Happy Thanksgiving!

I love holidays and traditions and food and lists. Also, I think Thanksgiving sometimes gets the short end of the stick as far as holidays go. So I decided to give Thanksgiving a bit of a shout out by making my top ten for this year's Thanksgiving.

10. The food was awesome! Yes, I know, food is not the center of the celebration (or shouldn't be) but it kind of is. Why did the pilgrims celebrate the first Thanksgiving? Because they had food when they thought they were going to starve to death. Because they survived a year (with the help of the native Americans) when they thought they would not. At my house, there is no fear of starvation. I do mean to brag when I say that my mom is the best cook ever. She makes the best everything. This year there was a great fear that the burden would fall on other shoulders, but thankfully, Mom came through and the food was wonderful.

9. My mom was healthy...ish. On Thanksgiving eve, I showed up to do some day before prep with Mom only to find that she was suffering from an allergic reaction to something. Dad comforted her all night as she really suffered (it was pretty horrible). Dann and I set the table and started cooking with plans to take over the big stuff in the morning. Yet, the next day Mom was up and at 'em. She was the least stressed I've ever seen her and we still had wonderful food. Plus, she was not miserable.

8. Other people really helped a lot. Because of Mom not feeling well, everyone else pitched in and helped big time. Many hands make light work (or at least lighter). It made for a really wonderful time with my brothers, sister-in-law, and dad all helping me and Mom make everything. I don't even know who cleaned up (I took a nap), but it was really nice to have so many people helping.

7. I learned a new game. My brother, Dann, brought a new game called Dominion. I was pretty sure I would be forced to play and then just bear with it, but it was awesome. I think we will have another round at Christmas time. I lost every game but one and I still love it. Don't ask me to explain it, because it's too hard to explain and it sounds even dorkier than it really is.

6. The Post family came over. Our Thanksgiving included several members of the Post clan and they were a welcome addition. They are family and they also bring really good food :) It was a great time.

5. The night ended with me snuggling with Michael first and then Maddie and Natalie. Maddie and I finally fell asleep on the couch together. It was a pretty great ending.

4. Cooking with my mom. I love cooking with my mom. She's so good at it and I feel so empowered when I work with her. Even though there were lots of helpers, there was a time in the morning where it was just us. She and I made up a stuffing recipe and it was just fabulous (my favorite stuffing yet). I just love spending time with her in her kitchen...have you seen her kitchen? Who wouldn't have a great time in it?

3. Not shopping on black Friday. For the past few years Uncle Dave and I have gone shopping on black Friday. We have a great time, because he's so awesome, but I also spend money on things I don't need, feel sleepy and hungry and unshowered and generally blah by the end of the day. I decided not to go this year and actually sleep in and shower today. Erin took my place (and she is now the reigning 'best granddaughter') and I am a little sad I missed out on some fun, but I think it was the right choice.

2. Michael said the best thing. Dann was taking apart the presentation turkey (the one that is beautiful and sits on the table that we use for leftovers) and taking out what mom had put in it: apples, onions, rosemary, thyme. As he took out each item, he said it out loud. Then Michael said, "Is that what the turkey ate?"

1. Singing with CC. Every year, after the meal, aunt Nancy and I sing Christmas songs and pick out what we're going to sing for the Christmas Eve service. We then convince Mom to sing too and it's so pretty. We sing harmonies that make us shiver. I love singing with my family!

So I had a really wonderful Thanksgiving. I thought I'd end with a question and answer session I had with Maddie and Michael.
Me: Who are we thankful to on Thanksgiving?
Michael: God.
Me: And what are we thankful for?
Maddie: Everything God provides.

That about sums it up.

A Perspective on Pity

I have a wonderfully shy student this year. I like shy students because I think shy people are cool and I like to befriend them and let them know that I think they are cool. Still waters run deep, as they say. So my wonderfully shy student has a very demanding father who wrote on her first test (on which she scored a B grade), "You can do better" and he wrote on her second test (on which she scored an A) "Next time don't miss any." This drew my pity for her. I thought that she must have a difficult time living with a father so hard to please.

She asked to stay after school for some help on some homework problems which was fine by me. We worked for about thirty minutes. At the end of it she said, "I wish I could stay with you." My heart thumped a little as I thought of this poor girl wanting to find solace away from unkindness. She continued, "We could do math problems together." I said, "Like a math slumber party? We'd eat popcorn, watch movies, and do math problems? We should have all the girls come to our math party." I smiled at her thinking of how sweet it was that my student admired me and wanted to have me as a friend.

She continued, "I sometimes see you leaving work and you look sad. I think you must be lonely."

What? Beyond the kind of stalker aspect of this (she's not creepy, she just stays late after school) I was thinking that I am almost always smiling, but I guess as I leave all I can think of is how tired I am. "I'm not sad, I'm just tired," I responded.

"So you go home to your parents?"

"No, I live very close to my parents, so I see them a lot."

"You go home to your brothers?"

"No, I live in my own house. And I get to live with my best friend from Jr. High!"

"Oh, so you don't live with your family."

I then could see the pity in her face. I guess she wanted to take pity on the lonely school marm who stays too late and leaves looking a little sad and a little lonely. I sure don't feel sad or lonely, maybe she doesn't feel shy or like her father is hard on her. I guess it's all in your perspective.