The Holidays Begin

It's almost Thanksgiving, (literally!) and it's the beginning of the buying frenzy for Christmas.  I am one who enjoys the less commercial part of this time of year and probably disappoint those who receive gifts from me because I buy books and knit or crochet something special as an added gift.  I expect nothing in return, because I honestly need for nothing.

I like the Holidays to simply be a time of reflection, and of course a time to be with family.  No fancy dinners here.  We're having a picnic type of meal for Thanksgiving this year.  We will dine on turkey buns, potato salad, chips, and splurged a bit on the dessert by baking pumpkin pies (with store bought crusts as I did not want to go crazy creating anything).

In past years I spent so much time making the typical Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners only to realize that the spent together was the most important part of the Holidays for us.  It wasn't the meals that were the center of the memories for the day but rather the conversations and laughter that permeated the day's festivities.  When I realized that fact I pared down the days events and foods to the bare minimum.  The important things are still included.  The turkey and pies are there, and once in a while someone brings a green bean casserole too.

What is truly meaningful about Thanksgiving and Christmas is being with those we love and sharing a meal.  The snow is suppose to start tomorrow here too bringing with it the first signs of the winter.  It will start us all wondering aloud as to what the weather will be like and how much snow we'll get during this winter here in Michigan.  And of course there will be the ever present Lion's football game on Thanksgiving.  (Which of course is usually lost to whatever team they play.)

We share the day and remember those who aren't with us anymore sometimes, and remember how much we miss them.  The memories are tossed about and digested almost as much as the food we share.  We always learn something new and sometimes a funny story about one of the relatives too.  Family is about that.  We all like the simple way to celebrate.  It is after all about the memories we make during the Holidays that makes them the special events we anticipate all year long.  That's always what we remember anyways...not the fancy sweet potato soufflé, or the present that was, "so special," that one year.  It is truly the smiles, laughter, and love we share that makes the Holidays special, and it's always been that way.   

Saturday, mid-November 2010

Conversations are good.  I certainly missed my written ones when my computer was causing trouble for so long.

I really enjoyed the weather here and staying at home and out of the rain this Saturday!  I got some sewing and mending done as well as that ever present laundry.  We had lovely 60 degree weather all week and now we are heading into winter.  I've been following a storm that's dropping snow all over Minnesota, Wisconsin and other deserving states.  I think it is heading our way by the end of the week from what the weather predictors have said.  Ah, well...it is November.

Today we had a slow steady rain, and with it came a wind that gently tumbled most of the remaining leaves off many of the trees around here.  I still have a a tree that has way too many leaves on it and after cleaning up a pile of the fallen ones yesterday my poor husband felt almost defeated by the growing piles that have taken their place on our lawn and by the back door.  The dogs remained indoors since their run has only one dog house and they crowd in it in the rainy weather...not much room for either of them especially now since we piled in the straw-filled burlap sacks just a few days ago in preparation for the winter months.

I have to share how much I'm enjoying playing with my new techie toys these days.  I also love the calendar on my Touch since it has an alarm on it to remind me of important events.  That's for the terribly forgetful person in our household - ah, that would be me!  I hope this new handheld will keep me on track since my Palm was dying and I kept losing power after only 4 hours.  (When you do that you lose ALL the info, and that can be a yucky experience!)

Life continues to be good for us here in West Michigan. I  enjoyed two of the grandkids all day yesterday.  One granddaughter shopped with me during the day which made for a fun time, and my oldest was here for 5 hours from the afternoon and on into the evening.  We got to plan for our coming trip in the Spring of 2011.  I'll share more about that in future posts, we're certainly excited about!  :-)

It Has Begun!

My old computer is gone, and I have a loaner with none of my stuff on it (of course!) at the moment.  Things happened a little late (Since my computer didn't come in when it was suppose to.)and a little faster than expected since my old computer finally went belly up yesterday.  (Here's hoping they can rescue all my information from the old beast!)

I won't be back until everything has been transfered and my Mac Mini installed.  Hopefully that will be done by the weekend!  See you all when it's done!

Essay: Give Them Hope 11.1.10

Listened to this on the way home it really makes perfect sense to me here in Michigan! We've had a lot of negatives...and really little hope from this campaign would be fabulous.

Essay: Give Them Hope 11.1.10