It's the Hodgepodge, Thankfully!

 Thanksgiving (October) 2016 hayride
Our non-traditional Early Thanksgiving
This is the difference between celebrating Thanksgiving mid October
and celebrating it early November, (cold, drizzly, yukky) as we did this year.
Hopefully we can go back to October for next year.


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She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

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Thanks, Joyce!

1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

I'm not sure how tightly I cling to tradition, for my goal is to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family, whenever most of them are available to get together. Thus, our Thanksgiving this year was on November 4. What's taking the rest of you so long?? ;-) BUT, If Thanksgiving is going to be celebrated at our house, there will always be turkey and stuffing. It works out well for Mr. C. and me to roast the turkey (with stuffing) and ham here, cook the potatoes and squash, and ask the others to bring the other sides and dessert. We don't ever eat out for our family Thanksgiving. Never ever watching football is a time-honored tradition, and usually eating at 1 PM works best for us.

One year Mr. C. and I flew to London on Thanksgiving Day evening, although the kids who were left here at home had already had their Thanksgiving dinner with us before we left. So we were at St. Paul's Cathedral for the First Sunday of Advent. How did that feel? Pretty wonderful!

 Yesterday at 11:30 AM

From the Porch

 Yesterday at 1:30 PM
Same porch

2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?

It's not particularly easy for me to ask for help. I was raised to be a self-sufficient type, as were my parents, and I think we passed that on to our kids, which I now kind of regret. I say 'kind of' because I do love that they are responsible adults, thankfully. I don't think there is a fine line between being able to ask for help and being totally unable to do anything for oneself, but you know that old slippery slope.. I err on the side of self sufficiency, I guess. Not that I don't ask Mr. C. for help moving boxes of books (among other things), but you know it doesn't count that I ask Mr. C. for help. :-)  

On the other hand, I constantly ask God for his help and mercy. I would say 'often,' but I think constantly is slightly more accurate.

3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

Refrigerator magnets, mostly photos of the family, some souvenirs. This is limited to the refrigerator, thankfully. Oh. And coffee mugs. Yeah, quite a few. And I keep meaning to do a blog post on those mugs.

4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?

 She put on her builder hat and asked me what she should build.

I said, 'Build me a castle.' This was her response.

3.5 years old. What a fun age!!

The smallest: the Micro SD card for my camera. Technically, I'm sure there's something even smaller that I'm thankful for, like microsurgery. But...

The biggest: our family

But the by-far-way-biggest: God's grace in the person of Jesus Christ, Lord of all.

5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?

 Samaritanspurse.org

I think that every American should visit a third-world country to see how most of the world lives. That helps a lot. When you see the majority of people (including children) who struggle daily just to survive, it reminds us how trivial many of our 'needs' truly are.

6. State your own random thought here.

The you-know-whats are not allowed on the table or countertops, but it was sure nice to have Tommy's company as I was sorting through books yesterday in one of the bedrooms.

I'm thankful that Tommy doesn't have to be considered a meal.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 ***

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