Thanksgiving Retrospective

I've had such a good, fun, relaxing 4 days off - this is Sunday, the final day of being OFFFFFFFFFF. Sure could use more 4 day breaks like this. Say I don't have to go back to work on Monday??? Say I can put my feet up for one more day. Say I still have ONE MORE DAY to enjoy. Yeah.

I love being off. I had a chance to spend some time with my family on Thanksgiving - and although there are only 5 of us now celebrating - the three of us and two grandmas, it still was a beautiful day. We are so thankful to still have my 91-year-old phenomenal Grandma with us and inspiring us. I remember my childhood Thanksgivings when the whole big clan got together, but sadly, that doesn't happen anymore. Our family is growing older, less kids, and those that still exist are fractured and living in different parts of the country. Ah well. It was still nice to have each other. And the food was delish as usual. I ate far too much. Way too many leftovers. Getting sick of said leftovers. Guess it's time to start freezing things.

I saw some delightful friends, including my old childhood friend, Pam. It was wonderful seeing her again! Our long-held friendship is precious, and she's gone a long way in keeping in touch with me through the years. We laughed over some warm childhood memories and gave one another parenting and middle age advice. Everytime we get together, we remember who we once were, and still are - and notice the many changes that life has brought our way. It's so good to have someone who has known you since you were five - it sort of anchors you.

I had a chance to speak with Phyllis by telephone. Phyllis, Phyllis, Phyllis. I can never get enough of you. I wish we lived closer so we could laugh together in person. But you make me laugh no matter WHAT is going on.

As a family, we went to Warrensburg for the day on Friday. We love going on daytrips and Warrensburg drew us this time. I was tempted to drop by and see Kay and her geo dome home, but I didn't have her address or phone number with me. Kay, wouldn't you just have LOVED a pop in visit? Ah, no, probably not! We ate at Players restaurant. Great salads and sandwiches there. Then we went to our favorite Antique mall/glorified thrift shop called Those Were the Days. The two girls, Emily and her friend, found two French style fancy phones that they snapped up.

One thing I picked up at the thrift store was a new/old coffee mug. Did I ever tell you that I collet coffee mugs as well as drink lots of coffee? Well, I do. And I like collecting old named brands of old such as "Ever-Fresh" that are no longer made. During the big move two months ago, one of my favorite Ever-Fresh mugs broke. The handle snapped off due to rough packing by me. So yesterday I found another Ever-Fresh mug at the thrift store. It's not a replacement, because I still love the old one. And in spite of everything, what I like best is a plain black cup of coffee with no added stuff. But I like brewed FLAVORED coffee the best - no extra calories, but loaded with flavor.



While I was sitting at YS&More Tuesday night during class, they were playing the most relaxing music!!! Even though I'd arrived that evening stressed out from work, after sitting there with that group of women and listening to this soothing music playing overhead, I felt settled in and so relaxed! We asked Tamra, the teacher, what was the source of this incredible music. She said it is Sirius radio, on the Coffeehouse channel 30. It's a mix of various artists, but all in acoustic guitar. It's very soft and not the same old top pop mix.

Suffice it to say that over the weekend, I did my homework on it, and we now have Coffeehouse at MY house. They have almost 200 channels for $12.95 per month - although you have to buy a car mounted receiver thing and a home docking port if you want that. But all in all, I am getting a $30 rebate on that, so for about $30 I have it in my car and I can listen online in the house. I will probably eventually get the home docking station too. Itr's much cheaper than buying CDs.

Music. Family. Friends. Knitting. Bubble baths. Reading. Sleeping late. Goofing around. A Jewish girl drinking and savoring Christmas coffee. Not necessarily in that order. Hope your Thanksgiving was the blessed too.