Thanksgiving

Getting ready for the Big day!

Just a few things I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving:

• having a family that enjoys getting together and actually spending time together.
• having children that still take my advice.
• that Austin lets George Strait sing me Christmas songs on the way to his basketball practice.
• my only addiction is still just Q-tips every morning (so what if I have to sit down and get comfy while I do it)
• that my husband is OK with giving me massage more than getting one.
• my oldest is doing well on her semester in Salzburg and STILL wants to come home.
• I still really love my husband and love hanging out with him. Plus, he is still my best friend, seriously.
• I love the people that my girls are tuning into and their personalities that are evolving too quickly.
• I am thankful that the 3 long years I treasured having with Megan, that cushioned the blow when Lauren went to college, have felt more like 3 seconds and I am doing OK with that. Sorta.
• I love that I can still remember everything about my Grandparents and it is magnified during the Holidays. They are in everything I make, everything I drink, and everything I polish.

The first Thanksgiving with out Lauren. 20 years I have been lucky to enjoy this day with her. We will miss her a ton and I am beginning to understand how fortunate we have been and how each and every year with the entire family together will inevitably become more and more of a challenge. I know from now on, I will always take a tiny little moment to myself, to appreciate our family when we are all together and to cherish these times that much more. This year in Lauren's absence, I am having Reed bring the whole turkey to the end of the table. That's right. This will be our Norman Rockwell year. We will all actually look at the turkey, in its finished golden state and appreciate him and me for cooking him. I am not sure my family, aside from Reed and I, have ever even really looked at our finished turkey, other than what has been carved and ready for plating. So, imagine a Norman Rockwell postcard at Thanksgiving and then picture Reed, standing all proud by his bird, at our table, about to carve table side........ missing Lauren of course! We love you! Happy Happy Thanksgiving!