This month was here and gone. I am not complaining, just noting that time seemed to move without a pause or a breath.
My mom takes all us girls (moms) shopping each year to help her get the grandkids (and adults) gifts. It is a good time to connect with each other, especially over the meals. This year felt different to me than previous years. I felt like I was wondering more and purposeless. My kids are growing out of the toy phase and seem harder to pinpoint gifts for. All the cousins are kinda like this. So, I feel like when we entered the store, we all roamed in different directions – still shopping for our kids, but in a more lonely way. Then, we would reconnect between a few of the aisles and see what everyone had accomplished. It wasn’t bad, just different. We stopped for nourishment at Penn Station for lunch (always get a chocolate chip cookie if you eat here!) and El Campestre (love Mexican food!!). The day started about 7:30am and ended around 11pm. Not for the faint of heart. Just entertaining myself in this pic…
Ellie had a chance to help emcee an assembly at the elementary school. She was very excited about this, and she did a great job reading clearly.
Every Thanksgiving, we head to my church at 8:45am (if we are on time) and attend a Thanksgiving service. I enjoy hearing people share what they are thankful for from the past year and sing favorite songs. Following the service is the Thanksgiving day auction. It is a highlight of my day. I love to see what people bring to sell – homemade baked goods, woodcrafts, sewn projects, and much more! And, I won’t lie, I love bidding on things. Madison donated pumpkin muffins and homemade bookmarks. Ellie donated big chocolate chip cookies. I contributed salted caramel butter bars. And then after being prompted during sale, made a quick certificate for Lemon Loaf Bread. The bread was the last thing auctioned, and it sold for $880!!!! Ridiculous, but amazing! This year the sale brought in $17,000 to support 5 organizations that do outreach in various ways (CAMO, Team up Honduras, MCC Refugee relief, Rescuer (medical needs), and Mennonite Disaster Service). Ellie took her annual selfie with my friend, Sandy.
We celebrated first at my mom and dad’s house. It was so nice to be closer; somehow a bit less stressful to be close to the action. It was a delicious meal and good conversation around the table. It is never quiet and the topics are usually pretty entertaining, sometimes embarrassing, and sometimes pretty deep. I love it.
We went to Gloria’s for a late supper. We originally planned to gather with some of the Brickers, but the host (Marianne) got sick with COVID, and so our plans shifted. Jen and Arturo were in from New York, so it was good to spend time catching up with them. The girls always enjoy conversation with Arturo and dance/yoga with Jen.
Over break, I felt fairly busy moving from thing to thing – baking for the sale, going to visit family, having Meg overnight, and other stuff. But I didn’t do anything I needed to do – clean house, blog, go to the grocery store, school work, etc. And I decided it was okay. It felt good in the moment. Later, I did regret it a bit when I felt a little behind at school or home, but I think sometimes we just need a break.
Saturday morning I went to the Tracy Brunch – a gathering of ladies and delicious food.
Sunday night we worked on putting the tree up – our artificial, hand-me-down tree that the girls love.
It was weird pulling out decorations this year and not having a set spot to put everything. We had to rearrange living room furniture a few times to get it right. We still don’t know where the stockings are going to get hung. I don’t have ledges to put the knick-knack-y things. So, maybe I’ll just keep them tucked away and try again next year. I do like the living room area though.
Let the Christmas season begin!
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