This was Thanksgiving 2011

The day started well despite what the night before had dumped.

I knew it would be a good day when the first kitchen towel I pulled out actually matched the day of the week. My Grandma Mayme embroidered this set that reminds me of the tune, "This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes....so early Monday morning," and so on. I just love how cheerful they are. And how they help bring gratitude for the precious thing of memory.
Grateful for our senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing that work magic on this day and every day. Thankful for all the food, the joy of cooking, pretty dishes, and a table full of people I love, who are pictured here, getting down to the serious business of eating.




The tired host and happy hostess.

I asked my dad to scrunch close to my mom for the picture. Here he is asking, "Like this?"

Sarah just wanted to go to sleep after eating. I begged her to just please let me get a picture of your beautiful eyes. I'm such a pest.


Let sleeping babies lie.

Caught my brother-in-law watching figure skating between football games. Doesn't he look thrilled?

A game of Mexican Dominoes, fun for all ages.


Pappaw, Ima, and the grandkids who were here. We missed Ben this year, the first one where I didn't have all my little birdies in the nest for Thanksgiving. But he was with his lovely fiancee' and I'm just going to have to get used to sharing my kids on the holidays.



With my sister Jill.


Football was more than a game between teams, but between brothers coaching two NFL teams.
John Harbaugh (Ravens) vs. Jim Harbaugh (49ers). We won! Ravens rule!! The Harbaugh parents' 50th wedding annivcrsary is tomorrow ,but they were at the game here in Baltimore to cheer both of their sons. I'm glad I wasn't in their shoes.


Our super-active dog who was ignored all day, but enjoyed the beautiful weather, was finally ready for play time indoors when everyone was gone. He was hoping I'd take the hint.


And I did, while watching the Ravens and Facebooking. Call me a multi-tasker extraordinaire.
Thanks be to God, the Giver of all good things. 'Twas a happy Thanksgiving Day for me.

Plethora of Praises: My Gratitude List

I interrupt my year-in-review to jot down here the thanks I've been tracking in my journal.

My mom gave me a lovely journal called Impressionists 2010 for my birthday, which was back in August, but the start date just happened to be Dec. 28, 2009, my anniversary. In most ways I think of my wedding anniversary as New Year's anyway, except that I can keep eating sweets in the name of "holiday celebrations" for another three days.

The journal is really a day runner. Each date has five lines, so I limit the thanks (in writing only, not in reality!) to five per morning.

Getting on with my list:

Dec 28

Paul and our marriage of 23 years
Aunt Linda --her love & inspiration
Stephen's helpfulness with computers
Egyptian cotton sheets
Ibuprofen

Dec 29

Pleasant date @ Sizzling Bombay last night
The touching card that Paul gave me
Sarah's love for Joel
Ben's accounting internship
Aunt Linda's cyst was successfully removed, and benign

Dec 30

Purchase of a Sleep Number mattress
Good time with Paul all day yesterday when he took off
Caleb Z here to play
Enough dishwashing soap left for one large, smelly load
Encouraging words from fellow bloggers

Dec 31

Ability to anticipate
Hope
Meaningful work
Heat and light
Daddy came for dinner while Mama's away caring for Aunt Linda

I am so thankful that God's mercies are new every morning, not just every year. But hallelujah for a new year! Clean slate . New journals. Dreams of people, projects, and places in the next 12 months.

My main hope for the New Year is that I will see God's majesty. I want an increasingly larger view of Who He Is, and be ever expanding my expectations from Him, the Infinite God of the Universe. Is anything too hard for Him?

Fankful Friday Poem

I'm thankful that Satan,
Though he roars like a lion,
is no match for Jesus,
the King of Mount Zion.

For Sarah's who diligence
made the house neat and clean,
and inspired me to decorate
with red, white, and green.

For candles that smell
like apples and spice,
for baby's breath accents
I've used more than twice.

For Cheryl's new home,
Though moving into it was hard,
has Narnia-type spaces
and a terrific back yard.

For Molly, our dog who,
despite soft, fatty masses,
seems perfectly healthy
except when she gasses.

For scratching our itches
With nails on our fingers,
for massages of muscles,
relaxation that lingers.

For a change of heart
with regard to Hanukkah,
I say, "Light the menorrah
and play dreidel till dawnica!"

For God's protection on Paul
when his car engine went haywire
and now won't exceed forty
though 70's his desire.

For God's giving me stamina
To fold piles and piles
of clean and dry laundry
(I hope it brings smiles.)

And finally I'm grateful
For a nice warm bed
in which to nap now,
to rest limbs and my head.

Thankful Thursday

Not sure if my inconsistent nature will prove me successful at keeping up with this excellent discipline, but I would like to post today a "Thankful Thursday" list. The
thing I am resolved to do in 2010 is to be more thankful. I normally find myself complaining too much-- inwardly, outwardly, upwardly. Expressing gratitude is a sure antidote for grumbling. Let me try this in couplets today.

Though the weather outside is frightful,
There's no weather inside--delightful!

For pastors who preach with boldness and love
For fellow believers, both here and Above.

For a friend named Bonnie who is using her gifts
Of mercy and admin to give Burmese some lifts.

For jobs all around for my immediate kin
I'm thankful for money that comes steadily in.

For acoustic guitars on which Paul strums
For snare drums on which Steve puh-rumpa-pum-pums.

For snuggling with a soft-skinned little boy,
For the giggles he giggles to let out his joy.

For hazelnut creamer in my favorite ceramic mug,
And paintings by art students of The Grouchy Ladybug.

For bloggers who invite me virtually into their homes
For others who post quotes from uplifting tomes.

For laughter and tears (but more of the former),
For gloves, hats, and heating blankets to make me warmer.

For protecting my pastor's wife during her heart attack,
What relief to know that we get Daryl back!

For forgiveness asked and forgiveness granted,
For adjustments by others when my views are ill-slanted.

For a home that is safe and secure fore and aft,
For Ben's jokes about cycling and recycling, how I laughed!

For plenty to be thankful for, in verse or in prose,
I submit that it's difficult to know when to close.

But that's not a complaint, it's a good problem to have!
A plethora of blessings about which to rave.

No matter how many things I can list
The Lord nods and smiles, "You get the gist!

That you can't outgive Me, I'm Infinite, right?
But I'm blessed when you thank Me by day and by night."









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Popping in for Prayer

This isn't a return to blogging. It's just faster than emailing a bunch of ppl from a computer that would require doing stairs to get to. I'm in too much pain for stairs.



I need prayer because I am having a LOT of pain in my lower back. I don't remembering an instant where I strained it, but yesterday was redecorating my family room (moved a desk, a floor lamp) and carried a sleeping 50 pound boy to bed since I was home alone. Or maybe I'm carrying too much tension. At any rate, I'm serving 15 ppl for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Thankfully I will have a lot of help from relatives, cuz I am having trouble walking.

So here's my pre-Thanksgiving thanks on this day:

-my wonderful husband who, instead of going to the Inner Harbor with his brothers, went grocery shopping for me,
-relatives who are making or bringing half the meal
-our Shiatsu massager
-hot water
-ibuprofen
-options (storebought or home-made?)
-daughter who loves to cook and bake and can do so w/o supervision
-tall men who will hang up my curtains after I iron them (and a husband willing to iron)
-sons who run vacuums and scrub potties
-a low-maintenance 5-year old (most of the time)
-generally good health and motivation so the house is company ready
-my company doesn't include Martha Stewart or anyone remotely resembling her
-opportunity to be with extended family and have a bunch of ppl at the table (one of my all-time favorite things, as this family is never at a loss for words or laughs and no one has a snooty palette)





I could go on and on. I'm very thankful. My heart is grateful for so much. It's my body is groaning.


You might not have a chance to peek at blogs today, but if you do, please pray for healing of my back. (So I can move better and think better on this busy prep day.)

Pappaw and Joel

Sarah snagged this precious sight through the lens of my camera.

Taken on Thanksgiving at my folks' house, while the women were preparing dinner, it's my dad (who was an engineer before retiring and pastoring a Messianic congregation) and my Joel, his youngest grandchild, making a Lego car on the deck.

My dad is Lyle, my son is Joel Lyle. My dad is the man who made Valentine's Day my third favorite holiday, and Joel "just happened" to be born on Valentine's Day, 2002. I love this picture.

I also want to tell you a funny thing Joel said a couple weeks ago. (It's on my Kidbits blog.)

He said, "Mom, are you a Christian?"
I said, "Yes, I am. Are you?"
He said, "No. I'm an engineer."

When I told my dad that, he just laughed and laughed. "Everyone knows you can't be both a Christian and an engineer," he said. "The two are mutually exclusive."