Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Four Days of Family and Fun!

(Updated: Wednesday Morning)



Wednesday is bake day. Thursday our out of town family and local guests arrive.









Besides all the trimmings, we'll be having a little of this..













...and a little of this...












...and later in the day, a little of this, too.

I'm so excited!!



Sandy tagged me with a Thanksgiving request, that I list three things for which I'm thankful, other than the obvious (God, husband, kids, family, etc.). I am neck-deep in Thanksgiving preparations, but I have a few minutes here to post what has been rattling around in the tiny spare room of my mind since I read Sandy's post. Here goes:

1. I'm thankful for the mute button on the remote control because the blathering frenzy of most commercials annoys me.

2. I'm thankful for the healing processes inherent in my body. When I become ill with a bug, or after I crash or smash a part of myself during the everyday movement of life, I wince, I moan, and then I tell my body, "I'm so glad you know what to do. I will aid your healing powers however I can." And I take care of myself on the outside, knowing that on the inside this amazing creature of a body is doing its thing, putting things aright. Soon I am healed again, and I thank my body anew. Amazing!

3. I'm thankful that my life has not always taken the sunshiny path I would have chosen, but has wandered down many a twisted, dark, frightening, injury-inducing trail, for those swift and sudden turns have held the most treasure. Unsought treasure. Treasure I did not know existed. The treasure of wisdom, of new experiences, of faith-testing trials, of soul-searching anguish, all of which I would not have found on the hypnotic, skipping trails of the unexamined life.

There. It's out of my head.

Thank you, Sandy. This has made my Thanksgiving all the more meaningful, for the thoughtfulness added to the holiday history, added to the family, added to the food.

The food! I'd better get to baking. = )


I'll be back here on the other side of the Holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

26 comments:

cecily said...

Sounds and looks fabulous! Have a great time!

Cherie said...

Thanks, Cecily. I hope you come back and read my updated version. I liked your reply to Sandy's post, too!

liz crumlish said...

Hope its all done. Happy thanksgiving, sister. x

tshsmom said...

I recently discovered the wisdom of #3 too. You and I have acquired a LOT of wisdom and character through our trials!

Cherie said...

I'm done for today, Liz. Tomorrow will be much easier...and fun, with all the guests and excitement. I shall CRASH tomorrow evening! ; )

Tshs, it's a hard way to go but the end result is better - if one gets to the treasure. And I think you and I have found our share. Whew.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful thoughts...and that remote comment was especially profound.:-) May you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Alan said...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cherie said...

Thanks, Patti and Sean. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

(Yes, Patti, my observation of the mute button is truly inspired! hahaha....Tom sometimes points the remote at me and hits the mute - again, hahaha, for it does NOT work on me. Harumph!)

Jay said...

It's always good to be thankful.

And boy does that stuff look good enough to eat! :)

Happy holiday.

tshsmom said...

Heehee, L tried the mute button on ME, the first time we got a TV with that option. Cute, aren't they?

Kelly said...

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

cecily said...

Yes I came back (a while ago, but someone pushed the mute button and I couldn't comment. Hahaha). Did you have a nice day as anticipated? I went to work as usual. Ho hum. Life in Australia. :)

Anonymous said...

LOL!! Wow, the remote doesn't work on you??? If he could get that figured out so that people everywhere could have access to that kind of technology, he'd make a bundle.

Thanks so much for having Sam for Thanksgiving. It means a lot to me to have people looking out for my kids.

deanna said...

Glad you had so much food and thanks going on, Cherie. I have rested, full and happy, this weekend. :o)

Anonymous said...

Cherie, The food was great and you really out did yourself in the hospitality dept.

Cherie said...

Hi, Jay! Thanks for stopping by. The food in the photos is from a year ago ( I think) but the food this year was equally edible, if I do say so myself. ;)

Tshs - yeah, so very very cute.... ;)

Kelly, thanks! I hope you had a great weekend, too!

Cecily, got muted, huh. Bummer. ; )

Yep, the weekend was even better than expected. Had all sorts of company - some planned, some surprise visits. I love having the house full. Such energy. Then later, like now, I'm happy when they are all gone and things get back to normal. You know what I mean, right? I thought of you this weekend when I saw a huge display of Christmas cards in a store. "Cecily already has hers out and here I sit, so not ready." Christmas is coming! Have a great day, Cecily!

Patti, yeah a bundle!

We thoroughly enjoyed having Sam over! What a great young man he is. Such a lot of fun and easy to be with. I plan to invite him over much more in the future. Such good news to learn that he gets to go home for Christmas. He's so happy about that! I'll bet you are happy, too.

Deanna, good that you are rested, full, and happy.
; D

Tom, you know how much your comment here means to me. Makes a world of difference. Thank you!

This weekend has reminded me how much I love you and how glad I am that you and I are in this together. Whew, huh. We did it! = D

Anonymous said...

Ahhh... "the skipping trails of the unexamined life"... so wonderful to see you too, have stepped across those stones. I wouldn't miss those moments along that path for anything!

Cherie said...

Neither would I, Des, neither would I. I don't usually enjoy the unsettling time spent on them, but the destination is so worth it.

Ann said...

A belated happy Thanksgiving to you & yours, Cherie. I enjoyed the lovely photos & I, too, am definitely thankful for the "mute!"

Cherie said...

Thanks, Ann!

Anonymous said...

Just for a second, I confused "Tom" with "Tim"....I hadn't thought about you and Deanna having such similarly named husbands! Yes, we're really looking forward to Sam coming home. I like getting back to normal, too, although not for exactly the same reasons since we were still rearranging from my dad and all...but finally everything is organized, etc., and I'm enjoying keeping it that way. But then there's Christmas you know! You don't get to be "normal" for very long.

Thanks for the nice words about Sam. I think he's pretty special.:-)

Cherie said...

How right you are, Patti, that normal doesn't last very long. Oh well, we appreciate it when it arrives, right?

Glad to hear you've got things organized once again. Christmas will be more enjoyable that way.

It's easy to say nice words about Sam. Everyone I've met who knows him is very fond of the kid! He and Joe sure get along splendidly.

Joe is itching to take Sam up to the mountains for some 4X4 fun in the snow. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Have you had snow, yet?

Anonymous said...

Yes, we actually have had snow, but it's unusual for us to have snow before Christmas. Most of our snow usually comes in February. But it still isn't all that much. We've had cold weather though, which I enjoy so I can enjoy being cozy inside.

Cherie said...

We've been 'cozy inside', too, with colder weather, though things are warming up again. From mid-20's at night to mid-30's. From cold and sunshine in the day to gray and not as cold. It's actually raining today. My outdoor potted dahlia froze and looks so sad. I should have moved it but forgot in the Thanksgiving frenzy. Oh well. = D

I'm getting in the Christmas mood now. Yippee!

Deadmanshonda said...

Omygoodness it is great to get caught up on your blog...the pictures (the food is killing me on this post)....the family (can I have yours?)...the rants and tender stories....and the last pic...i'll comment on that up there. I've missed you. Thanks for writing...

Cherie said...

I've missed you, too, Leisel. So much. I'm glad you've enjoyed catching up - sorry the food tempted you. ; )

Though these photos are of last year's food, and I think it was Christmas food at that, it really tasted good. An didn't last very long - at all!