Happy Thanksgiving!

Here it is,Thanksgiving Day.This is the beginning of my favorite time of the year:the Holiday season. Of course, I can appreciate it more now,because I am not working retail when Christmas music starts and decorations get put up the day after Halloween. By the time the actual holiday rolled around,I had had enough of Christmas.

However, today is about giving thanks. I have become more mindful of of my blessings since Rick came home from Iraq. Having a loved one wounded and come close to losing their life on a couple of occasions tends to make one realize what is important in life and what is not.

The main thing I always give thanks for,not just today,but everyday,is that I have my husband here with me. There are days when I get really depressed about what has happened,but I also know it could've been much much worse. So I am thankful for my wonderful husband being able to continue to share the journey of our life together.
The second thing I am thankful for is our son, Zach. He really is a great boy,with a good heart.

I am also thankful for my family and friends. Each of them are a piece of my life's puzzle,and without them,that puzzle would not be complete.

Having a roof over our heads,food on our plates,and clothing on our backs is cause for thanks. There are so many people out there who have none of these things,and I keep them in my thoughts and prayers,especially this time of the year. We have a good friend who has had his house repossessed,and he was fortunate enough to find a house that he can rent to own,so now his family can go from one house to the next without problems. However, I can only imagine the stress of knowing you are going to no longer have a roof over your head,and trying to find shelter for your family by a deadline,especially this time of the year when it's getting cold outside.It is not something I want to experience.

We have had moments when we did not have alot and just buying a turkey would've been too expensive. We have been the recipients of food baskets in the past,and though it was a blow to the ego,our family was fed. So I am even more grateful this year that we have a wonderful dinner planned for today.One never realizes how important food is until you don't have a lot of it. We are very very blessed this year.

Zachary "took care" of our turkey, known as Thanksgiving. This has been a ritual for the last couple of years,and he really likes having the responsibility. We will be eating around 1:00-2:00 PM. My mom is coming over. We went to her house for a few years,but it seems silly for her to cook all that food. So about 4 years ago,she started coming to our house,and she loves not having to cook! My sister and brother in law go to upstate NY to his Mom's,so it's just us and Mom. It's like our little holiday,and I enjoy that. More blessings!!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Beyond LIttle House and Christmas Trees

I had meant to post the link to Beyond Little House,but I forgot to do so. I guess I was too involved in my train of thought.

This morning when I checked to see if I had any comments to my post,Sue from Living the Good Life ( a great blog) had requested the link to the site.

I don't know if you can "get there from here," but the address is: www.beyondlittlehouse.com

Again,it is a great site,full of links to various articles,ranging from ones about the books,to Laura and Rose's relationship,Laura's political views,etc.I think any Laura Ingalls Wilder fan should check it out.The first day I found it ( after being a LIW fan on Facebook) I spent over 2 hours reading it! Only when my eyes got tired did I stop.( Damn these middle aged eyes!!!)

I am always inspired when I read anything about Laura,or if I watch some of the series,or the mini series that came out in 2005. I actually emailed Disney to see if they were going to make another series,this time more based on the books,but they responded they had no plans to do so :(

In fact,last year I decorated my tree with red and white plaid ribbons,lights,and very little else. It looked great.Very simple,not overdone.At first, I thought it might be too "cute",but I was happy to see that wasn't the case. Rick even liked the way it looked. I saw how "Ma" had decorated her house on the mini series with red and white plaid ribbons (which I think were actually fabric) and I loved the look. This year I bought more ribbons,and we will have white lights instead of colored this year.Of course, being on the prairie,trees were at a minimum,so in the books,the Christmas tree was always at church,and seeing it was a source of excitement.

It makes you realize it's the simple things that matter most.

My Dad was born in 1914. Sadly,he passed in 1990 due to complications with Alzheimer's. However,before he got sick he would tell me stories of him growing up,and one of my favorites was of the Christmas tree.

My Dad grew up in a good sized family,and there was not a lot of money. Each child would get one gift,but he said one of the best gifts was the Christmas tree. The tree would not be put up until Christmas Eve,after all the children had gone to bed. When they woke up,the tree would be up,all the candles on it would be lit,and that was part of their gift. My Dad never mentioned what gifts he received when he would tell this story.He never remembered what he got. It was all about the tree. The tree,the food,and how they would all go to his grandparents house,where there was a piano. They would all stand around it and sing Christmas songs.That is what he remembered.

To me that type of memory is the best Christmas gift of all.