Thanksgivings

You know, for someone who is a fairly traditional person... for someone who was raised with something of an Norman Rockwell mentality... I have had some pretty odd Thanksgivings.
Back in the day when my kids were less independent (a.k.a. before they were grownups) we had what I called even and odd years. On the even years, we were all together: my kids, my folks, my siblings - everyone. It was great. It's always great when we are all together. I am/we are so blessed. And then there were the odd years. My kids were with their dad, my siblings were with their in-laws, and I was... mostly left to fend for myself. Those holidays were certainly odd. I've made some interesting choices.
There was the year that I was invited to spend Thanksgiving in Louisville. I got to spend quite a bit of time with T. and Marty, and meet T.'s family, which was great. And Louisville is beautiful. (My joke with T. is: I'd love to see it some time!) I had a nice solo ramble through a neighborhood cemetery. And I saw Churchill Downs from the airplane window. Mostly, I was indoors with a lot of cigarette smoke. But it was great. Also: a little weird.

There was another year, also with T. At the time he had a lot of friends in the Folsom (gay) leather crowd. We went to a woman's house in Dublin. Her name, I was told, was "Mama", and she takes in all the orphaned gay men and their friends for the holiday meal. I did a big number on my own head before I even got there. It was fairly ordinary holiday gathering. And it was quite a trip.
The most incredible holiday meal I have ever experienced was with my kids in Seattle. There was to be a gathering at J.'s friend's house, pot luck. We arrived on time, sweet potatoes in hand. Counting us, there were 6 people in the house. The TV was on, tuned to something bizarre (maybe that was just me), and everyone in the house was turned towards the tube. There was no table. All attempts at conversation fell like a lead balloon. It was the longest two and a half hours I have ever spent. Ever.
This year was a bit odd, but pales in comparison to anything mentioned above. I was sick with a cold, so I spent the day all alone. I just couldn't risk infecting anyone - especially Dad - with my cooties. And ya know, it was fine. I slept in, snacked a little, talked to my son, my daughter and T. on the phone, made a little thanksgiving photo album on facebook, watched a lot of TV (mostly The Waltons), baked a pumpkin pie without a crust. And when the day was over, my mom dropped off a huge tray of leftovers from the family dinner.
So blessed, am I!

on the bright side

On the day before Thanksgiving I was at work, doing my usual stellar job of tending to the eyeball patients. A "frequent flyer", a blind woman who is in the midst of multiple surgeries, came in for her pre-op exam, and her young-adult son accompanied her. I ushered them in and shut the door, and only then did I notice that he was sniffling and snuffling and then SNEEZING and COUGHING without covering his face. In a very small space. Just spitting it out into the air we were all breathing.

Yuck.

I left the room momentarily, and brought back a mask for him to put on. He sneezed a few more times before he got it on (I should have just put it on myself!) It was too late, of course. In exactly 3.2 days, I had his cold and it was kicking my butt.
Thanks, dude.

++++++++++++++++++++

Okay, but here's the thing. I decided I was not going to let this get me down. Rather than dwell in the misery of it all, I started thinking of the up side:

• I was not sick for Thanksgiving.
• I may have been sick on December 1st, but that will be long gone by December 21st.
• I have so far, through the intervention of many, many foreign substances, managed to avoid any respiratory infection. It's just a cold.
• While I was not able to call in sick any day this week (long story) my boss sent me home early on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I didn't have to kill myself (much) working while feeling like crap.

And ya know what? It helped. I'm still really congested, but I worked a whole day today and then went to get some dinner and do some shopping. I'm really tired, but I made it. And tomorrow will be fine, too. I may not get to go to the Advent festival AND the progressive dinner, but that will be okay.

see? not Grumpy!

I just love it when that happens.

None of the images in this post are mine. That should be obvious, but now I've confirmed it. Thanks, Google images!

change...

a most intricate quilt

I really, really love the transition seasons.

fall makes me want to live in a small country town.
(but so does spring. and winter. and summer.)

This week I knew that fall was finally here when the temps rose over eighty (F) and then dropped to the high forties in the space of a day and a half. I was trying to figure out why I love that so much...

rainbows are everywhere when you know where to look...

I think it's the fresh, sting of cold when one walks outside from the warmth of home - the warmth lingers in the body, but the skin tingles with the chill. It's a delicious feeling to me. And then the reverse is also true: cold, cold skin (and/or fingers, toes, nose...)feels the immediate change moving indoors, and there is that tingle again as the comforting warmth envelops...

jewels that fall to the earth and then dissolve into it...

Oh, and the wet of rain, the slant of the sun, the changing (finally!) leaves and impossibly blue sky... for all these things, and more, I give thanks.

let's find more time to go wandering this season!

gratitude, day 10

The spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

- Job 33:4

For sunshine
crisp air
green veg chili*
wine-poached pears
creativity
and a surprisingly easy day

I am truly grateful.

*it turned out really, really good!

gratitude, day 9

Gratuitous photo to take up space in the blog
and make it appear more appealing (if not more interesting to read.)
Look at how weathered those prayer flags look!
And the tree! How golden!
This photo has nothing at all to do with the contents of this blog post.

Today was more of an adventure (in a small way) than I bargained for. Remember that day when n-o-t-h-i-n-g was scheduled or required? Ha. Ha ha ha.

After quite a long and joyful evening last night, I stayed up (again) way too late for no good reason other than I wasn't sleepy. (Blog post on day 8 will be up soon, I hope.) Six hours later, my alarm went off and I was up. Fixed a mocha, sat and checked out Post Secret and a few other things, and then got dressed for church.

Arrived an hour early, and I wasn't sure if there would be enough time to take care of what I needed to do: arrange the flowers (sunflowers, orange dahlias, muddy red-green hydrangea, and this weird stuff with red blossoms - it looked autumnal) for Andy's birthday, take off the apron and "finish" my outfit, do a mic check and read through today's readings for the lectionary all before 10:00. Well, either I am getting faster, or time was moving really slowly, because I got those flowers done by 9:25! I had plenty of time... phew!

After church, I took Mom home and we discussed the menu for Thursday. I am cooking a lot: sweet potatoes, a zucchini appetizer, and spinach salad. (The distribution of labor in a pot luck with only 5 people, two of whom are my kids, and another my father leaves not-so-much distribution after all.) I'm looking forward to it, actually. I'm really enjoying cooking these days.

I planned to take a nap, then didn't. Got busy on the computer and listening to a new CD (Yo Yo Ma & Friends Songs of Joy & Peace - wonderful! FIVE renditions of Dona Nobis Pacem!) forgot to have lunch, and once refueled, returned to the kitchen to make that green veggie chili. It turned out quite nicely, I think - will give it a day or so to mellow out. So much slicing and chopping and dicing! Onions, garlic, three kinds of peppers....

Okay, the peppers. There was a yellow bell, and two others. I forgot that I bought not two, but just one anaheim pepper, and the other was a poblano. They both looked the same. Well, they weren't the same, and I realized this just after I tasted a bit of that poblano. HOT. And then, of course, I also realized my mistake: no gloves when I chopped that sucker up. I shrugged it off - nothing hurt - and commenced with the chopping: zucchini, eggplant, green onion, cilantro. Figured (after I tasted that pepper) that (since nothing hurt) I'd clean off the cutting board after everything was chopped up. Mistake numero dos.

By the time the rest of the stuff was in the pot, my fingers were kind of burning just a bit. And then, suddenly, they were burning quite a lot. Okay, so wash the hands. Which made it worse. Well, I was a girl scout, I knew what to do. I poured a small glass of milk and put my fingers in it. (Lactose acid kills capsicum, supposedly.) Well, it still burned, and I was not expecting that. So I got on line again, one hand still in the milk, to ask facebook for help and to read about home remedies: rubbing alcohol (topical), vodka (internal?), baking soda, vegetable oil, bleach, you-name-it. I tried the baking soda (no difference, but I just dissolved it in milk), oil (maybe this helped?) and then just went back to milk. Three hours later, the chili was cooked and my hand was feeling less so.

My, this is turning into a long (and quite parenthetically heavy) post. With no pictorial evidence.

Another gratuitous photo to take up space in the blog
and make it appear more appealing (if not more interesting to read.)
No ladybugs were harmed in the writing of this post.
All rights reserved, except in places where they aren't reserved, your offer may vary.

Suffice to say: I've been fed - physically, musically, spiritually and socially - and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

And for that, I am truly grateful.

gratitude, day 6

Today I got my stitches out. It looks... well, not quite ready yet. One of the steri-strips has already fallen off, so it will be interesting to see what happens. After that, I went to the farmer's market and got some veggies for a recipe that's coming together in my head: a vegetarian green chili. It remains to be seen if that actually gets cooked, but I think I can mostly just throw all the ingredients in the crock pot and let it cook itself. I'd hate to kill all those beautiful veggies.

I came home and wrote for a couple of hours (something I started in May for the blog, but it never came out. Today it came out, but it's not exactly seasonal... so it's still under wraps. Then I got to talk to some friends on line, and then a friend on the phone. It was so lovely to just be home, with the beautiful autumn sunshine streaming in.

Once the sun was down, I took some leftovers (mmm, ricotta and spinach-stuffed shells - but I'd already had them five or six times this week) to Mom and Dad. I visited with Mom for a while. She had been working in the back yard all day long, and looked tired, but not done in. Dad was on his way to go to the pool for his water therapy, so we didn't visit much. I'm glad that they are home, and looking so good.

Dinnertime: It is no secret that I am a fan of Trader Joe's. A lot of their stuff is cheaper, better, more awesome or more original than your typical grocery. Oh, and deeeelicious.

Not every night is gourmet city around here, but I do enjoy a nice meal. Tonight I had one of my favorites: TJ's orange chicken over (TJ's) fresh spinach. While I was heating the sauce in the microwave, I sliced up some red bell peppers and green onions, and threw that in the bowl. When the chicken came out (20 minutes at 400º) it went into the bowl too. A quick toss, and poured it over that big bowl of spinach. It is was so yummy, and - well - not too unhealthy! Yum, yum and yum.

(please note that I am not known for my food photography! eek!)

And for all of these things, I am truly thankful!

gratitude, day two

Today I am thankful for cinnamon, for the fun of cooking with a friend, and for NPR

a time of thanksgiving

I am going to attempt a discipline in the coming days... to post, as often as possible (I'd like to say "daily", but I am a realist and don't need the pressure) a statement or reflection or muse on gratitude for the rest of the month.

Gratitude - thanksgiving to the One who gives us life - is essential for happiness, isn't it? Certainly, for those of us who believe in the One.

Today, I am grateful for ...

crisp fuji apples
the gathering 'round my friends Andy and Melinda's kitchen table last night...
the hope of an interesting afternoon...
the fact that I currently receive a regular paycheck...
the change in weather and the cool, crisp days...
remembrance day... (here and here, for starters) even if it is a few days late

Okay, more tomorrow - if all goes according to plan...

Autumn commences

(Ah, it's been too long again. My life and mind has been in just get through it mode. Again. Overhwelming... and astoundingly mundane at the same time, how is that possible?)

please click for larger picture

Meantime, the season has turned again. It is Autumn. My favorite time of year, really, and I wish it was longer... or perhaps I wish that we could languish in the season for a longer period. Here in paradise, we have only about 3 weeks between Indian Summer and Let's Get Ready For The Holidays. I sometimes wish we celebrated Christmas in February, at the real* mid of Winter. Heresy, I know. But to relish the crunch of the leaves, firesmoke, thick sweaters and picnic blankets for a little longer before the holly jolly pushes in and breaks the delicious, amber-lit, pumpkin-and-spice season would be heaven. Ah, well. I will enjoy it while I can!

please click for larger picture

I am going exploring today, with my camera. Maybe I'll find some quiet - jackhammers are my background noise just now, while the pool is being refurbished. 'Tis time for reflection, a walk, a change in scenery.

Will try to be back, soonest.

Much love, KQ

*Autumn's end, for those who do not keep track of the solstices and equinoxes, is December 20. Winter then commences and stays until March 19.