Thanksgiving Postponed

         I was feeling fine when I woke up on Tuesday.  I don’t know what I had encountered before noon, but I had a throbbing headache just after 12:00.  Probably Richard and I should have not gone to the temple, but we did.  We left the house before 1:00 but did not get to Central Point until 2:40. Traffic was horrible.  It doesn’t take that long to get to Ashland.

        We were signed up for the 3:00 session. Just after 5:00 we were on our way to Ashland to pick up Jaime.  We met her at a 7-11 and I had gone inside to get something for my headache.  Richard and Ally got sick first and then Biff and then me and Clair – I think Clair may have been hit the hardest.  She looks terrible.

        Jaime has spent many a Thanksgivings feeling sick.  Ironically, she is the only one who is well.  None of the rest of us even want to eat – let alone a feast.  Biff made chicken soup and I took Jaime to a friend in the ward so that she could have a real Thanksgiving – not just dinner but in the presence of company that give reason to thank.

        Meanwhile there is a turkey, yams and pies waiting to be had.  Maybe early in December?

More Emotions and Light the World

               Three hours after my last post I had gone from hurt to angry – which is not a cool emotion either but I would rather be angry.  I don’t have to deal with mucus or go through tissues when I am angry. In my last post had said that with each “fuel” added I have relived past emotions believing I hadn’t learned anything. However I have gone through the “stages” a lot quicker this time than in years past.  Before I had gone to bed I had convinced myself that I no longer care.  I’m not saying that’s a good thing.  But I am happy to feel this way as opposed to sobbing uncontrollably.  I also realized my poor reaction may have been due to a lack of sleep. I have been able to sleep much better when I am no longer emotionally invested.

            I believe that God experiences emotions such as joy, anger and sadness.  God is immortal.  He may cry but I don’t believe that he has to deal with mucus or tissue. I’m a mortal who has shed thousands – possibly even millions of tears.  I don’t want to cry anymore. Lots of healing to be dealt with still.  As I was writing Jenna shared two really great quotes on how I feel vs. them:

What’s motivating to you may be crippling to others – Victor Lineo.

The same boiling water that softens the potato makes the egg hard

Jenna and I had watched the movie “Big” and it felt so good to laugh. I remembered the baby corn but had forgotten about the celery he returns after licking off all the filling.  It has been a while since I had watched “Big”; I don’t know if I had laughed that hard whenever I had watched it before.

             Before “Light the World” started, Jenna wrote down what it is she wanted to do for each activity.   

For December 17 she thought it would be fun to go to McDonalds and pay for the order of the car behind us.   Jenna’s food order wasn’t ready and so they asked for Roland to pull forward – which he did.  So the payment was not anonymous.  

On Friday I was supposed to have a meeting with the RS presidency, but the meeting did not happen.  We sorted and made up food boxes and added the presents we had wrapped two days before.  After I returned home we connected with my middle son and read two stories to his two daughters

We also sang Rudolf with them and then Jenna and I sang "Happy Birthday" as I thought today was Rochelle's birthday.  I was a month early.  Oh, well.

          Yesterday Jenna decided to try her hand at once again paying for the car behind her.  She and Roland had gone to Roseburg and had stopped off at Taco Bell on their return.

 

         Instead of  going to a nursing home, Jenna decided to tie a note to a helium balloon that indicated the reader is loved and has value and encouraged the receiver her to find her on instagram – provided the receiver has instagram. Jenna released the balloon into the air last night. 

         I don’t know how far it may have gotten but suspect it’s somewhere on the ground in Oregon as it rained last night.  I hope that the message may still be readable.  

Yesterday's Main Meal

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  We had told those we had invited that dinner would be at 4:00.  Except for the turkey, I think everything was ready to eat at 11:00.  Well, most everything.  Roland had not bothered with the rolls or peas until after Chris arrived – which was shortly before 3:00.

Chris is on of Jenna’s friends from school.  The invitation was extended to Chris’ entire family – but Jenna did not communicate that.  Grandma had already taken the turkey out of the freezer to thaw by the time she got word.  And so it was just the four of us.

I remember having had small Thanksgivings before.  Two years ago we had invited a couple.  And there were only five of us with mom on Thanksgiving Day.  We had had our Thanksgiving dinner on a Saturday when Patrick and Sunny were in town.  There were 18 of us.  But on Thursday it was just my mom, Roland, Jenna, Biff and I.  He had known Jeanie at that point, but they weren’t engaged. There is also one Thanksgiving I remember with just my parents and sibs making only six.

Chris eats like a bird.  Could have been a self conscience thing.  Or perhaps he was planning to eat another Thanksgiving dinner with his own family.  When I learned they probably wouldn’t be here (turned out that his mom was sick and wouldn’t have come even if she had planned on it) I had invited two other couples.  With so little notice that I had given each, I really was not surprised that neither one of them showed.

Meanwhile we’ve got tons of leftover food.  No cooking but only reheating for the next several days.  Roland thought he would try something different this year and fixed the turkey the way Gordon Ramsey had suggested.  Needless to say, I was not impressed – especially with the gravy.  That won’t be the gravy I will be using on the leftovers.

I’m grateful that Chris could come and play a game with the family.  I’m grateful that the “storm” forecast for the entire nation seemed to be clean and (although cold) inviting.  At least that is how it was all across Oregon and New York.  Randy said it was cold there.  They didn’t have snow however.  This may have been a good year to come.  I don’t know that we’ll ever see New York.  I’m not holding my breath.

Kayla had sent me a message that they are used to going to St. George for Thanksgiving, but his mom and dad had gone to California to be with their youngest daughter.  Bill’s older sister had invited them for Thanksgiving dinner. Meanwhile they had invited the mother of Bill’s late wife who had recently lost her husband.  She had cancelled at the last minute and they managed to invite themselves back to his sisters.

I wish we could have spent Thanksgiving with my sister and her family.  In the past we have depended on Bill to eat up the leftovers.  I suppose we’ll have to box everything up and send it to him.  LOL.  It is probably cold enough that it would keep.

I hope that whenever and however you celebrate Thanksgiving that you make it a good one.  I hope that you always have a grateful with each day.

Lodging for One Night

Bandon is a few hundred less in population than is Myrtle Creek.  Unlike Myrtle Creek, Bandon draws crowds of people and tourism.  Thus Bandon offers a variety of lodging including hotels and beach houses to rent.  Denny Dyke and his team create these amazing labyrinth pathways called Circle in the Sand.  My friend had gone and told me that I should go because “it is so cool” (see here and  here).

          The last two days on schedule for this year were September 1 and 2, but nothing offered August 31 which is when Labor Day weekend started.  Because we hadn’t gone anywhere during the time that Roland had off, he felt gypped out of having stayed elsewhere over night.  Because there was no room in Bandon, we had found lodging in Coos Bay.

          After checking in to the hotel, we all went swimming.

          Roland decided he wanted German food for dinner and we went to the Blue Heron

          On the way back to the hotel, we went to Safeway.  Jenna had asked me to take this picture of her.

my girl LOVES Halloween

Stickler for Recipes

            Roland brought some ham home the other day and thought about making a sweet and sour with some of it.  We already had sweet and sour chicken leftover in the fridge.  I told him to make ham fried rice.  He said he needed a recipe.  I could not find one that listed all ingredients that we had on hand, and so I printed a couple in order to demonstrate that not all recipes contain the ingredients and that it is possible to alter ingredients.  People make mock recipes all the time. 

  

          I am a substitute who works with what I have.  Roland is a letter-to-the-law recipe follower - even down to the measurements.  I told him to half the recipe that he chose, but no.  He insisted on four cups of rice.  And yet we are only two people - sometimes three, but mostly just two as Jenna is a fussy eater.  The end result was enough to take to a ward potluck - which won't be until next week.  Don't really want a dish to sit around that long before allowing others to partake.

            Fortunately, the missionaries contacted us the following day.  We had forgotten we had signed up to feed them.  In addition to the ham fried rice, Roland was able to make his sweet and sour ham (which is almost gone) and we had watermelon for dessert.  Light and healthy.