Photo Credit: Scorpions and Centaurs/ Creative Commons
Last night as I was dishing up smothered steak and potatoes, I thought… you know, in less than a week from now, we’ll be feasting on turkey and dressing and all the trimmings! Mmmm!
I make a conscious effort to remain in a state of Thanksgiving all year ’round, but when the holiday actually approaches, I begin to feel all the more grateful.
My parents and my sister and her family live within shouting distance (almost) of our home so we’ll have a big celebration next Thursday. The weekend after that we’ll venture to my in-laws who live a little over an hour away and we’ll celebrate the holiday again.
We’ll dine on turkey and all the trimmings, eat way too much dessert, sip punch, and play cards and board games. (Yes, we still enjoy oldies like Uno, Monopoly, Scrabble, and Twenty Questions. Oh, and we like to work puzzles, too.)
Before we get to that sweet time of R & R, though, shopping, cooking, traveling, book writing, networking, office details, and a hundred other things take precedence and life becomes a bit of a blur. I kick into high gear trying to get everything done on my to do list and I often fall into bed exhausted.
Despite all this, I adore the holiday season. I love the anticipation and the aura that surrounds Thanksgiving and Christmas.
And this season, we are anticipating adding to our little family here at home. Not of the human variety, but feline in nature. After much begging and pleading from our darling daughter, we’re considering a house cat! We’ve not had a pet since losing our beloved black Lab several years ago, so this is a big step. I’ll let you know how it turns out. We think, perhaps, the week after Christmas would be a good time to adopt a furry little friend.
I usually take a few blogging breaks and spend extra time with family around the holidays. I watch old movies, catch up on reading, and brainstorm new ideas for future novels.
Downtime is important to writers because most of the year we pour ourselves into crafting, writing, and researching and we may not place as much priority on ourselves as we should.
So…as delightful visions of turkey and green bean casserole and pumpkin pie all dance in my head, I’m very thankful, too, for the many blessings in my life:
- My faith
- My Family
- Freedom
- Good health
- Treasured friends
- New opportunities
And countless other things!
Now…something fun I wanted to mention. I’ll be doing a blog giveaway just before Christmas as my token of thanks to you. I’m putting together a surprise goodie package just in time to add to your holiday merriment. I’m not sure what it will include yet, but it will be fun!!! (In the past I’ve given away gift cards, books, writing odds and ends, etc.)
For a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a blog comment between now and mid December (giveaway date to be determined). Of course, the more you comment, the better your chance of winning! 😉
Here are my blog giveaway RULES:
- Must be at least 21 years of age or older
- Must be a U.S. resident, due to mailing restrictions
- This drawing is void where prohibited
- Winner chosen by Random.org
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How will you celebrate Thanksgiving?
What do you plan to do during your downtime?
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Thoughts of Thanksgiving and a GIVEAWAY… (Click to Tweet)
Photo Credit: Scorpions and Centaurs/Creative Commons
Here’s to a wonderful weekend!
Blessings Always,
Comments 7
Sounds like you’ve got a Thanksgiving (and Christmas) to which you can look forward – and I hope the cat adoption goes well!
Our holidays don’t look very different from the rest of the year – we do have a small Christmas tree already set up. But the needs of the dogs really dominates how we do things. There is no downtime for them.
In the early days of our marriage we did a lot more (having only seven dogs!) – more elaborate tree, house decoration, the lot. I do miss it sometimes, but life now is better. The house is a lifeboat – and it is full of life.
I think my wife misses the old ways more, and in this season of having lost her mom (from whom she inherited many of the traditions) it may be tougher.
I’m wondering what I can do to make it easier.
Author
Andrew, I know this will be a tough year for your wife with the loss of her mom. I’m so very sorry. (I’ve added this to my prayer journal…)
No wonder your holidays are impacted by your animal sanctuary! Sometimes, our ministries eclipse our perceived wants and needs. I know your community is blessed by your service.
If I lived nearby I’d drop off some homemade goodies for your family–that’s how we bless folks where I’m from. We cook for them!
Well, I’m actually working on Thanksgiving Day. The nonprofit I work for does a huge Thanksgiving meal for homeless individuals and families–we serve/deliver over 2500 meals. So that will be exhausting and fun. The night before, though, I’m having my immediate family over to my place and I’m doing ALL the cooking. It will be a miracle if I don’t burn the place down. Then after work on Thanksgiving, I’m driving down to Wichita to hang out with my little nephew all weekend. YAY!
Author
Melissa, I’m sorry you have to work on Thanksgiving Day! (But what a wonderful, selfless way to bless others! Wow, I so admire you!) Are you doing a traditional Thanksgiving meal for your family? You’ll be ready for a fun weekend with little O. 🙂
Thanksgiving is when my family embraces our “There’s always room for one more” motto. We lived a lot of years as a military family, which meant we were away from relatives for holidays. So, we celebrated with friends-who-became-family. Now, we celebrate holidays with whatever family members are available — and always open our doors to others who are away from family. Sometimes we don’t know who’s going to be there for Thanksgiving until we all sit down at the table.
And that’s just the way I like it.
Author
Beth, that’s so wonderful! I can just feel the love!
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving with my family!