Thanksgiving!

I have been trying to remember some of the Thanksgiving as a kid and believe it or not I really can't get any particular one to come to mind. When your a kid at thanksgiving the only thing you can think of the fact that Christmas is only a month away. I remember one holiday season Mom made a fake gingerbread house. It was made of cardboard then covered with whipped Ivory soap flakes. It looked wonderful and I loved it. Our dog also loved it and decided to eat a mouth full or two. Needless to say the next day or two the dog did not feel so good. He actually foamed at the mouth for a bit. It was funny to see the dog in such a state but Mom was not to pleased with the dog for eating part of her hard work.

I have some pictures in my collection I will have to find and post that shows Mom sitting on the floor playing with a Incredible Edible machine. It was awesome to make these funky shaped creatures and bugs that you could actually eat. They tasted not so good but the process of fun. Mom looks so young in that picture it is fun to have. I have another picture of that same day that has Dad on his knees with Connie playing with a Hot Wheels race set. Those were some good days. I was 17 and Richard was in my life and it was good. I think that was the last Christmas we spent all together before Mom and Dad divorced the next summer.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving! I know it is tomorrow but Erin has to work a 7a to 7p shift tomorrow and we did not feel like doing dinner at 8 o'clock at night so we opted for today. I am doing the cooking of the turkey and the basics and Erin is doing the pie and rolls. In my opinion they are the most important part of the meal. It feels a little strange to be doing it one day early but I am grateful that we can.

I wanted to write a few of the reasons why I am grateful this time of year and lament a couple of others as to why I feel so funky. First I am grateful that my family is healthy. Erin has reoccurring pain in her elbow and knee but for the most part she is good. Jason is good and enjoying getting used to a new job. Richard has the same complaints he has always had but doing good otherwise and staying busy and out of my hair. My kids in law are doing well and staying busy, the grand kids are all healthy and doing well in school. My Mom, Dad, Step Dad, Sisters their husbands and all there kids and grandkids are doing well and looking forward to a holiday filled with babies and good times together. Lucy is getting ready for a wedding in Florida. Matt is finally found someone who can wrangle his wild heart. Good for Lindsey.

As for the funky side. I am dealing with this stomach thing the best I can. Getting used to the new normal as my brother in law Jim was telling me the other night. Our normal never stays the same. There is only one fact that never changes in this life and that is THAT NOTHING EVER STAYS THE SAME, EVERYTHING CHANGES! For good or for bad that is just as it is. I am feeling a bit down because of the break up of our family. It will be the first major holiday since the divorce of Tommy and Erin that we have to deal with. I am feeling a bit unsure of how I feel about the whole deal. We will be gone for Christmas and I am unsure about that as well. I look forward to spending it with Jason and his family but I will miss my daughter and my grand daughters. I would for Erin to find really cheap airline tickets at the last minute and be able to join us. It would be fabulous but I am kidding myself into thinking that it might actually happen. I have learned to never say oh well there is always next year as we can never really anticipate what next year may bring.

This will all pass I am sure and I will have a wonderful holiday season before we leave and a wonderful holiday celebration after we get home. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! You are all loved and missed.

Quilting with the Monks!

Yes you read it right. Quilting with the monks that is what I have been doing the last 4 days. In southern Idaho there is a place called the Monestary of the Ascension. They are a group of Benadectine Monks that staff the facility. In fact I am writing this blog on their computer as I take some time off from sewing. We gathered here on Monday afternoon and have spent the last three days in the company of 16 other women. The pattern we made was a Mariners Compass. It is very fitting for me as I have stated many times how much I love the water and boating. This particular compass will be for my dear sweet hubby. I have never made anything for him as I hear on a regular basis from him. He is going to love it. I plan to quilt it by hand and we will use it on the boat. I can not post a picture however until I get home. Just a bit hard to down load my photos to someone elses computer.
The weather has been perfect for sewing. Not to nice to be outside so what better place to be than inside doing something you love. I have a bunch of stuff I need to do at home but this gives me a real chance to unwind, decompress and think of other things besides myself. It is a very special time spent with mostly strangers with the love of quilting in common. It interesting and exciting to watch the same pattern come to life in each persons special way. So many colors and so many interpetation of the same pattern. From gold, green, lavender, black, blue, red and green, strips, flowers, dots, plain, and on and on. Just the most rewarding days to watch this happen. The food here has not been to shabby either. The gal that does the cooking is a very good cook. The first night here we had a beef tenderloin that was to die for. Her desert was a coconut cream cake the made your mouth water. We have been well fed, well watered and well cared for in the last three days. I have enjoyed this experience so much that I am already looking forward to coming back next year.
I will write more on this and put in some pictures when I get home and to my own computer. Good night to all and have a great week.

Finding Peace!

I have sorta of been out in limbo land for a bit mostly because of the way I am feeling physically. Today is a much better day. I am learning to except the limitations I have been given and imposed upon myself for the sake of feeling like I want to be here. My visit with the GI doc yesterday was much more productive than it was a month ago. I no longer feel like sitting here and bawling my eyes out for what I can no longer eat. Seems pretty petty when I think of all those who have nothing to eat. I have excepted this new normal. One that consists of fewer pills, thank the lord, because they sit to long in my stomach, the loss of unwanted pounds, to bad they are not healthy pounds, and controlling the amount of a serving. Sounds kinda of dumb when I read it back but when you have something that effects a very basic need, FOOD, it is a hard thing to wrap your mind around. I have lost a total of 26 lbs. not sure how much more I will lose but the one advantage is I have had to buy new pants. Nothing stays on my rear end. Yippeeee!

Two nights ago I sat in the family room by myself and had a real crying pity party. I kept asking God why? Why me? What did I ever do so wrong to warrant one more thing in my life to make me miserable? Of course the answer is nothing! God does not punish! It is what it is and I finally made peace with it and asked God to give the strength to deal with this for the rest of my days. I feel good about that. I am loved by God and by many people who are all praying for me. For those prayers and thoughts I am eternally grateful and feel everyone of them touching me and helping me. Thank you all for them.

Lucy was writing about going through pictures from the past. I am proud she didn't cry because I can not do that. I have a memory that is of Matt, RJ, and Kaylee. The families were all here for a graduation, I think it was Emery's, but anyway the boys found all the boy toys out in the sand box. They moved from the sand box to the vegetable garden that had not been preped for planting yet and built a series of roads that would rival any big city engineers projects. I will have to go thru all of my photos and find the one we have of them playing. I remember asking them about the roads and I got a very detailed lesson from Matt. He was so matter of fact and precise. Matt and RJ played out there the whole time they were here. It was awesome.

What I remember about Kaylee and that weekend was when she went running out of the screen door and didn't see that it was closed. She was pretty small and she bounced back off it and went running in the other room crying because we all were laughing at it. She thought we were laughing at her. I can still see here surprised face when she was suddenly still inside instead of out. Her eyes were as big as dollars and shocked. We had a few other things happen that were funny but I will leave those for another time.

Life is good and I am grateful for each and everyone of my family, my friends, and just the people I know.

The pictures at the top are of Lainey's 6th birthday celebration. Mom and Bill were here as well as Erin's boyfriend Tom, and our friend Chris. Notice Erin has a yellow splint on her left arm. The weekend before she fell, after dislocating her knee cap, at the bowling alley in Twin Falls, while bowling, she broke her left elbow and did some cartilage damage to her knee. Way to go Erin. She is feeling better but still has a week or two off work yet.

Lost in thought!

You may be wondering about the title of this blog and the only response I have that is I truly lost in thought. Sometimes things just pour out of my mind like a faucet with a bad drip and other times it is like some idiot tightened the handle to tight and I can't turn it on. Well anyway my faucet is tight so what I have to say is stopped up in the spigot somewhere waiting to find a weak spot and drip again.

Last night was Halloween and it is always fun to watch the little kids come to the door with the parents standing at the end of the drive way. I love the faces of each one of them. Seems like we get fewer and fewer every year. When Ja and Erin were growing up there was always a herd of kids in the neighbor hood but with most of us grandparents and fewer children in the area it was a very slow night last night. The two cutest visitors came in the shape of a fairy princess and a cute little witch. I gave them a special treat because they were so cute but mostly because they are my granddaughters. They were both so cute in the costumes their dad bought for them and the make up their mom put on them. Of course the make up is the favorite part. They both are very girly girls loving all things fluffy, lacey, feminine and fun. I love doing things for them. I went so far as to make cute jumpers this last week out of some very cute cotton fabric I bought when Richard and I were at mom's in Sept. Both were a very cute pattern simple enough with just the right amount of halloween flair to them. They loved it and looked cute wearing them. Those two girls are always so appreciative of the things they are given. Mom and Bill brought some books to them when the came last week and the first thing that Lainey did was have Great Papa read to her from one of the books. It just happened to be a Stories from the Bible book. They both have to strip off the clothes they have on when they are given any new clothing. I love doing things for them. The boys are not so outspoken when given new things. They like them but are much more quiet about it all.

I am suddenly reminded of some of my trick or treats of the past. We did not buy costumes but just hard plastic masks. They were always so sweaty but it was fun none the less. Most kids in our day used pillow cases when they went out. We used a brown paper bag and not a large one. Mom did not believe in going out till all hours of the night.

When Ja and Erin were kids I always was the one to go with them. It was always fun because if the parents saw who was with them I always got a treat too. One particular neighbor always gave the local kids she knew popcorn balls. Yummo!!! I really miss Agnes she was a very special lady with a fine talent for cooking. When you visited her house you better not of had breakfast, lunch or dinner right away because she was going to feed you with no questions asked. Wow what a cook.

That thought brings me to another place in my thinking and that is about the closeness of our neighbor hood street. If anyone on the street needs help there is always someone around to lend a hand. When I recently had an unexpected ambulance ride most of the neighbors were all very concerned about what was going on and if I am alright. It is a very comforting thought to know the people around here are looking out for each other.

The pictures at the beginning of this are of last fall and the girls playing in the leaves. There is a picture of me but no way am I going to post it!