Wordless Wednesday - happy family
My brother, John… his wife, Nicole (who is an angel)…and their children, London Victoria (not yet a week old) and Zachary (nearly 12). How sweet are they?
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Menu Plan Monday - Thanksgiving!
My parents are arriving from Arkansas today to spend the week with us, and the kids are very excited. My folks are pickier eaters than we are (ALL healthy ALL the time), so I’m trying to plan meals that they will both eat and enjoy (and that my kids will still eat).
With everyone off this week (Mike and I both work Monday and Tuesday, and I work Friday as well), I’ll be planning three meals a day, which seems like way too many. But I did buy the ingredients to make the first holiday cheese ball of the season. Soon, I’ll make my butter mints. Yum.
Sunday - homemade chicken noodle soup with asiago cheese bread (thank you, Publix) followed by a pear crisp with the Harry and David pears
Monday - breakfast - pancakes… lunch - leftover soup/hot dogs/sandwiches (gotta give folks choices)… dinner - pot roast with veggies from the crock pot
Tuesday - breakfast - sausage and biscuits… lunch - Mom and Dad are taking the kids to the Tampa zoo, so they’ll have zoo food … roast beef hoagies with Monday’s leftovers
Wednesday - breakfast - waffles… lunch - we’re all going shopping, so I’m thinking Cracker Barrel … dinner - Mike’s gonna smoke a pork loin… fresh zucchini and corn on the grill.
Thursday - breakfast - Monkey Bread… lunch - a traditional Thanksgiving Feast care of Mimi’s Cafe (my folks offered to buy & I jumped at the chance). I’ll add marshmallows to the sweet potatoes just for Griff, and I’ll make a non-pumpkin pie dessert… dinner - pizza (come on… gotta have the traditional Thanksgiving Pizza!)
Friday - breakfast - Chick Fil A (come on… it’s our Friday morning tradition)… lunch - Mike and the kids are on their own … dinner - I’m guessing leftovers.
Whew.
I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about the week. Holiday decorations, shopping, fun, wrapping presents. Suweet! (which, Eliza tells us, means Woohoo! in Spanish).
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Thankful Thursday - tired but thankful
It’s hard to believe it’s only been a week since last Thankful Thursday! It’s been one wonderful week! And I am sooo grateful and thankful for so much of it.
I’m thankful for…
- Mandy, Josh, and Olivia - none of whom are related to us by blood and all of whom are related to us by love. These are the family of our heart, of our choice. Spending days upon days with them was bliss.
- Sunny skies and pleasant weather.
- Mike, who indulges me.
- Love. Hope. This time last year, I didn’t much believe in hope any more, and I’m surprised and delighted to find that it’s back in my realm of vision.
- Deals made between friends. I didn’t much follow the spirit of the deal in my head - sorry, Josh - but I did out loud, and sometimes that’s enough.
- Books.
- Jobs. Mike’s and mine. Mike’s because it allows him to follow his passion. Mine because it allows us good health insurance.
- Compliments and positive reinforcement at work. I honestly thought they changed my job description because I was nurturing and nice. Turns out, my numbers aren’t as bad as I’d originally thought. When I got back from vacation on Tuesday, I discovered that my numbers are pretty good in the rankings. Out of 80 or 90 individuals in my division, I’m ranked #11. I was stunned. And very pleased.
- Four and a half hours of enjoyment at work. A rarity for me. But I really enjoyed my time this afternoon helping with the training class. Who knew?
- For old friends and new connections… through Facebook, I found an old college friend & we went to dinner with her and her husband last night. It was a super time.
And lastly, I’m thankful for a soft bed. In NO way did we mind our alternate sleeping arrangements in order to have dear friends here, but it was so nice to sink back into our bed this week.
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Homesickness, my old friend
Homesickness sneaks up on me. I rarely see it coming. My Homesickness is rarely for a place. The homesickness I feel is for people, for feelings of love and comfort. When we first moved here, I spent months and months with Homesickness as my constant companion. That aching in my soul was my reminder that Homesickness hadn’t yet left me.
It’s not that way now. Now, Homesickness sneaks up on me.
I got an email from my brother this evening catching me up on what’s going on with his family. And he mentioned that my nephew had his braces removed. I didn’t even know Zachary had braces. At all. How can I not know that?
And just like that, Homesickness came to visit me, tightening my throat, welling tears in my eyes, clenching my heart.
We live so very far from my family that I haven’t actually seen my brother and his family in person in more than two years. Eliza was only two and barely speaking when she saw them last. She talked to John on the phone the other day and handed the phone to me after a moment or two, saying, “I don’t think he knows who I am.” John and I laughed about it, and yet, a little piece of my heart broke.
My grandparents and parents and brother and his family all live in the same little town in which I grew up. It’s a sweet town about 1,000 miles away from here. It’s perfectly reasonable that we haven’t made the trip there or that they haven’t made the trip here. We’ve got four grown-up schedules and two kids schedules to coordinate, and that’s rarely workable. But it’s sad.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to live in the same little town as everyone else. And I love living so close to Mike’s family. But sometimes, that’s sad, too.
Mike, Chuck and Stacy all grew up together. They have this wonderful history. Stacy’s family lives close by, and Mike has that long family familiarity with all of them, too. And our kids are all creating those same bonds now, which is an amazingly wonderful thing. But sometimes, I’d like that feeling of history myself.
Mike’s students interviewed him today for beginning interviewing practice, and he said someone asked if he was on an island and could only have one DVD tv show set, what would it be. I picked “Cheers.” Everyone should have a place where everyone knows your name. I commented on Bee’s blog today that I think Southerners have a real affection for nicknames, little tokens of affection that are ties that bind. Griff’s 10, and I called him “Boo” in public today. And he responded to it. I sometimes wish there were people closer to me who had that long-standing connection with me.
My brother and his wife are having a baby. I don’t get to go shopping with Nicole. And Griff doesn’t get to tease Zachary about being a big brother. And they’re picking names without our input. Not that they’d care that they’re naming my precious niece after a character on a stupid Disney show. Not that I care. She’s going to be fabulous, of course. You know, unless she’s a he. And then, he’ll be groovy as heck.
Either way, this long-awaited child is going to grow up not knowing me, much like my children are growing up not knowing my brother. And I adore my brother. Griff and Eliza are missing out by not being able to interact with him. Griff’s so much like John… this tender, sensitive soul. Not much in a rush, gonna do things in his own way and in his own time. But oh, how wonderful are the things he does!
And I didn’t even know his son had braces. I didn’t even know.
Mike’s gonna have to scoot over further in the bed tonight. I’m pretty sure Homesickness is going to be sleeping with me tonight.
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Wordless Wednesday
My great-aunt, Dora. She was my grandmother’s sister. Her twin’s name was Ora. I met Ora once or twice but never met Dora.
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