Thanksgiving Greeting

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For the past several years, we have celebrated Thanksgiving a day early. We cook and serve a meal for all the wonderful people who work so hard at our business. They bring their families and we have all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes in a rather un-traditional setting! We are very thankful for our excellent team of dedicated, hard-working employees. I hesitate to use the word "employee" because we have known many of them for years, and they are more like friends than employees. We fed nearly 70 people on Wednesday and everyone enjoyed the party.

This year was especially nice because Super and Dude are old enough to be really helpful. Forgive me for bragging, but my kids are so awesome! They helped with the grocery shopping, some of the cooking, and even some of the clean-up. They learned how to make gravy, cornbread and pumpkin pies. They peeled 2 GIANT bags of potatoes without a single complaint. It was truly a family effort this year, and that made it a more joyful experience.

After the big meal, we took a gang of kids to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. We all loved it! I was exhausted, but fortunately, our favorite movie theater has a coffee bar and really comfy seats. I could have dozed off, but I was enjoying the movie too much!

On Thanksgiving Day, we needed to relax and regroup. In the morning we sipped our coffee and watched the parade on TV. Yes, there were lots of dishes to wash and other chores that we had neglected during the previous days. But it felt like a day off, because we weren't on any kind of deadline. To be honest, our house is still chaotic at the moment. (Or, should I say, even more chaotic than usual.) In addition to preparing for the big party, we had to do some repairs and repainting in our living room. A plumbing problem, water in the ceiling, you get the picture. I could let it stress me out, but I'm trying to be mindful of all the people who do not have homes right now. It may be a crazy mess at the moment, but I'm very grateful for my comfortable home.

Two states away, my family is getting together today. I wish we could be there, but I just didn't feel up to a big road trip this year. We'll just have to wait for the reunion next summer. At some point today, my mother will call me and then pass the phone around so I can talk with all my aunts, uncles and cousins. I'm so thankful for my extended family; it's a tremendous comfort to know that I have so many wonderful, caring, supportive people in my life.

Have a blessed holiday season with your loved ones!

Sparklee Mom