Thanksgiving on Sunday ~ The Best Thing We Ever Did

We found out early last week that our son would have to work on Thanksgiving Day.  Two jobs, spanning the day from 7AM to 10PM.  Boo.  The retail world is not my favorite thing right now.

But, I learned a long time ago [from my mom] to make the best of things.  You know -- the "when life gives you lemons" principle?  Besides, Thanksgiving is more of a state of mind that a specific DAY.

So, when my frustrated son texted me to give me the Thanksgiving news, I shot back, "I'm sorry. Maybe we can do a turkey just for us on another day.  Keep your chin up. xo"

I didn't know what day that might be, but I was determined to fulfill what I had meant as a promise.

When he came home on Saturday evening and said that he didn't have to work at all on Sunday, my brain starting weighing the options.  By Sunday after church, it hit me that TODAY WAS THE DAY.  Because of the combination of my hubby's and my son's work schedules, the only time we could all do this together was... SUNDAY.

We talked about it on the ride home from church, and after verifying all of our son's favs, we stopped at the grocery store, and stocked up for our evening meal.  After a quick lunch of leftovers, I got started.  I was on a mission, so everyone sort of left me alone.

I decided that I could make this feel like "flying by the seat of our pants," or I could make it feel like Thanksgiving.  I chose the latter.  At our house, that means a tablecloth and runner, good china, good silverware, the beautiful crystal glasses that we got as a wedding gift, and of course -- most of the standard Thanksgiving fare.

And, I am happy to say that I pulled it off.  It wasn't much by some people's standards, but... I was only looking to put a smile on my son's face.  It was a great meal, and we enjoyed it SO MUCH that we had to save the pie to put in lunches the next day!!

Thanksgiving Day will still come along tomorrow, and we won't be together -- but I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve.  I hope that the memories of our Thanksgiving on Sunday will come to mind throughout my son's workday.

I just baked our family-favorite coffee cake for breakfast.  Our son usually eats on-the-run in the morning, and this will be a special treat for him, as will the Cinnamon Applesauce salad -- a Thanksgiving tradition that I can put in his lunch tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.  I hope you will make the best of whatever circumstances life throws at you tomorrow.

Make lemonade!

Gallery Wall Update... Already!

You can go HERE to read my complete Gallery Wall post, but here's a picture to show you what I ended up with.

I loved it for about 18 hours, and then... I just couldn't take that mirror any more.  At the time that I did the wall, my daughter said that she hoped I didn't put that mirror in a place that would startle her all the time.  Afterall, the wall is behind our kitchen table.  This area sees a lot of activity.  So, I hung the mirror high.

But, after living with it for several hours, I had to admit that even though it looked good up there, and we weren't startling ourselves or anything... I didn't really care for the things I could see in it --like the top of my refrigerator, or an odd look at where the wall meets the ceiling [depending on where you were standing].  So, the mirror came down.

I sort of prefer the irregular shape of the layout, rather than a perfect box of gallery elements on the wall.  I admit: I look at this arrangement every day and smile, and that {as a famous "friend" would say} is a GOOD THING.

 

As the U.S. rocks these freezing November temperatures, I hope that you are staying cozy and warm.  One of our local weathermen reported that ALL 50 STATES had freezing temperatures overnight on Monday, and that it was likely to be the case overnight last night as well.  Unprecedented for November.  We're off to a wild and crazy start... and it's not even officially winter yet!

Think warm thoughts!

Project Life Update ~ 11.17.14

Wow, have I ever been out of touch lately.  Life has taken a few twists and turns that have kept me busy, and away from blogging.  Hopefully things will slow down a little around the holidays (go ahead and laugh at the fact that I actually BELIEVE this!), and I can get back to some chit-chat around here.  I really miss it!

I recently realized that I had taken photos of a few new scrapbook pages, but never shared them with you.  For the most part, these pages are about family adventures - one of which is the Mum Fest.  I shared about that HERE.

I've been pretty lax when it comes to keeping up with picture taking for the blog, so there are other completed pages that I still have to photograph for you.

One of those pages I cannot show you, but I will tell you about.  Many of you know that I work at our church providing nursery-care during the week for moms who attend English classes, Bible studies, and mom's club. I cannot tell you how these sweet little ones steal pieces of my heart.  I want to remember their faces, for all-too-soon, they move on to the next department -- or in some cases, move away.  One day, I decided to snap a bunch of pictures to preserve in my scrapbook.  I don't think I have to tell you that the page is especially precious to me.  I won't share the pictures of my precious MINORS here, but suffice it to say... they are cuties!!!

That's all for now, friends.  Stay tuned for more, coming... well, hopefully SOONER than later!  Thanks for hanging in there with me.

 a college soccer game :: an apple orchard and a dam spotted on the ride home

lunch with a friend :: celebrating our 22nd anniversary

...and the Mum Fest

Friday Farrago ~ 11.7.14

Well, this might be the most mish-mashed Friday Farrago ever.  Of course, it IS only my second "farrago" post, so I guess that's not saying much, but...

LIFE has been so busy lately.  Monday through Wednesday FLY by with lots of baby-rocking.  Before I know it, it's Thursday again, and I have to buckle down at home and get things done, or else the following week spirals out of control.  How do I know?  Oh... don't ask.

At any rate, if you follow along here, I'm sure you're well aware that I haven't been posting as often as usual. Not for lack of wanting, I assure you -- but the time just gets away from me.  For a while now, I have had little snippets of posts ready -- but nothing big.  So, I thought I would take a bunch of "nothing bigs" and combine them for the second in a series called  "Friday Farrago."

Ready?  Hold on tight.

A Coke and a Smile

One night a couple of summers ago, my hubby and I found ourselves home alone.  On a whim, hubby said, "Let's go for ice cream!"  We took a long and winding ride down country roads to get to one of his favorite ice cream places.

Admittedly, ice cream isn't really my thing.  Let's just say... it's not usually my friend.  On this particular night, I chose the smallest cone, which... wasn't small enough, apparently.  Before the evening was over, I was very sick. Like, sick enough to make me think about whether or not I ever needed to eat ice cream again.

The culprit was so obvious.

Days later, as we looked back on the situation, I said to my hubby, "Next time, ask me out for a Coke."

I like to say I was raised on Coke -- but the truth is, we didn't drink pop at home except for special occasions.  It was my GRAM'S treat to us when we visited her.  We could always count on white peppermint Canada Mints and CocaCola at her house, and though we had a few other "favorite" snacks, she'd often out-do herself, trying to find a treat that we'd never had before -- or the latest and greatest new thing on the market!

[The end.  Yeah.  Obviously this post has no good transition or ending... just some memories that came to mind, one sort of leading to the next.  What can I say?  They made me smile.  I thought I'd share.  That is all. By the way, the people at Coca-Cola don't know me at all, but I still love their product to this day!]

Grandma's Vase

Not long ago, I invited a friend over for lunch.  I told you about it HERE.  It was a gorgeous day, and I found myself with my act all together [woo hoo] and a few minutes before my friend arrived, I actually got to go out in the yard and cut a few pretty blooms that I had spotted earlier that morning. [They were already slightly faded by the time I snapped these pics.]  It was just a few short stemmed beauties, so I brought them in and put them in this sweet little vase made by my Gram.  When we were kids, my sister and I used to use this vase on our bedroom dressers with pretty little blooms in it.  It's always such a sweet reminder of my Gram... really -- her fingerprints are all over this post today, aren't they?

Table Talk

We started our marriage with a hand-me-down kitchen table that came from who-knows-where.  [My hubby probably knows, but this is my story... LOL.]  The table wasn't pretty.  It swelled out in the middle, and tapered a little at the ends.  Built that way, but awkwardly un-natural - and very laminated as I recall.  Nothing wrong with either of those things I guess -- but it wasn't us.  It hadn't been chosen.  Merely settled for.

Our choice was a round oak tabletop on a pedestal -- with a leaf.  Pricey for a young couple with no spare change.  One thing about my hubby.  When he wants something, he finds a way.  And so, he found our table in the classified section of the newspaper one day.

Together, we went to see it in the cramped and disheveled apartment of a smoker.  I was going to say in the apartment of a smoking man, but then you might have thought he was smoking hot, when really, he was just ummmm... smoking.  We looked at the table, negotiated on the price, and then said [cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze] "We'll take it!" -- and loaded it into our truck.

We took it home, where it landed in our gravel driveway, and got a good washing down before it was allowed into the house.  [AaaaaaCHOO!]  Pretty sure I washed it down TWICE.  Yeah.  We don't really get along well with smoky stuff around here.

As I recall, it had a few pretty worn spots on top, and my hubby put a couple coats of polyurethane on it.

Fast forward to family life.

[My intention was to include lots of other pictures of our table, set up for various occasions.  Alas, I never got around to looking for said pictures, so... imagine if you will...]

The table has become our HUB.  Since it is the only place for seated eating in our home, it sees breakfasts, lunches, AND dinners.

And sometimes this:

You can get to my Instagram account by clicking on the photo above.

Forgive the poor iPod photo... but really, this may be one of my favorite uses of the table.  My son asks if he can have his buddies over to play a game, and tries to plan a place that is out of the way so they don't disturb us... (there aren't many places to go in our house). When I offer the kitchen table, he accepts my suggestion, and I smile.  This table... it is really the heart of our home!

Here ends my "trains of thought" ragbag.  Hope you're having a Fabulous Friday.  TGIF!