Thanksgiving Wishes...

Today I'll be busy getting two Christmas swap packages ready, cleaning up the house a bit, and preparing to leave on our trip tomorrow. Alot to do, yet I sit here feeling emotional today. For various reasons, this has been a terrible year for me, and for the rest of the world as well. Things have happened this year that have turned my life upside down and have not been caused by me, but I'm still thankful.

I have alot to be thankful for!

I'm thankful this year for being introduced to blogging and for the friends that I have made through it. Friends that I genuinely care about and for the true friendships that have been lovingly nurtured along the way. Friends, I am so thankful for you!

I truly hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and an enjoyable weekend with your loved ones. If any of you are traveling like I am, I pray that traveling mercies be upon you. So until next time, be safe, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Weekend Fun

We're heading an hour away today to a our friends Marty and Barb's house for dinner. I adore these friends and love spending time with them. We'll be celebrating Barb's birthday plus her parents are here for Thanksgiving and we'll get to meet them too. Barb is a gourmet cook so I wonder what she has in store for us today. Whatever the menu, I guarantee it'll be awesome!

It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

So here's the question: Next Friday is the biggest shopping day of the entire year...aka "Black Friday."

Will you be out there shopping on Friday too?

Do you get up at the crack of dawn to stand in line at Wal-Mart for their unbeatable deals or will you spend hours at the mall and Target getting all of your Christmas shopping done?

No malls or Target for me on Friday, I'll be at the CRAP fair...I mean CRAFT fair! Every year that we spend Thanksgiving with my sister up in Northern CA, we head to the craft fair at the fairgrounds on Friday. Although we affectionately call it the "crap" fair, we love it just the same and look forward to it again this year. It's become a family tradition!

I Hit The Mother Load!

On the way home from work the other night I thought I'd swing by the Goodwill to look for a used stroller. Normally I would have never thought of going to the Goodwill but I've seen some of the great finds that fellow bloggers have found second hand so I thought I'd give it a try too.

A stroller you might ask!?! For a lady whose got no kiddos around, no grandkids, nothing! Yep, I was looking for a stroller for my little Jake. He has to be completely immobile for another 5-6 weeks so I thought a stroller would be a good way for me to take him from room to room with me. He's kept in a crate and we tote it from place to place which is fine but I thought something on wheels might be a little easier.

Unfortunately, there were no strollers to be found but wait until you see what I did find. I'll tellin' ya, I hit the mother load. Here is the before picture of my new treasures...


Five pieces of heavy duty, beautiful silver. They were pretty dirty and tarnished but it was nothing that I couldn't clean up. I've been wanting to redo my china cabinet to include some silver and a few of these will work perfectly.

I scrubbed and scrubbed with tarnish remover and they shined up so nicely. Here is what the silver pieces look like now, all spiffied up...


The best part about this was the price. I got all 5 pieces of silver for $19.00 which was incredible. With the help of the Internet, I'm going to do some research. Each piece of silver is stamped with the manufacturer's name and a number. I wonder how much these would have been originally? Needless to say, I'm now a Goodwill shopper convert!

Thanksgiving Decor

I have so many Halloween, Christmas, and Easter decorations that I could fill a storage unit but my Thanksgiving decor is slim pickins. Really, when you think about it, what sort of decorations could be made for Thanksgiving anyway other than turkeys and pilgrim people...both of which are the only decorations I own.

Let me show you some of my pilgrims. Pilgrim people #1...


Pilgrim people #2...


Pilgrim people #3...


Pilgrim people #3 are candlesticks. This poor pilgrim lady looks like she's wearing a tampon on her head!

Every holiday in my house includes candles and a decorative plate to celebrate the occasion...


So other than a few things left over from my fall decorating, this is it, not much for Thanksgiving. It makes me kinda sad because I love Thanksgiving but in just over one short week it will be a whole different story. I have oodles and oodles of Christmas goodies and I'll have lots to share.

In the meantime, what does your Thanksgiving decor look like? Do you have lots of pilgrim people too?

52 Blessings

Even though the last 3 weeks have been very stressful and I don't understand why certain events have happened, I still feel blessed. Worship music always soothes my soul.



The current California fires are not a threat to us personally but please keep those families who have lost their homes in your thoughts and prayers today. Such devastation is a real tragedy.

Also, please keep my sister Kim in your prayers if you would. Last week Kim fell off of a ladder (about 9 feet) landing smack dab on the concrete. She broke her upper arm, has a whopper of a black eye, and every muscle in her body is sore. She is in a wheelchair right now and on lots of pain meds. I visited her today and the poor thing is pretty beat up. It was quite an accident.

It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

So here's the question: Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away and I know were all thinking about our dinner menus right about now. I have it easier this year because I'll be a guest at my sisters but I'm still thinking about the menu and how it will all come together.

I've seen some great new holiday recipes floating around in blogland already. Do you try new recipes each year or do you stick with your old standards? Normally we stick with our old standards...but maybe this year we can jazz it up a bit!

One more question...do you slice up your turkey before you bring it to the dinner table or do you bring the whole turkey to the table like in this beautiful picture here?

It's a Never Ending Battle

It's a good thing Bloglines is temporarily down because look what I need to tackle today...


Is it just us, or does your mail pile up like this too...in like only a week!

If you don't hear from me in a day or two, send out reinforcements...I may still be buried under all of it!

Soup Weather

When we were in Washington not to long ago, we stopped for lunch at Ivar's in Seattle. From the looks of it, Ivar's is a popular place...and I now know why... The.food.was.fabulous!

Look at this tasty bowl of clam chowder soup. I had fish for lunch but hubby said this was one of the best clam chowder soups he's eaten. Don't you just love soup served in a bread bowl!?!


The food is so good at Ivar's even these guys stand in line to get a nibble...


This is a picture of the famous Space Needle. It's a pretty good picture considering I took it from the back seat of the car.


Seattle is a happening place, with lots to see and do. If we had been there longer we would have signed up for the Duck Tour. The Duck Tour is a guided tour where you sit in a tram type car that's outfitted to look like a duck. I think these things even go in the water. It looked like alot of fun and will certainly be on the agenda on our next visit.

Speaking of soup, colder weather sure has hit and nothing sounds better right now than a bowl of soup. I think I just may have to organize a soup exchange this winter! Have any of you ever participated in a soup exchange before? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Rested and Rejuvenated

As much as I love weekends, I was glad to see this last week come to a close. These last 2 weeks have been the pits. I'm glad to report however that by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I was rested, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle a new week. Good friends, good food, and good conversation will do that for you.

Jake and I headed out for the camping club weekend on Friday. Howard and I, along with another couple, were the hosts of the event this time around. I have to tell you that the "welcome bags" were a complete hit and such a surprise for everyone. I included 2 bottles of water, a fall dish towel, a candle, cookies, and candy in each bag. All four of us went to each RV and handed them out together. It's always so enjoyable to see how little acts of kindness impact others...they were all just thrilled with their little gift bags!

We had over 80 people attend the potluck dinner on Saturday night and boy was the food yummy. Sometimes at these things people are kinda stingy with their food contributions but not this time. We had 5 turkeys, 3 hams, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, salads, vegetables, rolls, and pumpkin pies and desserts galore. If anyone went away hungry it was through no one's fault but their own. It was quite the feast.

I was a little worried about how all of my table decorating would turn out but everything looked very nice and festive and it sure got me in the Thanksgiving mood. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday and for me it conjurs up thoughts of family, the craft fair, lots of food, movie watching, long walks, laughter, game playing, fire building, brisk weather, great breakfasts, and just plain ol' fun. I can't wait for Thanksgiving weekend!

We'll be driving up north to Grass Valley for Thanksgiving, which is an hour outside of Sacramento. My sister and her husband have a vacation home there and we love joining them for Thanksgiving when we can. What are your Thanksgiving plans? Are you starting to get excited!?!

(Jake is doing well and I can see his old self emerging with each day. Even though he has to lay still in a crate all day, he's such a trooper. Truthfully, he's a happy boy as long as he can look at me all day. He just stares at me with those big, beautiful brown eyes of his. Such a love affair this dog and I have!!)

The Little Guy is Home!!

I'm happy to report that Jake is now home. I drove down to pick him up yesterday, talked to the Dr. for quite a while, and was instructed on how to do some physical therapy and basically how to care for a dog that has had back surgery. By the end of the day I was spent and for the first time, I questioned if we had done the right thing. I was overwhelmed.

Jake's first night home was a restless one. He woke up a few times anxious. He's asleep in the carrier right beside me now and I'm hoping tonight will offer more rest for both of us.

Today was the first day that I've been at home in over 2 weeks and I enjoyed every minute of it. I cleared away Halloween decorations, did some laundry, cleaned a bit, and finished up the welcome bags for the campout. I puttered around all day and where ever I puttered, Jake puttered right along with me.


I know he looks so sad doesn't he. He'll be depressed for a few weeks I'm certain. Hopefully once the stitches come out and as time passes, his spirit will lift. I was preparing the welcome bags at the kitchen table so I put him right up on the table so that he could see what was going on. He looks pitiful in the picture but he seems to be content to just be near me.

Speaking of the welcome bags, I finished them up tonight and loaded them in my car along with the decorations for 16 tables. I was going to send them all with Howard but decided I'd head down to the campout tomorrow instead (Howard left this morning). It really was too much for Howard to handle and I figured what's the difference in Jake being in a carrier at home or in a carrier in the RV for a few days. So off we'll go again tomorrow. Spending time with my friends for 2 days will be welcomed and therapeutic. I know I'm going to start crying the minute I see them. Here's a picture of the welcome bags...all 31 of them!


Before I close this post, I want to thank you all for the support you've given to me during this difficult time. I appreciate all of you so much and am very thankful for the phone calls, emails, and comments letting me know that you are praying and thinking about us. It brings tears to my eyes knowing that people I've never met care so much and are so giving. God works in mysterious ways but I cannot even describe the comfort that I've felt from you, my blogging friends. Is this one of the reasons why I was led to the world of blogging? Who knows, but whatever the reason, thank you friends for being there and most of all, thank you for your beautiful, wonderful hearts. You are appreciated!

I'm In a Fog!

Wednesday - Jake had surgery. We drove home; there was nothing we could do during this time

Thursday - Linda worked

Friday - Linda drove 6 hours roundtrip to visit Jake

Saturday - Linda worked
Linda sick
Howard drove 6 hours roundtrip to visit Jake

Sunday - Linda drove 6 hours roundtrip to visit Jake
Linda sick
Linda received a telephone call from blogging buddy Mandi who lives in AUSTRALIA inquiring about Jake's progress. (Mandi, your call meant the world to me...THANK YOU! It was wonderful talking to you and getting to know you better.)

Monday - Linda worked
Linda sick

Tuesday - Linda to work again
Linda to vote
Howard driving 6 hours roundtrip to visit Jake
Linda needing to finish 30 welcome bags and decorations for 15 tables for this weekend's campout that LINDA AND HUBBY are in charge of! Linda and Jake staying home from campout!

Wednesday - Linda will make 6 hour roundtrip again

All I can say is...STOP THIS MERRY-GO-ROUND. I WANT TO GET OFF! If I had the chance, I think I could sleep for a week straight!