Holding Ground

Thanksgiving has to be one of the greatest holidays, when I think about it.

I mean, I have thought about it before of course, but, well, I'm thinking it over again and it's still holding ground.

Pajamas, coffee, and the Thanksgiving Day parade.

A morning jog through neighborhoods where every person I passed said, "Hi."

"What?"

Starbucks run in sweatpants for peppermint mochas.

Family faces around the holiday table.

The sweet pairings of young and old, 

staying up late and getting up early (hello, Black Friday!), 

family here and family there, 

warm sun and Christmas lights as

a snapshot of the metamorphosis of Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Husband and I are back in the Windy City tonight!
I think I'll kinda miss that blow-up mattress from the last couple nights and family sleeping all under one roof.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

  

Thanksgiving week!

How will you spend your Thanksgiving this year?

We'll be loading the car for Indianapolis tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with husband's side of the family.

I anticipate that Starbucks red cups will be a part of the road trip, as well as those sweet-lingering car conversations that make up for shorter strands of communication that get folded into full days, along with all those piled loads of laundry and extra cups of flour.

I love the ambiance that the holidays invite, and I RSVP "accepts with pleasure" every time.
The ambiance invite really is so hospitable, and I like to come early, stay late, and eat all the food, so to speak.
Or literally.

Sara Bareilles, Alli Rogers, and the Civil Wars on Pandora.
Rainy days on cue for baking and packing.

Kitchen creations of pumpkin and cream cheese combinations, and the family recipes for cinnamon rolls and derby pie.

I have to admit, I've enjoyed some solitary hours at home preparing for the holiday with my hands, but even more so having the quiet to prepare within me.

For me, that has been to let my eyes brim with tears over the heights of joy inside of me,

and to let my eyes brim with tears over the places of sadness that are inside me just as honestly.

While I've done sink after sink of dishes, I've been thinking about how thanksgiving or Thanksgiving isn't about suppressing the pain or sadness that trace all of our lives in particular paths and patterns.

It's about being able to sit with our unanswered questions, aches and pains, and hopes deferred, and say,
yes, those things are there.... but what else is there? 

Oh, what else is there!
Oh, oh, oh!

A Simple Point

Since I work Saturdays, Mondays are my Saturday.

Scrub the bathroom, wash the floors, launder the sheets.

You know, things that make the rest of the week easier, less harried, more controlled.

Or so we think.

But really, I think it does help a lot for when traffic slows, meetings go late, and lights go on too early in the morning.

I've come to love my Monday/Saturday and the peace and contentment I feel working my home into a place of composure.

I have to admit, the simple point of all this is that between laundry loads today, I had a sandwich for lunch on a pretzel roll.

I'm so sorry that this is the whole content of this blog post. 

Truly, I am.

But we love these at our house, and get them at either Trader Joe's or Stanley's fruit and vegetables market nearly every week.

Try em, I dare ya.

You will love laundry-cleaning-grocery-whatever day that you are home and have unrestricted access to lunch on a pretzel roll.

Article

I told you I'd link up my article when it found a home.

The wonderful thing about friends is that you tell them about your afternoon of sitting in a city cafe with a scone, a latte, and an empty screen you try to fill, and they comment and text and call and say they want to read it.

 That in itself is more inspiring than any sentence I've written.

I know I have the best friends, but really, 

I have the best friends.

End of story.

Oh wait, not end of story yet, find the article here.

 Up next, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

I mean, it's dark by 5:00pm now, so what else am I going to do?
Okay, the what else am I going to do part is kind of facetious, but the 5:00pm dark part is... so not. 
What books will you be reading, as we wait for snow and holiday sales?

Image Credit

Hello November

 In our little corner of the world, here's November's beginning.

What scenes are the days of your November playing?
Pumpkins, twinkle lights, recipes?
Do tell, friend!

If I had my way, this would be lit in our home this moment, 
but stores have already gone Christmas on us.
And I really hate to pay for shipping.

 

 

Photo of Neal and I by Kirra Sue Photography.