorating my house with wreaths, pumpkins, and figurines.

Even Nala, our cat loves the fall because he has water from the "fancy" water dish, i.e., the floating leaf candles on the coffee table.

I have never really cared for Halloween, but our church has had a "Treat From the Truck" celebration for several years inviting the community to join us for a chili and hot dog supper, games and activities, and of course, getting loads of candy from our members who park vehicles on the lot and literally hand out the treats from their trunks. It was reported this year that we had 3.2 million children for the occasion. Collin has become the grilling gourmet for such functions and he panned up 1500 hot dogs. All were consumed save 6. The kitchen staff served 76 gallons of chili and ran out.

I always look forward to Thanksgiving. We always have our complete family home for the occasion and because we can focus on family at a slower pace, we are reminded of our blessings. Thanksgiving is filled with many a tradition for us just like Christmas. Our school week ends on Tuesday and for lot of years, I've put on a big pot of chili, and as soon as we all get home, we dip up the hot, savory treat and load it up with cheese and corn chips. After the meal, the tree goes up. As the week continues the rest of the house will be decorated. I've been making purchases for new decorations. I like to add a few things every year and today, I found something I could not resist. Take a look at the new ornaments that will take their place this year front and center on our tree.

Does this tell you anything about my two little cherubs? How would a mother ever choose. Now I don't have to--I have TWO favorites.

If you can't tell already, let me just say it straight out. I love the holiday season. I can hardly wait to have all my family home with laughter and excitement ringing throughout the house along with meals and festivities to be shared with our parents, loved ones, and friends.

Marcia