Home For Thanksgiving

Tags

Holiday, Thanksgiving, Turkey Day

Greetings!  I hope you all had the most fabulous Thanksgiving!  

Now, with one holiday over, Christmas planning is well underway for most of us.  Does it seem too soon?  This year has passed in the blink of an eye!  

We had a very intimate Thanksgiving at my parents’ house.  And my son was here for a few days to celebrate with us!  My baby boy!  

L-R– me, my son Joel, Mom, my husband Frank (aka City Boy), Dad

Joel drove up from Arkansas since he was able to get a few days off of work.  It was disappointing that my daughter was unable to make the trip, but her doctor has made it clear–no traveling.  But, it curbs the disappointment somewhat knowing that soon we will be able to enjoy a new Christmas baby!

Dad is just a little more than a year away from being 90–I just can’t believe it!  I don’t think either one of my parents are ever going to slow down!

City Boy and I have a blended family–between the two of us, we have eight grown children and 13 grandchildren, with two more on the way.  Our Texas family get-togethers with Frank’s family were usually quite large, so this Thanksgiving get-together was pretty quiet in comparison!  It was peaceful and fabulous, with a lot of really yummy food–after all, it would not be a holiday without that! 

Again, we hope you had a great Turkey Day, and that you are gearing up for a fantastic Christmas season!  Peace and blessings to you!

Blessed Thanksgiving

Tags

blessings, Holiday, hope, renewal, Thanksgiving

As this year winds down to a close in a little more than a month, we are preparing for Thanksgiving.  Some are traveling, while others are preparing the menu, and still others are getting their houses ready for a large number of friends and family members.  There are even some people who will be spending Thanksgiving alone.  

For everyone out there, however you spend Thanksgiving, there is something or somebody somewhere out there in this great big world that is a positive light in your life.  Some of us have to think about what that might be, while others can name it without any thought at all.  And then for a lot of us, it may be many somethings or somebodies.  

I know it is such a cliché at this time of year to say ” It’s Thanksgiving!  You should be thankful, regardless of your circumstances!”  And I’m really the last one that should be saying something like that; I have spent a few depressing holidays alone myself, and I have also had many happy holidays with large numbers of family and friends in which I celebrated the bounty of the meal more than I did the blessings that had come my way throughout the year, or the enjoyment of being around people I love.

So what do we do if Thanksgiving rolls around and we feel we have nothing to be thankful for?  When there just doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, we just want somebody, ANYbody, to reach down and grab us out of that dark hole we feel we are in.  

The thing is, the light is there.  We may not be able to see it yet, but it’s there.  And that’s the thing, no matter what our circumstances, that we keep our eyes on in times when we just don’t feel like we have the strength to even keep them open.  Nothing stays stagnant forever; things are constantly changing and evolving, and our lives are no different.  No matter what our circumstances, the fact that they are about to change in some way is almost certain.

So, right now, I am asking you to count on things changing for the better.  Whether you are already in wonderful circumstances and keeping a positive outlook that they will continue to be wonderful, or you feel you are in that deep dark hole and looking for that bright light off in the distance, know that you can choose this Thanksgiving to be a time of renewal and rebirth for you.  

Choose now that things are going to change for the better for you.  Choose to be thankful in advance for a bright future.  Decide now that living with a grateful heart feels so much better than living with a depressed one.  It may sound easier said than done, and you would be right about that.  It takes work to think in a hopeful way when your mind, body and heart are so used to being downtrodden and hopeless.  

But think about that bright light in your life out there somewhere that we mentioned earlier.  That bright light tells you that your life is obviously capable of having bright lights, so you can be determined to have many of them.  And we’re not talking about only the big things; even the smallest blessings can be a light in your life that brightens your days.  

This week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, my fondest wish for all of you is a happy, peaceful day, rich in blessings and love.  For those of you who are traveling, be careful and have a safe trip.

Blessings to you, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

 

 

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The Bountiful Tightwad

Tags

Centrepiece, fall, fall decorating, Gourd, Holiday, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving centerpiece

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I wanted to change-up my dining room centerpiece to something more, well, bountiful-looking.  Being frugal, I first looked around my house to see what was here that I could use for free.  Well, no luck.  It is a contradiction to make something look bountiful while being a tightwad.

On a trip to the store for a few ingredients for supper, I passed by some bins of gourds and pumpkins outside the store.  Well, maybe.  Inside were about ten cartloads of what was left of the Halloween stuff.  I don’t do a lot of Halloween decorating, so I kept walking until I got to the last several carts.  Jackpot.

There was a bunch of Fall stuff on sale.  Oh, goody goody!

So, here are a few things I found that perhaps a lot of stores around the nation have on sale this time of year.

Combined with the leaves and berries in the centerpiece I was already using (behind all my sale stuff in the picture), I made a decent bountiful centerpiece for $9.

Your style of decorating for Turkey Day may be different than mine, but whatever way you decorate, now is the time to go grab some of those Fall decoration items that a lot of stores have on sale if you want to make something really thankful-looking.    Be creative.  It is as easy as layering decorating items in a container in any way that looks good to you.

For a point of reference, the things I used, layered in this order, were:

• A platter thingy found in the Thanksgiving section for $1.
• Three bags of mixed gourds for $1@.
• Two containers of prepackaged Fall ornamental fruit and foliage for $2.50@.
• The waxed leaves and wild berries I had already been using on the dining table for decoration.

In the past I saved one bunch of gourds for years, which surprised me.  I figured they would have rotted, but they just dried.  Maybe I was just lucky with that bunch, so I will see if these gourds dry and keep as well.  It is even more delightful to a frugal person when they get out of having to buy the same thing year after year!

If you have Fall-ish stuff already on hand that you like, creating a bountiful Thanksgiving display will be even easier.  Either way, a harvest centerpiece doesn’t have to be complicated to look good.  I am no decorator, so if I can easily make one, anybody can.  And it doesn’t have to look cheap–only you need to know that it really is.

A funny, sweet lady and great blogger came up with the fitting title for this post, so if you get a chance, you might enjoy giving Cindy’s fantastic blog a look, here.

Have fun whatever you do, because this is the perfect season for it!  Have a blessed week!