Giving Thanks

Ahem. Well, that last post wasn’t very Thanksgiving-like was it. I wrote to someone the other day that NaBloPoMo gets a lot out of me that would otherwise stay on the inside. Sigh. I’m putting my big girl panties on and counting all the things I am thankful for. One of which is that I don’t have to go back to high school. Sorry for that minor detour.

Moving on.

I think I at least refer to this song every year. And usually you can catch me singing it during Thanksgiving week, or at least humming it under my breath. That might be surprising those who know me in real life, because I’m not the type to be a huge Adam Sandler fan, and I’m not….but really, I heart the Thanksgiving song. (Closely followed by Lunch Lady, but that’s another post.) It makes me laugh every.single.time.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Ack!

Frantically trying to pack for our voyage today, but wanted to blog before I forgot. I don’t know that I will have internet access while at dh’s grandparents, so my NaBloPoMo streak might be over. But I’ll write if I can, otherwise see you on the other side!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Krispy Kreme phenomena (and whatever happened to Thanksgiving?)

Today, the dutchkid and the dh and I went to Krispy Kreme.  It’s so much fun to watch the doughnut assembly line where you can see the fat that’s about to clog your arteries.  But they are tasty.  I have never truly understood the southern obsession with them until we moved here.  In other places we’ve lived, people did crazy things like drive an hour or more to get to the nearest one.   I mean really, it is just a doughnut.  But now that we have one in town, I’ve had the experience of eating one hot off the assembly line.  Oh. my. word.  That’s why, right there.

However, this post is not really about Krispy Kreme.  Afterward we ran various errands, and let me just say it was great to hang out with my dh.  His grad school classes are mostly on weekends and so that cuts into our family time.  I forgot how much I like him when he’s not being grumpy about homework and papers.   The only thing to mar the nice morning was the fact that apparently, unbeknownst to me we have skipped Thanksgiving entirely and gone straight to Christmas.  I know it gets earlier every year, but this year seems worse than usual.

The Salvation Army bell ringers were out in force.  Not only was there Christmas merchandise already (I’ve gotten used to that part) but the outdoor shopping area we were walking in had all of their decorations up.  I’m talking Christmas trees, lights and lollipop lane.  To include the spot for pictures with Santa.  He’s already made one appearance.  Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, so I’m pretty grumpy about the fact that it’s being glossed over.  When I complained about it my dh said, “It’s because no one buys anything for Thanksgiving.”  And you know what, I think he’s right.

Now I really do like Christmas, lest you mistake me for a scrooge.  I just wish that there were some way that I could keep the Christmas machine at bay until at least the day after Thanksgiving but I think that’s a lost cause.  I have decided, though, that this year I want for our family to start observing the season of advent.  I’m hoping that a focus other than on Santa and reindeer will help me maintain my good cheer.  Because otherwise come December I’m going to be jingle belled out.

Over the river and through the woods…

…to Grandmother’s house we go! This year for Thanksgiving we are making the trek to see dh’s grandparents. It’s not terribly far, but a long enough drive that we are seriously considering purchasing a DVD player for the dutchkid. She hates the carseat for anything more than an hour or so, not that I blame her.

My dh’s granddad is suffering from Alzheimer’s. We were last there to see them when the dutchkid was about 4 months old (and she’s coming up on 2). He did not recognize us then, I’m certain he won’t now. It will be stressful, but I am looking forward to the trip. Mainly because I want to see how dh’s grandma is handling it and get a feel for how much Granddad has deteriorated since I saw him last. Grandma is the only one he recognizes any longer, and he really gets difficult if she is not present. Although she is sharp as a tack, (and I must say, stubborn as a mule) her health is not that great, so I’ve been concerned for awhile.

I often feel like I am a huge voice of negativity, but I get the feeling that my mother-in-law and her siblings tend to sugarcoat things. I think they just don’t want to deal with the reality that he has gotten “bad enough” to place him in assisted living. I usually end up pulling out my “I am a nurse, you should think about this” trump card. When I ask my mother-in-law or my dh’s aunt about them it’s like I can just feel the oncoming storm… and they are not ready. One day, very soon I’m afraid, he is going to get belligerent and physical with Grandma… and I don’t want her to get hurt.

They are one of the reasons that my dh getting into the school (and us not going to Korea) would be a good thing. It would put us within fairly easy driving distance of them. My grandpa died after suffering for years with dementia. I will never forget the toll it took on my mother and aunts and uncles, I feel like if we can be there for dh’s family in some way we should do that.

So it will not be a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving for us, but then again they never are!