I don’t promise to continue posting every day, but I will continue to post regularly. 

(Sorry Dad, it’s the third post with just a picture…mostly)

Shaun came home just in time to watch me finish putting away my pile of groceries.  He got a very mournful look on his face and and said, "I guess you already went to Costco."  I just laughed at him and asked him what he had wanted and he replied with a shrug that all he needed a case of Spam.  (Um?) Then he wanted to know who we knew that would let us borrow a chicken for a day. (Ummmm????)  Oh, and he needed a bale of hay.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any time (or if you happen to know Shaun personally) you already know that he is a very um…unique…man. Yet, somehow, needing  these items seemed a bit over the top, even for him.  (Although oddly, if I ever needed a chicken, I don’t think anyone would blink twice.  Funny how that is)

Apparently one of Shaun’s co-workers is currently in Hawaii on his honeymoon.  Keeping with his company’s long-standing Geek Tradition, Shaun’s team is planning a welcome home surprise for the newlywed.

They are going to turn his office into a tropical paradise, complete with straw on the floor, (although…I thought he had mentioned sand…doesn’t Hawaii have more sand than straw?), a palm tree if they can find one,  lots of Spam cans (used in some very creative ways) and of course, a live chicken running around. 

The last victim Welcome Home recipient  came back from vacation to find that his office had turned to silver.  Everything in there had been covered in aluminum foil.   The computers, every single cord, pencils, the mouse, the white board, pictures…everything had been painstakingly wrapped in foil.  (Is it any wonder that Shaun has so much accrued vacation time?)

You’ll simply have to come up with your own ending to this tale.  (I can’t wait to see what you come up with!)  I found it in my drafts (I found a whole mess of things in my drafts…why, oh why didn’t I discover them earlier in the month?)  The date saved is marked as 6/17/2008  at 3:23 AM.  As I recall, Shaun had asked me not to post it right away just in the off-chance his co-worker saw it. Apparently, several of his work buddies lurk…( Hi MS-ers!!) I’ll have to grill Shaun about what really happened…although…the man has a memory like a sieve sometimes…

Last week, KT excitedly started talking about shopping on Black Friday.  I merely groaned and hoped that she would forget about it.  My hopes were dashed to the ground when I realized that she had talked both her grandmother and her sister into going out before the crack of dawn to fight the crowds for some great “deals”.  I had no choice but to go. 

For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why she wanted to go so badly.  The last time we had gone shopping the day after Thanksgiving, we ended up frustrated with the crowds and the lack of any real deals.I knew from past experience that Mimi would insist on going and then refuse to climb out of bed when it became a reality and grandma…well…she’s  just up for going shopping anytime. I knew that this Black Friday shopping excursion was all  KT’s doing…I had to get to the bottom of it!   So, I finally asked KT exactly where and more importantly, why she wanted to go.

That’s when she told me that the only place she really wanted to go was Half Price Books.  They were selling everything for 20% off and were giving out free tote bags to the first 100 shoppers and each bag had a $5 gift certificate in it.  One lucky shopper would find a $100 gift certificate!When Shaun heard where KT wanted to go, he asked if he could go too.  I, of course, readily agreed and asked if I could just stay home and sleep in a bit.  (After all, I had worked for hours and hours and hours and ho…ok, maybe I’m getting a little carried away  here…on Thanksgiving Dinner and needed the sleep)\

I half woke up in the wee hours of the morning as my two favorite nerds got ready to set off for the bookstore.  I fully woke up a couple hours later when they arrived back home eager to show me their loot.

I’m starting to thing this whole Black Friday thing might not be so bad after all.  Now if only I could get them to bring me back a latte and a fresh bagel…

Early this morning, when all the house was still asleep, I started procrastinating searching for Important Things on the internet.   I accidently found myself doing a little bit of blog-hopping when I came across a post that touched me deeply.   The author wrote about how sad Thanksgiving was for her. I found myself reading and nodding along as she wrote that while she was  happy to be included in so many Thanksgivings with her friends, she was mostly just deeply missing having her entire family gathered around the table. 

I kept this blogger’s thoughts with me as I set about my work.  I have to admit that I had myself a bit of a pity party as I remembered the huge family gatherings from my youth.  We had very different childhoods and as much as Shaun indulges me, he  just doesn’t understand that I need lot of people around me to share the holidays with.  He just didn’t get my melancholy over the fact that our plans had fallen through and that we were on our own for the day. Holidays were never a bit deal for him, but it was all about family for me.  I can remember running wild with my cousins while the women cooked as they gossiped in the kitchen and the men did Manly Things like set up a table system that would seat at least twenty people.  It was a few days of chaos and pandemonium.  It was..simply wonderful. 

For this lonesome holiday I had planned on making  just a few simple dishes instead of the Great Feast.  That, of course, was before everyone started putting their request in.  As I set about preparing our dishes, I started to remember…to really think…about  where each of these special recipes had originated and who I assoiciated with each of them. 

My Aunt Aleta first brought the 7-Up Jello Salad to one of our gatherings. (Although I’m not sure how one can call a strange mixture of Jello, cream cheese, pineapple and 7-Up a salad)  We all loved it and it was immediately added it to our Must-Have list.  I had to grin as I chopped the sweet potatoes up and thought of our friend Stephen and how much he detests them.  As I watched my fingers cut maraschino cherries into small bits for Glorified Rice,  I suddenly saw my grandma’s gnarled hands doing the same exact thing.  As I formed small balls of dough and covered them to rise, I thought of the traditional  Brown N’ Serve rolls that were nearly always forgotten and someone had to run to the store for.  On and on it went…the memories started flowing over me.  From the year the pilot light on the oven went out leaving us with a raw turkey to the olives that we kids stuck to the ends of our fingers thinking we were so clever. 

As the morning wore on, my lightened and I started, just as the blogger I had visited earlier,  to feel the gratitude for all that I have.  It may not have been the huge gathering of my youth that I longed to recreate, but I did have my immediate family with me all day long.  I also had the memories of each Thanksgiving that I have celebrated through the years.  They are all special days and I’m glad to have them.  

I can only hope that we have made enough wonderful memories with our girls to sustain them if they ever need a little help remembering how much they have to be thankful for…

Happy Thanksgiving to all my bloggy friends!

Be sure to count Your Blessings, there’s a lot to be thankful for

I’ve always felt really bad for Thanksgiving. The poor little holiday that’s tucked in between the candy-fest of Halloween and the chaos of Christmas. I think our Canadian neighbors have the right idea celebrating in October.  I’m fairly certain the pilgrims wouldn’t mind.

One of my ancestors was a pilgrim.  He had the dubious honor of being one of the first two people to be put in the stocks in the New World.  The other fellow was the one he was fighting over a girl with.  She ended up married to someone else.

I am eligible to be a member of the Mayflower Society.  When I was younger, I really wanted to be a part of this elite group.  Although I never did the paperwork, so I guess I didn’t want it that bad.  Perhaps the younger generations will care to join. 

The youngest generation of our family is on the other side of the pass.  We’ve been planning on heading over there to see her for the holiday.  Of course we’d also love to see her adorable brother and sister.  And her grandma.  Oh, and her mom.  And her daddy.

Shelly, of course can’t wait to see her favorite dog in the world, Nico.  He lives on the other side of the pass too.  Nico likes Shelly well enough, but I get the feeling that the love is not equally reciprocated.  I get the feeling that Nico just loves the ladies.  Don’t tell Shelly though…it would break her heart. 

As much as we would love to see everyone, the thought of traveling for more than six hours  over a cold and icy pass with six people and two dogs seems to be making us rethink our plan.  There is a very good possibility that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving at home. 

In a last minute effort to plan the menu, I sent a link the Martha Stewart’s vegetarian feast to all the members of our family to see what they thought.  To my surprise, Shaun thought it was a great idea.  My dad wasn’t nearly as thrilled with the thought of a meat-free Thanksgiving. 

It’s a good thing I bought a turkey a few days ago and have it thawing in the downstairs refrigerator…

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (I’m pretty impressed that you made it all the way down here!)

I’ve only been blogging regularly for oh…about… 22 days now. (Yay for NaBloPoMo!??)but I’ve already been given a blogging award! How exciting is that? Everyone likes to be recognized and Carol has done just that. She has granted me the “Honest Scrap” award.  (I’m so glad that S is on there!)  I’m beyond thrilled, thank you so much! 

Apparently, there are rules go along with this award:

 Thank the person who gave you the  ward and link to their blog.  Carol, once again, THANK YOU! (Did you notice how I didn’t whine even a tiny bit about not being invited over for fish tacos even though I still miss Rubio”s like crazy? )  Go visit Carol here

Present this award to others who’s blogs you find brilliant in design or content. Oh, like that’s going to be easy! I’m just dipping my toes back in the blogging water and you want me to play favorites? Hmmm OK just so we are clear, these are not my favorites, I don’t like the best, I adore all my favorite blogs (yes! that’s you!) …it’s just a random thing. Ok? OK? 

Sinkeunta who writes in Spanish so you’ll either need to be bilingual or use a translator.

Christine who cracks me up (even if she does only write in English)

Kathy who is one of the most honest bloggers I know.  You never know what you  will find…it could be anything from her grandbaby to the criminally insane.

and Jenn the woman who hosted a party for over a hundred teens and lived to tell about it.  If I ever have major teen trouble, she’s the one I’m going to! (Or maybe Carol…she’s much closer and just as savvy!)

Share 10 honest things about  yourself Oh boy, and I thought picking recipients was hard. I have to be honest about this, eh? Ok…here I go..

1. I didn’t realize how much missed blogging until I jumped back in and started doing it again.  Starting was really tough.  Blogging every. single. day. is waaay tougher. (Yay for NaBloPoMo!?)

2. I went to put my contacts on the other day and realized to my horror that both sides and a big “R” on them.  I’m still not positive I have them on the right eye.

3.  I have two years until my youngest runs off to college.  (just a few months for my oldest!) I need to hurry and figure out what I want to do when I grow up!

4. I’ve learned that I really love yoga.  And that it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I’ve realized that I’m still very flexible (I am sooo close to being able to touch my elbows to the floor) but my balance is shot.  I fall over very easily.  Sigh…

5. I probably over use ellipses…but I can’t seem to stop using them… I wonder if there is a self-help group for that…

6. I really enjoy Facebook…although it’s part of the reason I stopped blogging.

7.   My girls are turning 16 and 18 in just a couple weeks.  Two big milestone birthdays…I’m not sure how I feel about that.

8.KT has Bowdoin College high on her list to apply for.  I know exactly how I feel about my baby girl heading of to Maine.  (No palm trees KT, just remember no palm trees and lots of COLD!)

9. I feel really silly for getting excited when people sign up as one of my followers.  (hey, I’m supposed to be honest here, right?)  If you are one of my followers, Thank you! If you aren’t…why not?  It’s only a quick click on the block over to the right…just sayin….

10.  While I’m trying to think of a tenth honest thing, Mimi is talking to me about her birthday party invitations, KT is excitedly telling me all about Jane Goodall and a cat is howling for something to eat and Jack Johnson is singing quite loudly.  I really want to move to the library sometimes…just so I can think. 

Have a great week everyone!

Me: Mom, what would you like for your birthday dinner?

Mom: Um…how about lasagna!  Kt can eat that, right?

Me: Well…not really, vegans don’t eat cheese.  I can figure out a version for her though.

Mom: Well, in that case…how about your famous baked beans…

Me: Kt is the only person in the world that doesn’t like my beans.

Mom: Well, she doesn’t have to eat those.  Let’s have scalloped potatoes to go with them. And..um…meatloaf.

Me: Meatloaf?

Mom: You can make a special no-meat version for Kt.

Me: Are you sure you don’t want to go back to lasagna? 

Mom: Nope.  I want meatloaf.  And a chocolate cake.  One that KT can eat of course. 

Me: Um…OK…it’s your birthday. 

Isn’t it nice that she keeps KT in mind?  Happy Birthday Mom!