HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

It’s time once again to say THANKS to all of you, dear Readers, for your continued support over the years. Melissa and I love writing this blog in connection with our eBook series, The Caregiver Organizer, and we love knowing that we touch you a few times a week (when we remember to post!). Usually with our funny stories, sometimes with our outrage or frustrations, but always with our honesty. And we love hearing back from you. So keep those comments coming and let us know you’re out there and what you’re thinking!

Have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving. We’ll be back soon!

Karen

Monday Thankfulness

Yes, I know Thanksgiving is over.  I have eaten turkey until it is coming out of my eyeballs and we still have so much pie left  I could have served it as a five course meal for dinner this evening! This year, Thanksgiving seemed to fall into place rather well. I planned to have dinner later in the evening, so my day was not too crowded. My parents came for dinner, then my sister and her family for dessert. 


But something weird-strange happened. Strange to me, anyway. Maybe it's the stage of life I have entered. But over the course of 36 hours, two of my friends' fathers and my great uncle passed away. It got to the point where I was afraid to check any email or answer the phone! I felt a little guilty for being happy and content while friends and my mother were grieving (and continue to grieve).  Let me tell you, though, if you are having a hard time counting your blessings, when something like that happens, you begin to take inventory. You begin to rethink your priorities. You begin to realize that you can't wait until the perfect time to do things. Or that all the noise in the house isn't a bad thing because it means your house is full of life. Or that the extra job can wait until you've played a hand of cards with your little girl.  Or that, yes, it was really nice to have my parents at dinner and be able to carry on a conversation and laugh with them.


Tomorrow I will help in walking Elizabeth's father home. We will celebrate his life, what a giver he was, hard worker, caretaker of the family. And I will continue to be thankful for each and every thing. Nothing is promised, and none of us never know how much time we have. So I'm being thankful for it and making it count.


Yours, continuing to count,


Melissa

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Once again it is time to reflect on what we are thankful for in our lives. Here is my 2011 list:

• My wonderful family and friends who love me no matter how snarky I can be. Or at least pretend to love me!
• “Vanity sizing” in clothes.
• My hairdresser who, until recently, didn’t tell me just how gray I really was.
• The fact that Robins Eggs only come out at Easter (so I can’t eat them year round).
• Booking “The Sister’s Trip 2012” already. (Only 141 more days!)
• My Cub Scout days are almost over. Dad can take over in Boy Scouts!

Oh, I could go on and on! But mostly, I am thankful that my family is healthy and happy and we don’t have to go without. Here’s hoping the same for your families.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Melissa and I are very thankful for all of you as well! We’ll be taking the rest of the week off, but will be back blogging on Monday.

Karen

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Melissa and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you, our readers, for supporting us.  We know you could fly other airlines – Oh Woops, that’s Southwest Airlines!  I’ll try again… We know there are thousands of blogs out there that you could be reading, but you have chosen our little blog to brighten your day, and we love you for that!

So as we count our blessings for you, our families and our dinner tables tomorrow, we ask that you do the same.  And let’s all remember those not as fortunate as us this time of year, and keep our wallets and hearts open to them.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

Karen

AND SO IT BEGINS…AGAIN!

Halloween begins my downhill spiral into my eating frenzy.  For the next 2 months, I will have to use every ounce of will power I have not to constantly be shoving candy and cookies and pie and potatoes into my mouth at every given opportunity. 

As I sit here, writing this blog post in my office, I can hear the “fun size” candy having a party downstairs, calling my name to come join them, inviting me to eat them.  Taunting me.  Laughing at me.  Yes, daring me!

But, of course Halloween is just the beginning.  Then comes the carb-fest of Thanksgiving.  Really, the turkey is only the centerpiece of the meal.  The decoration.  The main dishes are the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the sweet potato pie.  And of course the desserts.  Oh, the pies and the cakes and the cookies! (Oops, I think I just drooled on myself!)

Then, the ultimate…Christmas!  Only, it’s not just the Christmas Day meal.  Oh, no.  It’s all the baking and the parties leading up to that lovely dinner.  (Not to mention we probably will still have leftover Halloween candy and desserts from Thanksgiving for a while!) So it’s an entire month of eating, or trying not to eat, all those unhealthy choices.

So what’s a gal to do?  Deep breath, repeat millions of times over the next 2 months: “I will be strong, I will be strong…!”

Karen

SO WHAT ARE YOU REALLY THANKFUL FOR?

I know this time of year we’re supposed to reflect upon all the things that we are thankful for, like our health, our families, etc, etc, etc. Not that I’m not thankful for these things, but I want to dig a little deeper and confess what I’m REALLY thankful for.

Here goes:

1. Saturday Morning Cartoons. I know, you’re thinking that those have been around forever. Well, not in my world, they haven’t. We weren’t allowed to watch cartoons in the mornings like everybody else in the world. Really! So to me, snuggling with my kids in bed on a Saturday morning, watching cartoons, is a real treat!
   
2. On-Line Banking. I admit it – I’m REALLY bad at paying bills. So the fact that I can wait until the very last minute and send it off via the internet and know that it will get there on time is a HUGE relief!
   
3. Drive Thru Pharmacies. I’ll admit this one, too – I’m really lazy! If I can accomplish an errand without actually leaving my car, I’m all for it.
   
4. Social Media. WOW, what a great place to meet new friends, find old friends, and market my book. I am amazed at how many really good friends I have on sites like Twitter whom I have never met, and probably never will, but we’d probably do almost anything for each other. And I’m thrilled at finding some friends from years and years ago on Facebook. They were never forgotten, but I certainly never thought they’d be in my life again. So, so glad they are (you know who you are, especially my Central School buds!).
   
5. Washable Markers and Paints. Need I say more?
   
6. Roomba (Robotic Vacuum). I HATE to vacuum, but now I can do it every day without lifting a finger. How awesome is that? DH programmed it, and it runs every morning at 9:00 am. Every so often it escapes where it’s supposed to be and picks up something it shouldn’t, but to occasionally look for it under a couch is a small price to pay!
   
7. Digital Cameras. Kids (and husbands) can take as many pictures as they want!
   
8. Mindless Books. When I read, I don’t want to learn anything. I just want to be taken away into a mystery or a steamy romance or a comedy. (Yes, I’m a book slut!) The most I want to think about is Whodunit or Whosgonnadoit? And there are PLENTY of books that fit the bill on this one!
   
9. Craig’s List. As long as you can avoid the scammers, it’s a great place to buy and sell. Especially those non-returnable impulse buys!
   
10. But, of course, all kidding aside, I’m thankful for my awesome family (yes, that includes my sisters and my girlfriends who are like sisters to me!), our good fortune and our good health. I never, ever lose sight of how truly lucky we are.
    

Karen

Thursday Thoughts-Simplifying Thankfulness

Thankfulness is defined by Wikipedia as a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. Webster's dictionary defines it as conscious of benefit received. In today's society, it's so easy to be flippant or jaded and not recognize things for which we can truly be grateful.

Can you imagine living in the 1800's? Think about taking a full three months to travel across the States- by wagon nonetheless. How about living without air-conditioning? Central heat? Internet? Cell phones? How about knowing that if it really comes down to it, if you needed a meal, you could find a friend who would be more than willing to help out. At the absolute least, there are many government and charitable programs that are willing to feed those in need. (BTW, please see Karen's Monday post if you are interested in helping out a family with Thanksgiving dinner this year).

I know that we are in rough economic times. We can find plenty of things to complain about. But if you have a friend to your name, a family member that loves you, a place to lay your head, you have something to be thankful for. If you're reading this post, you are a literate, breathing human being, with at least an elementary education (which is more than a lot of African and Southeast Asian Cultures get) and you are breathing in and out. And that is something for which to be simply thankful.

Yours, getting down to the basics of thankfulness,

Melissa

MY HOLIDAY CHALLENGE TO YOU

We have a charity here in West St. Louis County called Circle of Concern. Now, if you know anything about the St. Louis area, you’d be wondering why West County needs an organization like Circle of Concern, but believe me, they have their hands full, especially this year. Like any other area of the country, we also have families in need. Circle of Concern “feeds the hungry and provides long-term and emergency assistance to low-income families in western St. Louis County.” Additionally, they “create opportunities for needy families to re-establish themselves as productive members in our community.”

This holiday season, they need to collect 480 frozen turkeys so families in our area can have a proper Thanksgiving meal. For those of us not so badly hit by the recession, what’s a turkey? We take it for granted. But for those families where a parent has been laid off or an already low-income has been hurt even worse, a Thanksgiving turkey may be a symbol to their children that things will get better.

Our family has decided to help the Circle of Concern collect their turkeys. We are sending out an email to all of our neighbors asking them to purchase a turkey, or to donate $15 to pay for one already ordered. We will then pick them all up and drive them over to the Circle of Concern. Because I know, as good as our intentions are, sometimes it’s just a hassle to buy the turkey, lug it home, figure out where the Circle of Concern is and then find the time to drive it over there. We’re busy – I get it, so I’m making it easier for my neighbors to help.

So my challenge to you is to find a charity near you and do the same thing. And look not only for the inner-city donation spots, but look deeper into areas of your counties and municipalities for charities you may not have know existed. Needy families are all around us. They may even be your neighbors. So in this time of distress, let’s all help one another.

Karen and family