In conclusion...

The blitz has come. And gone. 24 hours of blessed chaos. Lived. Family around my table. Turkey and dressing, babies and bottles, quick trip to the clinic, bubble baths with cousins, hangman/pictionary games played, shared laughs, more green bean casserole and fruit salad, holiday shows on the teevee, bodies curled up and blanketed on every bed and sofa, a new breakfast casserole tested...I am so thankful for it all.  All the happy mess of it.
Dishes are put away. The house is picked up. No one is trying to climb into my lap. There is no demand for my attention. It is too quiet. Even as I need the quiet - I ache for the clamor.

Mr. Macho and I will settle in momentarily and watch THE football game. A ton of towels are being washed and dried as I type. I will sleep soundly tonight. I will need the rest. Tomorrow Christmas will start to arrive in our house.

I didn't make it to 100. There's always next year. Or tomorrow.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye November. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye to you. (Thanks Merritt!)

Snaps from this morning...

Cousins coloring together. Sweet Pea and The Super Carrot.

This is how she rolls...free-hand milk drinking.

A couple of super cousins! Keeping the world safe.

Be sweet. 

Happy Thanks Giving.

Thankful for...

81. All food ready on time.
82. Sweet potato pie was delish.
83. Mr. Macho's Dad came early and stayed through an entire football game.
84. The turkey coma I am about to fall into.

It is a good day.

Almost there...

It is the eve of Thanksgiving Day. I had hoped I could come up with 100 things to be thankful for during this month of giving thanks. Yet. I have felt less pressure this year to force the issue. It is part of my trying hard to be "in the holiday" and not get bent out of shape over the details.
I have three more days to reach my goal. I might not make it. And. That is just okay with me.

Feeling thankful for...

70. This relaxed feeling.
71. Sweet potato pies. Check.
72. Turkey cooked. Check.
73. Time to get the dust swiped away and the bathroom Lysoled.
74. Mr. Macho.
75. My home.
76. Texts from Virginia.
77. The Itsy Bitsy Spider. And her song.
78. Cooked pork loins in the freezer.
79. My dollar tree solar turkey keeping time in the sunlight.
80. Pandora radio on my iphone.

There will be more tomorrow. There is always more. To be thankful for.
Gobble.

Who is family?

My friend, Ruby, called today. Her husband, Don, died on May 15 this year. It was not expected. She is spending an extended visit with a daughter in Washington. The state. Not DC. She is home sick. She still misses Don to the point of weeping when she speaks of him.
Ruby and Don have two children's families that live in our neighborhood. For a lot of years we have been included in their Christmas morning rounds. They always bring something like chocolate covered cherries, or giant plastic jars of cheese balls, or stuffed toys for our grandchildren.
Even though our Christmas will have a different flavor this year I will miss being here and welcoming Ruby and Don into our home on Christmas morning.
Ruby always remembers our birthdays and brings us a card. Always with a penny taped inside. For luck. I love Ruby. She is family.
***
I love it that my children feel a need to connect with me in tragedy. A young man (early 30's) died last night. In age, he was in between our sons. Both sons have been in touch today. I do not know the circumstances. It is tragic. No matter.
*****
On this 26th day in the month of Thanksgiving I am grateful for...

67. Family connections.
68. That Christmas feeling.
69. Mr. Macho pushing the grocery cart.

It's the small things. They make life fun.
Be sweet.

Cloudy. With a chance of turkey and dressing.

I guess that sums up this week. It is cold and rainy. But cue the feast! Oh. There will be feasting this week. Epic proportions. All the fixin's.
Glad to have time with SIT today. Enjoyed a quick shopping run. And. A yummy Greek lunch at Zoe's. Chicken pita and their delish cole slaw. Love it.
Sympathy goes out to Lauren, who had to have some teeth pulled today. I hope her mouth is recuperated enough to enjoy some of the good eats at week's end.

64. Anticipation.
65. A warm coat and gloves.
66. No alarm clock this morning.

Please. Celebrate me home.

Sunday. Fun day.

It got cold. And. The sun came out. Both good things. Cold makes it feel more like the holidays are approaching.
And can we talk about the sunshine? My frame of mind improves a go-zillion percent because of the sun.
After our church today we dropped over to SIT's church. There we helped pack over 25,000 meals. They are destined for the storm-ravaged Philippines. We hope they make it there and really feed the people that need it. The packing was well organized and ran like clock work. We only worked for about an hour. So many were helping that the job got done. Plus some.

Today I am so thankful...

62. To be a small part of a big effort.
63. To have enough food.

Be thankful.

Infamous day.

I remember where I was 50 years ago. I was in the second grade. Mrs. Beuling's spelling class was after lunch. That is where I was when a random man came up to our classroom window and asked if the church was open. He said the president had been shot and he wanted to go in and pray. We all were as shocked as second graders can be. Nellie Papania started crying. (Nellie Papania was a blue baby. I am not sure what that means, even today. I just remember that little factoid.) 

I just deleted a very political paragraph. I will refrain from vomiting politics here. You're welcome.

***

Last night we participated in the local Reindeer run. Admission = canned goods for local food banks. We wore glow bracelets. SIT and Sweet Pea joined us. She ran a long way. Then we pooped out and went home to bags of Wendy's fare. Got some sweet Millie moments. Then home to fall asleep, as if drugged, on the sofa. 

Mr. Macho is a PSI today. There was a small rupture in the pipeline yesterday. He is on the investigating team. Thus. PSI. Not CSI. Get it? 

*****

59. This rainy day.

60. Skype.

61. Mimi

Let the weekend commence. 

Over charge.

Went to the Walmart today. Among the aisles I picked up a bag of navel oranges. The sign above the oranges said $4.88. When I got to the check out they rang up for $7.48. I asked my cashier to ring them again. She did. They still rang the higher amount. Before I left the store I walked back to the orange rack. And. Sure enough. It said $4.88. So. I went to customer service. And told my story. The clerk called for help from produce. I asked if I could just walk over and take a picture with my phone. Which I did. And she reimbursed me the difference. Score one for the phone!

52. Cornbread dressing. That is already finished.

The trees in my yard are more naked today. But. There is a gorgeous blanket of color on my lawn. Month's end gets closer and I haven't come close to even 100 gifts to be thankful for. I know I skipped a couple of days. Only I want to be full of thanks. Not just eh. I want to be all - POW. Hold the potatoes I want to be filled with the thanks!!! I want to be = THANKFUL. I am digging...

53. Warm blankets.
54. Hot showers. (This is one of my favorites.)
55. Falling leaves in the afternoon sun.
56. Quiet.
57. Little smiles passed on at the grocery store.
58. Reconciliation. (That one is for you, Tucker. I have thought about you all day long.)

Be sweet.

For Merritt.

What's the buzz?

Oh. We had a fun dance class last night. The numbers were low. That mets out to more individual attention from the instructor. He had lots of good technical details to give us that really clicked with  Mr. Macho and me. Our fox trot is starting to get cleaned up. The moves are finally starting to make sense. All good. 

***

The house is always too quiet after company comes and goes. That is the way it feels today. So I engrossed myself in this block carving art project for a bit...

I might just frame some of these. 

*****

I have been thinking. I know. Sometimes that is dangerous. There were certain ideas that our parents brought us up believing were absolutes. When I was little my Mom used to plead with us to never put her into a nursing home. I mean really plead. She felt so strongly about it. When I was very young I had a bad, bad connotation of nursing homes. Today I feel differently. 

Another mind set that our parents drove into us was to not fight over their "things" when they die. Now, I translated that into never being at odds with my siblings. It has felt the heavy burden. Sometimes. I am examining my thoughts on this particular subject. I am amending how I feel about family relationships. I suppose people are in a continual state of amending relationships. We learn new things about each other and ourselves and adjust accordingly. And so it is with me. At times, there is peace. There is often disagreement. Opposing perspectives. Frequently there is unsolicited advice. 

Always there is love. 

***

50. Time for art.

51. Siblings.

*

Be sweet. 

Monday

Sister Marsha spent the night last night. We cheered on her favorite team, = The Saints, yesterday. Whew. Won in the last 3 seconds.
It has been a great morning. Slow coffee.
47. Son-in-Town took the day off and came over for some breakfast and coffee talk.
48. Right now we are about to embark on a walk around the neighborhood.
49. The sun is out.

See how easy this gratitude thing is? Easy. Peasy.
Be sweet.

Wee little post.

44. Cornbread muffins in the oven.
45. Finding the photos I wanted among the multitude of photos I have.
46. Peaceful misty morning.

Friday gratitude.

I am just thankful that it is Friday. 'Cause that means tomorrow is sleep-in-Saturday. Sister, Marsha, is in the area. She drove up from down south yesterday and I got to visit with her for a good while. Today she is learning how to keep bees. They have a conference for that. And. She is there. I will get to visit with her again on Sunday, before she heads home on Monday.
Tomorrow night Mr. Macho and I are going to babysit the grands so Son-in-Law and Daughter can go on a date. To celebrate. His birthday. Also, they got engaged the night before his birthday. Two birds. One stone.
The holidays are fast approaching. All I can think/talk about is food. I feel like I am at the grocery store every other day.

This has been a good week and these things have helped ring it out with and exclamation point...

41. Cheap fun purchased at the Dollar Tree.
42. Finding the Bob's candy canes for my Christmas tree.
43. The rain.

Be sweet.

3 little thanksgivings.

38. Quiet.
39. Watercolor paint.
40. Blooming things*.


*(Right now it is cactus. Either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not sure which it is supposed to be. Ones that I bought half price last year because they were pitiful. Now they have buds. Pink buds.)

Brrrrrrrrrr.

It was 29 degrees when we got out of bed this morning. No. Not inside. We are a toasty 70 degrees since I turned on the heat Monday night. The cold makes me bundle up and step quicker.

Yesterday Mr. Macho loaded up our old natural gas fireplace insert into his truck with the help of his co-worker. They came during their lunch hour. It has been in our carport for over a year. It is still in great condition. I still had all the paper work, instructions, and even the old warranty paper. When he got home we loaded up the old mantel that used to be above the fireplace. It has been under our bed for over a year. Habitat for Humanity is gathering things to have a warehouse sale with proceeds going to fund affordable housing for people that need it. It was so satisfying to donate the items to this more than worthy organization. I think the people in the organization were happy to get the items. But. I was stoked to give them.

Today I am bringing the gratitude in spades for...

31. A cleaner carport.
32. Rocking this day.
33. The cold actually.

Snaps of what I have been up to...

I ordered myself some blocks for carving and printing. I pulled several prints off this first one. Finally got a good print on about the fourth try. I have framed it and hung it. I am happy with it. 

Hats going south.

Aunt Mimi asked if I would work up a few hats for her grandbaby. So. I got bizzy. When I do something like this I have a hard time finding the end. It's like I just want to keep crocheting just one more. And then. One more. You get it. I have to make myself stop by finding another project. That is what I did. I am now working on a yellow and black granny square afghan. And. I am trying to finish the baby afghan that I started months ago. Really, I am. 

***

Rock on. Be sweet. 

*****

Post script:

More things to be thankful for at day's end:

34. The smell of peas cooking in the pot.

35. Making my hair appointment today. Nearly forgot.

36. Glass of chardonnay.

37. Still rockin' the day. 

Adrenaline.

Adrenaline can be a good thing. Or a bad thing. Yesterday it wasn't a good thing. Without too much detail - I am dealing with a bank mistake. And. It was Veterans' Day yesterday = bank not open. All that adrenaline went for naught.
Earlier in the day I drove way across town for an appointment to have my power steering fluid checked. It took 10 minutes. My time/gas were wasted.
Later in the day two of my shirts had something faded onto them during the laundry process.
My gratitude zen was evaporated for the afternoon. I am trying to get my groove back this morning.

And so. I am trying to focus on good positive things this morning. The little things mean so much to me...

28. Good advice from Daughter. I will buy some Shout and stop using carpet cleaner for spot removal.
29. A good night of dance lessons.
30. Cooling off time.

Wish me luck on resolving the bank issue. In peace.

Oops.

Saturday rocked. No alarm clock. Easy oatmeal for breakfast. The steel cut variety. For me the texture makes it taste better. Plus the honey, cinnamon, and blueberries.
I crocheted a bunch. Then got some things done around the house. Mr. Macho did his chore-duty things outside. Then he came in and helped me relocate some pictures in the back and rehang others.
After a quick lunch it was back on the road to another good football game at his alma mater. What fun. The stands were crowded. We cheered on the team to the state championship. It was cold. And fun. Did I say that already?
When we got home I was so happy that I had cooked a big pot of chili on Friday. We heated it up and enjoyed it before settling down to more crocheting and football. Mr. Macho cheered for the other team. But the team I was pulling for was victorious.

Without further ado, I am thankful today for...

25. My lack of guilt for missing a day of gratitude posting.
26. Mamaw (Mr. Macho's step-grandmother), for teaching me to crochet. Many years ago.
27. A new recipe. Meat pies are in the oven.

It's sunny. It's Sunday. Maybe a stroll on the new bridge walk this afternoon? There is adventure out there just waiting to be found. Just do it.

The beat goes on.

Friday's thankful shout out goes for these reasons...

22. Abundance.
23. Honda service men.
24. A hippie party tonight!

With gratitude. Day #7.

Thank you God. For giving us food. For the friends we meet. And the food we eat. Thank you God. Amen. - Lauren taught me that prayer. Sung to the Super Man theme. We didn't know it for a year or two that it was called the Super Man prayer. When she finally told us the name - it was an "aha" moment.

Today I am thankful because...

19. My tummy is growling. I just filled it with leftover cold sweet potatoes. So thankful to have plenty to eat.
20. I have a brave Daughter that puts others needs before her own. Even strangers. I think she has always been my hero.
21. It really looks like fall outside today. Leaves on the ground.



Today. I didn't get bent out of shape at the driver in front of me that waited so patiently for the old lady in front of her to discard her grocery basket and then back out of the closer-to-the-store parking spot. I was tempted to skirt around her quickly and peel out, flipping a particular finger in her direction. But then. When she parked and got out her car -she limped herownself on into the store. And so. I felt much relieved that I had not misbehaved while waiting for her to glide into a prime parking spot for grocery shopping.

Day #6. Hump daa-eey.

I babysat for 5 year olds this morning. For two hours. All good. Glad to do it. Glad when it is over. Two hours is very bearable.

I have a clean refrigerator. And a clean kitchen garbage can. The mystery smell is gone.

Today I have these things to be thankful for...

16. Lysol.
17. Mississippi grown sweet potatoes.
18.  Pinot grigio.

Be sweet.

Day #5 and it's Tuesday.

Things that I am feeling happy about, which translates to my gratitudes for today...

13. Lunch and lots of looking/shopping with my girlfriends.
14. Frugality.
15. Shop owners who let you "borrow" ideas from their shops. And. Even write down measurements for you. (A shout out to the store "Sprout" in Starkville!)

It was a good day. I am so loving spending time with the girls. Hearing their secrets. Making some history with them.

Day 4. A quick post.

10. Green beans in the pot.
11. Checking everything off my list today.
12. The time to volunteer.

Thankful for these and many other thinks today.
I realize I made a mistake and wrote "thinks". But. I like it. And choose to leave it as such.

Day 3.

Saturday I got to do more crocheting. I am working on some hats for a great nephew. I hope his mom likes some of the ones I am creating. I go through a gamut of emotions about the hats when I am making them. I like it. Then I don't. Then I put it down. Pick it up. Like it again. Me thinks there is a certain stage of the unfinished product that makes me uncertain if it will look right or not. At that time it is best to walk away. Pick it up later. Then like it again. 

We ate lunch early yesterday. Then showered. Then headed south to Mr. Macho's Alma mater for a play off football game. The weather was custom ordered for our afternoon. Sunny. Cool. I am not a super competitive person. But I like to be on the winning side every now and then. Yesterday. Our side won!

And so. I am thankful for...

7. The excitement of cheering on our team! 

8. A great sunset in the rear view that reflected pink clouds on the car.

9. For meals prepared by other hands. 

***

I have to say that I am feeling the thankfulness in my heart. For all the things that surround me - family, friends, the place where I live. I am thankful to start a new week and glad the last one is in the rear view. 

*****

Be sweet. 

The usual.

I am always thankful for...

4. Hot chamomile tea after a cold football game.
5. For those few extra minutes in the bed on Saturday morning.
6. Fingers that can crochet.

It is a good day.

Month of Thanksgiving: Day 1.

Here I go again. November. I challenge you to read "One Thousand Gifts - A Dare To Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp.

Even if you don't read the book I challenge you to make a list during this month of giving thanks. See if you can even come up with 100 things you are grateful for. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

And so I begin -

1. For fall trees
2. Clear blue skies
3. Feelings of hope