Thanksgiving 2015

11-25-15

Thanksgiving

Things I Love About Thanksgiving (in no particular order):

1. No gifts! Be ye not mistaken: I love a gift as well as anyone and almost as much as giving a gift. Alas, there is much extraneous-ness that goes along with giving gifts that you don't have to deal with at Thanksgiving. I enjoy that the day is not about giving things but rather giving thanks.

2. Food! It's no secret that I will enjoy a delicious meal that is mainly prepared by people who are not me. I will rock a fruit tray and I will enjoy the bounty set before us particularly on Thanksgiving Day.

3. Long Weekend! My brain and body is half past ready for this weekend of no work. It has been a mad rush to get here and I'm sure we will hit the ground running come Monday morning, but, with all that is within me, I am going to do my best to put the cares and stress of the work-a-day world on the back burner. 

4. The Weather! Could it be any nicer? It is hit and miss with Thanksgiving weather and tomorrow looks like it will be a bullseye!

5. Family! Normally, the majority of my family gathers on Thanksgiving. Some years we are closer to the majority than others. I love seeing those I don't see nearly enough. The older I get, the more precious, if possible, my family becomes. It's a great reward for all the other stuff that comes with age that is less than rewarding. This year, for the first time ever, instead of gathering at F and B's for the day, we will gather at my brother Steve and Kathi's home. It is a bittersweet change but the Tallassee contingent has always been so gracious to travel to us on holidays and it is equally gracious of them to host us this year. We are so completely fortunate to have Mother and Daddy willing and able to make the trip! It promises to be a great day.

There is much to be thankful for this and every year. I wish your family health, peace, and love as you celebrate tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!



11-27-15

More Thanksgiving

The Day After...
I nailed my Thanksgiving prediction of a great day yesterday! The weather could not have been nicer. Just simply gorgeous. The food was fantastic! Kathi, our hostess with the mostest, truly outdid herself. It was all wonderful! Turkey, sweet potato casserole, vegetable casserole, some other potato casserole, green beans, cranberry sauce, fruit, veggie tray, rolls, a variety of desserts...and I probably missed something but that represented my plate (s). So so yummy! 

The youngest generation was represented by Heather and Jamie's beautiful daughters (see my profile picture of a shot of them from the "playhouse". They are as beautiful inside as out. Just pure sweetness. Addie wrote Granddaddy (my dad) a precious thanksgiving note complete with love and good luck wishes (perhaps she was concerned with Thanksgiving travel warnings???) and she drew me a picture with a sweet note. Treasure! She, to me, reminds me most of her mother. Each of the girls remind me of Heather, of course, but, right now, just watching and listening to her takes me right back to the early 1980's. Taylor and I spent some quality time playing ping pong and Nicole joined us, too. I critiqued their gymnastics and was the videographer. They all three gave me the tour of the playhouse and shared how they play together designing clothes and pretending to have a design business. Awesome. At one point their grandparents and great grandparents were sitting outside talking and me and Taylor and Nicole walked around the drive and saw them. I said, "look! It's an old person meeting" and, without missing a beat, Nicole said, "shouldn't you be up there?". I kinda loved that humor and the impeccable delivery and timing. One other quick note: these girls are precious to me, as are all of my greats. One thing that stood out to me yesterday was how they asked me questions. They told me a lot of stuff, but they also asked me stuff...what I thought about different things, what I liked better, how could they do something better, etc.. Think about that. It's kind of extraordinary actually. Mark the words: these young ladies will do great things in life. Of this I'm sure.
We all headed out to the barn after lunch and watched the guys shoot guns. Well, and me. I feel protected with my brothers and nephews....mostly with Jamie though. 😉
It was time to head home too soon. We had a wonderful day!

If anyone needs me today, I'll be right here, in my jammies, probably with a cup of coffee...or something. Might be watching a movie, might be taking a nap, might be reading a book, might be staring into space. Just completely enjoying this blessed day off work. 

For this and so much more, I remain grateful!