Our Thanksgiving Trip

We left on Tues., Nov. 22nd, to start the trip to southwest Oklahoma to visit my mother's side of the family. The passengers in the van were The Referee, My Only Sunshine, Grandma (my mother), and me. My sister, brother-in-law (newly home from Iraq!), and 8yo neice were already there. PaPa (my daddy) and Great Grandma stayed home since she isn't up to long road trips anymore.

We spent the night in Arkansas and arrived about 5 pm. It was good to see Grandma's brother and sister-in-law (from Kansas), and Grandma's sister and brother-in-law (who live there). We all went to the nursing home to see my Granny for a little while before her bedtime. My Only Sunshine and I hadn't been there since Sept. 2003, and it had been even longer since The Referee had been there. Before the weekend was over, we spent time with the above mentioned relatives, as well as all of my cousins and their families, and miscellaneous other family and friends. It was the first time in 6 yrs. that all of my cousins were together. We had a wonderful time reminiscing and laughing and eating more than usual.

My sister and I joined two of my cousins for some shopping on Friday. We weren't brave enough for the early morning crowds, but had lots of fun together and marked a few names off the gift list. Saturday, MOS & I just hung out at Granny's house, while The Referee spent some time hanging out with "the guys" (my male cousin and cousins-in-law). Granny and I had a conversation about how much she would rather be living in her own home instead of the nursing home. Most of the time she doesn't completely understand that she's not able to live alone anymore. Sat. evening we had a "cousins party" with more reminiscing, laughing and eating.

After Sunday morning worship and lunch, we spent our last hour in town with Granny back at the nursing home. (She had spent the previous 3 days and 2 nights at her house, on "leave" from the nursing home.) We had a good visit with her. In spite of the ravages of Parkinson's Disease and old age on her mind and body, we enjoyed talking and laughing together. As we pulled out of town and began our journey home, my eyes filled with tears as I realized the very real possibility that this might have been my last time to hug and kiss my Granny.

We had a stressful trip home. Driving through wildfires and dodging tornadoes is not enjoyable. But my favorite memories of this Thanksgiving trip are the light in Granny's eyes, the smiles on her face, and the sound of her laughing.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I always use Thanksgiving as a time to remind myself of the many, many blessings for which I am thankful. Here is my list this year:

• The Referee, my wonderful companion, friend, and lover.
• My Only Sunshine, who continues to amaze and humble me and bring joy to my life.
• My health, which could look very different right now if it weren't for the blessing of our dear Lord and the skill of the doctors who found and removed the cancer in my uterus this summer.
• Our extended families who bless us with their love and companionship.
• The opportunity to homeschool MOS, and to associate with other homeschoolers.
• The blessing of being a homemaker, even though I'm not very good at it most of the time. This is an area of my life I am praying a lot about right now.
• Most especially the sacrifice of our Savior, which makes my salvation and christian walk on this earth possible.

A Productive Weekend

While The Referee worked yesterday, My Only Sunshine and I worked on our decluttering projects and weekly cleaning. We would work for awhile then take a break and read. We read a chapter of Genesis (this year's area wide Bible Bowl book) and John Inglefield's Thanksgiving, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We also started our holiday baking by making pumpkin cookies. Yum! And we played a few innings of My Only Sunshine's new Bible Baseball game.

Mid-afternoon we turned on the television and watched a miserably disappointing football game! :-( The game was our big state rivalry, The Iron Bowl, between The University of Alabama and Auburn University. We are big Alabama fans and were less than excited about the performance of our team. I was in such a "work mode" that I found small jobs to work on during commercials and at half-time. At least the whole game wasn't a waste. ;-) Oh well, there's always hope for next year!

Today we've continued working on the seemingly endless decluttering that needs to be done. (I do hope that someday we'll be finished with it all.) During our breaks today we've dipped pretzels in chocolate and read Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen by O. Henry, another chapter of Genesis, and Thanksliving Treasures, Lesson 5.

Well, I have a big pile of bags and boxes to drop off at the thrift store after evening worship services. It always feels good to see the result of our work. :-)

mom2one

A Trip to the Symphony

We attended an Alabama Symphony Orchestra's Young People's Concert today. It was the first of the school year and was titled "Themes and Variations." Four composers were featured who used the technique of themes and variations in their work: Gliere, Copland, Beethoven, and Elgar. Our favorite was Edward Elgar's "Enigma." The 14 variations of his theme are fascinating, depicting himself, his wife, and many of their friends and family.

We always enjoy attending the Young People's Concerts with our homeschool group (plus My Only Sunshine's Grandma and Great-grandma). Today we also had My Only Sunshine's Grandmother (The Referee's mom) along. Afterward, we enjoyed lunch with Grandmother at her favorite chinese restaurant.

My Only Sunshine didn't have much schoolwork to finish when we got home, but math was the snag again today. Dawdling is at its worst with math and chores. Hmm... ;-) After a brief, but serious, conversation about the folly of wasting time dawdling, she finished the rest of her work in a timely way. (I was cleaning the carpet in the den while all the dawdling was going on.)

The Referee was working tonight (high school basketball). On our way to her basketball try-outs, My Only Sunshine and I stopped by to visit a good friend and her one-week-old-Boy#5. We also visited Boys#1-4 while we were there. ;-) There's not much on this earth sweeter than cuddling a newborn baby!

After try-outs, we went to our congregation's monthly Ladies' Devotional. The lesson addressed what we think of our christian sisters when they make mistakes. Do we criticize them in our minds, or do we reach out to them and try to encourage them? (Romans 12:10 & Ephesians 4:32) This was good medicine for my critical nature.

The warm bed covers are calling to me at the end of this our first cold day of the Fall. mom2one

Two Temples

A Builder builded a temple,
He wrought it with grace and skill;
Pillars and groins and arches
All fashioned to work his will.
Men said, as they saw its beauty,
"It shall never know decay;
Great is they skill, O Builder!
Thy fame shall endure for aye."

A Mother builded a temple
With loving and infinite care,
Planning each arch with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.
None praised her unceasing efforts,
None knew of her wondrous plan,
For the temple the Mother builded
Was unseen by the eyes of man.

Gone is the Builder's temple,
Crumpled into the dust;
Low lies each stately pillar,
Food for consuming rust,
But the temple the Mother builded
Will last while ages roll,
For that beautiful unseen temple
Was a child's immortal soul.

~Hattie Vose Hall