30 Days of Thankfulness Day 2

Today I am thankful for my grandmother.  We always called her Granny.  It was by her own choice that she was called that and I'm sad to say I don't even know why she chose that.  I know when speaking of her maternal grandmother she always referred to her as Granny, so I'm guessing it had something to do with that.

Growing up, my grandmother was my primary caregiver.  My parents were very young when I was born.  (I was born a year after they married and they married at eighteen.)  Their primary focus was on making money.  I was dropped off very early in the morning at my grandmother's house, long before school started, and after school I was at my grandmother's house until my parents got home from work.  Often my parents would go away on the weekends and leave me with my grandmother.  Honestly, this was for the best.  My mom will tell you to this day she was never cut out to be a parent.  In all honesty, my parents should have never had children.  Be that as it may, my grandmother provided me with a stability I would have never had otherwise.  She also taught me a lot. 

My grandmother was a strong Christian and from as early as I can remember church, the Bible, praying, vacation Bible school, church camp, etc were a part of my life.  For this I am very thankful.  If not for my grandmother, I know I would not be saved today.

My grandmother also instilled in me the importance of learning and gave me a love for learning.  She helped to develop my mind and push me to excellence.  My grandmother was the one person who never said I was stupid when I was growing up.

She also gave me my love of reading.  My grandmother read constantly.  She often said if she didn't have a book to read then she would just read a phone book.  I have to laugh because I have often found myself reading the cereal box when I'm trying to eat quickly and have deprived myself of reading material.  Growing up, we used to go to the library at least once a week.  We checked out tons and tons of books and we read every one of them.  My favorite books were the horse books by CW Anderson.  There was a series, Billy and Blaze, and I loved them!  He had other horse books outside of the series that I loved as well.  To this day, I wish I had his books!  They were just lovely and I spent many long hours enjoying them.

Correspondence is another gift only my grandmother could have given me.  I love to write letters.  Growing up I had pen pals and, to this day, I still correspond with my friends.  Yes, I use email, but some of my family and friends will also get a handwritten letter from me.  I can't count the number of times someone has said to me that they are so thankful to have received my card because it was just what they needed at that moment.

So, yes, today was all about my grandmother in my thoughts.  She's been dead many years now, but the gifts she gave to me are timeless.  What has been mentioned here is only a smattering of the many gifts she gave me.  There is so much in my daily life that I can attribute to her teaching and influence.  I am glad she picked up the slack and raised me.

30 Days of Thankfulness Day 1

It's hard to believe it is already November 1st!  I'm afraid this has been a very busy, sometimes trying, year.  Unfortunately, there were many times I lost focus on the good things and let ungratefulness creep in.  In light of that, I'm actually happy I'm now at the beginning of  November and again thinking of what I am thankful for.  In all honesty, it wasn't until I was writing out Thanksgiving cards this morning that I even decided to do this again!

The idea to do this again just kind of snuck up on me.  I was sitting at my dining room table writing out Thanksgiving cards.  I know sending cards is a very old fashioned thing to do, but I love to do it.  I can't tell you how many times I've had someone tell me it just made their day to actually get something other than a bill or junk mail in the mailbox.  And as I was working on the cards I started thinking about how great the people I was sending these cards to had been over the year.  These are the people who wrote to my son while he was in boot camp.  These are the people who were there for me when I was dying because my son had left home to pursue his own path.  These are the people who have welcomed me into their homes and lives and accepted me for who I am and love me in spite of my shortcomings.  These are the people who have encouraged me, consoled me, and just been there for me.

So today, I am incredibly thankful for my friends.  I am thankful for the love and acceptance of true friends and I appreciate their willingness to accept me as I am.  I am especially grateful that they love my son too.  My son is the most important thing in my life and I am glad that they accept him into our friendships as they have. 

30 Days of Thankfulness -- Days 17-27

Soooooo....I wasn't so good at keeping this updated.  But that's OK.  I still did it and that's all that counts.

Day 17 -- Reconciliation.  I didn't expect it to happen even though both parties were in the wrong.  But  out of the blue, he called.  It shocked me, but I'm always thankful when a friendship can be restored.

Day 18 -- Being able to stock up for the holidays.  The sales are already starting so that helps me get the massive amounts of food needed to make it through the holidays.  It's nice to be able to stay home and just cook instead of rushing out at the last moment.

Day 19 -- Coworkers who like to cook.  I've picked up a few recipes this year from my coworkers and they are great.  I just got an amazing cranberry sauce recipe that is probably going to become a staple.

Day 20 -- Finally getting caught up at work!  Sounds silly, but with the snowbirds back, getting caught up before the rush is really important.  If you don't get caught up now, you won't be caught up until about March.  If you're lucky.

Day 21 -- My son!  It's his birthday and he is the best part of my life and I'm thankful for every day that I get to spend with him.

Day 22 -- Doctors.  I spent a lot of time with doctors yesterday and am hurting today, but I'm really thankful for the doctors.  Maybe I'll get better?

Day 23 -- Quiet days at home.  I am so thankful when I have a day just to relax.  I love the peace and just being at home.

Day 24 -- A short work week.  I'm thankful for my job, but I sure do love a short work week.  It means extra time with my loved ones!

Day 25 -- Extended family.  I love keeping in touch with extended family.  With Facebook, etc it's so much easier to keep up with parts of the family that you otherwise may not be able to.

Day 26 -- The stores that will NOT be open tomorrow.  There are a lot of stores that are making the decision to open on Thanksgiving.  This is NOT ok and I do not support it.  Obviously for some stores (gas stations, pharmacies and the like) it's understandable that they are open and even necessary.  But Macy's, Sports Authority, Best Buy, etc?  Shame on them.  They won't get my money tomorrow and they sure won't get my money throughout the rest of the year either.

Day 27 -- THANKSGIVING!!!!!  This is just the best day of the year.  I get to cook for the ones I love and spend the day with them.  It's really great and it reminds me that when things look bad, at least I have my family.

Christmas Challenge 2012 -- Day 25

Day 25 -- Does your family have a Christmas breakfast or dinner?

Back when both sets of grandparents were alive we had two days of feasting.  On Christmas Eve we always went to my mom's parents' house and had dinner and opened presents.  We always had hog maw because it was my dad's favorite.  He also loved my mother's mom's cole slaw so she always made that.  And he really liked her homemade apple dumplings.  So she always made that.  Of course we had other stuff like mashed potatoes and what not, but those three things were always on the table for all the years of my childhood up until my grandmother got breast cancer and could no longer cook.

Then on Christmas Day we always went to my dad's parents' house for Christmas morning brunch.  The last few years my dad's mom made a really good breakfast casserole among many other things.  And for me she always made homemade egg nog.  I looooved her egg nog.  After brunch we would open presents.  We went back for dinner.  There was no particular set menu for dinner.  Some years it was roast or ham.  Some years it was turkey.  One year my uncle hosted dinner at his house and we had duck and goose.  But that was only one year.  After dinner we always played this game.  It would take much too long to explain.  Suffice to say it was just a silly game that we call complained about but secretly loved.

Now?  Well my grandparents are gone.  And of the four boys, only my dad and his younger brother keep in touch.  And neither of them are especially big on holidays.  Their eldest brother hasn't been part of the family for decades now and Ric, the second to the youngest, has been dead well over ten years.  My parents typically work, so we don't really do much of anything for Christmas.  Sometimes if my son wants me to I go ahead and cook, but typically Christmas pretty much passes as any weekend day would.

Christmas Challenge 2012 -- Day 20

Day 20 -- What color ornaments do you put on your tree?

Weeeellllll.....I don't put up a tree.  But when I did, I had all kinds of ornaments because they had been handed down from both sets of grandparents.  Sometimes I wanted a designer tree, but in the end I kept the old ornaments because they all had memories.

Christmas Challenge 2012 -- Day 17

Day 17 -- Have you ever been to a Christmas parade?

Yes, and I've been in one too.  Being in the parade was fun, but I really remember with fondness going with my grandparents.  We didn't go every year, but the few years we did go I enjoyed it and I'm glad I have those memories to look back on now that my grandparents are gone.