Our Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving has always been pretty much my most favorite holiday.  I get to see so much family, and it's the beginning of the joy of the overall holiday season.  And of course, there are extra days off of school!

This year though, I wasn't anticipating it as I had been.  I think part of it was the fact that the weekend before, which I have always considered the unofficial kick off to the holiday season, we attended not only the funeral visitation for my cousin-in-law Nancy, but also a memorial service for the father of some friends.  There was also the fact that we'd be traveling which is not my favorite thing, and then there is also the fact that Robert has pulled stunts the last two Thanksgivings.  I wasn't dreading the holiday by any means, but I wasn't full of excitement and anticipation either.

And there certainly were a few bumps in the road.  Traffic on Tuesday evening heading out to my in-laws was absolutely dreadful.  There were accidents and it just wasn't the fastest trip ever.  My brother-in-law and mother-in-law had a big blow up after our Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday evening, and then there is the fact that my in-laws made it very clear that they didn't feel this counted as spending the holiday with them.  There was Robert's annual crappy stunt on Friday evening as well.

But overall, it is going to go down as one of my most favorite Thanksgiving weekends ever.  We made it to my aunt & uncle's house on Thursday right on time, and there was so much love and laughter in that house.  My sister ate first at my paternal grandmother's house, but once she arrived, every single member of my mom's side of the family was there in that house.  We took pictures of the grandkids and great-grandkids, and I just loved listening to all of the noise and happiness in that house.  I don't think I'll ever forget that afternoon.

And to be honest, for the most part, the weekend only got better!  Once we arrived home on Thursday, no one had anywhere they HAD to be until Robert went to work yesterday!  There were a few things we wanted to accomplish here at the house, but mostly they could be done on our own schedule.  And of course there was fabulous college football (GREAT game Buckeyes, heartbreaking Irish loss) and Dayton Flyer basketball even had a pretty good weekend.  Andrew made chili on Friday so I really didn't have to worry about cooking all weekend.  For about three full days, we got to just be...no schedules, no alarms, nothing like that.  All five of us got to just hang out together and enjoy our lives.  It was absolutely fabulous!

Sometimes it is hard to remember to be grateful

I'm not going to lie...there are days when I find it tough to remember to be grateful.  I try very, very hard to remember every day, but it just doesn't always work.  Even on days I am mostly grateful, I can't help but find myself thinking...only x hours until I can go to sleep or x days until the weekend, or x days until the next big school break.  There are days like this week when we had to unexpectedly purchase a new dishwasher after ours leaked all of the kitchen floor (very grateful we were home when it happened though), or the days when they had to come out and fix the washer just a few weeks ago, or the day we found out that Andrew's dental work that seemed minor was going to cost us nearly $400.

However, there are times when I am reminded, acutely, just how grateful we need to be for each day, regardless of how the current day has gone.  At no point have we worried how we were going to pay for everything, nor have we ever had to worry about having food on the table or a roof over our heads.  We've never had to worry about having lights and running water.  And MOST importantly, I've not had to watch my child suffer in a hospital bed and wonder if life would ever be "normal" again.

We have tough days, and I know there are going to be many more in our future.  Having said that, I am still very grateful for each and every day that my family wakes up and goes to bed healthy.  That is a blessing of a magnitude I can not describe.

I think I've figured out November

Last year I wrote that I don't understand why I don't write more in November...it seems as though this month gets the shaft.  I think I've got it figured out.  First there is Thanksgiving and our family does as much togetherness as we can at that time.  It's what we do...and I'll write about it in another post.  That will be a good post...this one isn't so much.

The other thing I know about November is Robert.  His struggles are private and are not for public reading.  Many of them are normal teenage struggles, some are not.  However, they do NOT belong on this blog.  And this year marked the third Thanksgiving in a row that his poor choices have been front and center at some point.  We are working on figuring out why.

If things are quiet around here it doesn't mean that anyone should worry that things are bad...sometimes we are just really busy and having fun living life.  At the same time, please understand that while I want this to record memories, some things I don't want to remember years from now, and aren't necessarily meant to share.

R.I.P. Nancy

My cousin Nancy passed away last evening.  I am so grateful her suffering has ended.  It had truly been awful since Sunday.  As I told my grandmother last evening...this makes three for our family in just 33 days, and I'm hopeful that is the end of it.

Ironically, the very last time I saw Nancy was exactly two years ago yesterday.  Her husband brought her to my dad's visitation.  She was already suffering from Alzheimer's, and I'm not sure that she really understood what was happening.  It was just two months later that she entered a nursing home to  help care for her.

Two years ago today we buried my dad.  Having all of these family members pass brings back the stress and emotion of two years ago.  It's turning into something of a stressful Fall itself, but I never forget how very blessed life truly is!

Feeling sad today

I am feeling a great deal of sadness today.  First of all, it is the date of my father's passing.  Two years have gone by in the blink of an eye.  Today our day is rather unscheduled, and I'm very grateful to be able, for the most part, to spend the day surrounded by the four people in the world who matter most to me.  This is especially true in light of the tragedy in Paris.  There just aren't words to express my horror at that event. 

I also learned just now that two dear friends lost their father.  It was not unexpected, but I know their pain only too well, especially today.  We are still awaiting word on our cousin Nancy who is transitioning from this life to the next.  While I will be grateful her suffering has ended, it just seems to soon for her to go.

I know that our little life right here is still very blessed.  The only thing on our calendar today is Robert working until 2:30, and after that we will all be home together.  I am so looking forward to just 'being' with my family today.

120 Days later

Exactly 120 days ago, marching band season began.  Robert was actually out of town with the youth group, but I was at the high school anyway, discussing various items with new parents.  Here we are, 120 days later, and it is finally the last day of the marching band season.  Robert had to be at the school by 6:15 this morning to catch a bus to Indianapolis where they are spending their day in the final performance of the year.  I'm sure they will do great, but one thing we  have learned is that our band is not in the same league with other bands that will be competing.  I'm sure he'll enjoy the day though.

To be honest, I  have very mixed feelings about marching band, especially this year.  I think many would tell you it was far from our most successful season.  We had a group of 14 seniors, and for the most part, they were absolutely fabulous kids.  They were not,  however, a leadership group.  I'm not saying it as a criticism...not everyone can be a leader.  It was tough though, in that as a group they just simply didn't lead, especially since this Freshman class is going to be legendary by the time they graduate...and not in a good way.  Marching band is full of drama every year, but this year it seemed especially so.  And trust me when I tell you that if there is drama, Robert will manage to find himself right in the middle of it...every time.  For those reasons, marching band isn't always my favorite activity.

Regardless, another season has come and gone!

Christmas stamp puzzle

My grandmother loves to do puzzles.  Every year, for I don't know how long, I have given her a puzzle for Christmas.  In fact, it often is the first gift I purchase every year.  Last year, I gave her a very large flag puzzle.  It was designed to look old and was not only a flag, but had the name of each state on it as well.  With Andrew being a history teacher, she had asked if we might like to have it put into a frame and have it to hang at our house.  I was delighted!  We had a wall that desperately needed something, and the fact that this was a gift to my grandmother and she had worked on it and given it back made it even more special.  She gave it to us this summer and it's been hanging ever since.

I was thinking though, that I would love to have a large Christmas puzzle to hang in its place for the holidays.  One had caught me eye in a catalog months ago, but I refused to justify the $15 cost.  If I'm going to have the freedom to stay home and not have an income (other than my small church job) I must sacrifice material things.  This isn't really a problem for me, but every time that puzzle would show up in a catalog, I would think again about how nicely it would look hanging in my living room.  Finally last month, I received a coupon code that not only offered a discount, but free shipping as well!  I purchased it along with some other gifts I'd been eyeing, and it arrived earlier this week.

The thing that excites me most is how excited Thomas is about all of this!  He can't wait for us to sit and work on putting this together.  We are going to set up the card table in our front room where it can be out of the way, and just leave it there so we can all work on it in our free time.  I am so excited to have something that the family is excited about as well...what a great way to spend some time together, and that definitely makes it money well spent!