Hello December

Good morning friends and hello December. I'm sure this month will move at the speed of light, so I'm trying to pump the brakes a little and enjoy the many blessings this season brings.

Linking with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) today for their Hello Monday weekend catch up. Mine will be more than a weekend and that's okay too. 

Backing all the way up to Wednesday when it was 70 degrees, sunny, and the perfect sort of weather for hubs to get the outdoor lights up. Let me just say this is not his favorite task. ahem. 

He gets it done though, and the end result is always worth the aggravation. We splurged on these giant nutcrackers this year-

What can I say? We're grandparents. 

Like every year, there's a fuse that keeps blowing on one of the light strands out front, and hubs says he'll just keep replacing it until he runs out of fuses lol. It's 2025. Why hasn't someone solved the Christmas light problem? 

He also put a tree on the dock and it tipped over a couple of times in spite of being weighted down. First world problems I know, but still these are the things that niggle and can put a chink in your holiday spirit. I think he's got the dock tree problem solved so yay hubs. There are always a few kinks to work out when the decorating begins. 

Hey, remember Thanksgiving? We had a really nice day and enjoyed dinner at daughter1's house. Life definitely feels full circle on days like this one. One day you're buttering a roll for your seven-year old, and thirty years later she's baking a beautiful apple pie for your dessert. Grown up girls are such a gift. 

My grandmother's china on my daughter's table-

We split up the meal and I made shrimp cocktail, cranberry sauce, squash casserole, mashed potatoes and fruit salad. She did the turkey, dressing, gravy, a Brussels sprouts salad, rolls, and that scrumptious apple pie with homemade custard. Sooo good! If you've never had homemade custard poured over your pie you don't know what you're missing. Thanks England! 

We had a fun afternoon chatting, watching football, and of course eating. Daughter2 was in Tennessee but had her in-laws there along with hubs mom. We'll all be together later this month and both my sons-in-law have jobs that require some work arounds in terms of holiday travel. We figure it out. 

Friday morning we woke up to the thermometer in the house reading 60 degrees. We had the air conditioning running on Wednesday and the heat turned on Friday. 'Tis the season.   

Hubs brought the boxes down from the attic and I dressed for the day's chore aka decorating the house. It's a job, but I think sitting beside a lit Christmas tree in the early morning dark is one of life's best and simplest pleasures. 

Saturday hubs and I had a day date, but I think I'll save that recap for tomorrow's post. I'm two episodes behind in recording and want to catch up here. I know you can't wait. 

So what's new with you? I hope your weekend was merry and bright! 

Turkey With A Side Of Hodgepodge

Welcome to The Wednesday Hodgepodge. I'm always grateful for those who join in here each week. And if you're here just occasionally I'm grateful for you too! If you've answered today's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for your neighbor there. Here we go-

1. Do you feel like you have a 'full plate' at the moment? In what way? 

In a word, yes. Don't most people feel that way this time of year? I sat down yesterday and organized my 'to-buy' list which helped, and then I went ahead and did some online shopping and shipping. Many items were already marked with Black Friday pricing and it felt good to get some of this done. 

We have a lot of fun things on the December calendar and I want to enjoy each day as it comes. I make lists and put everything on the calendar including when I'll bake, when I'll wrap, when I'll write cards, etc. It makes the proverbial plate feel a little less full. 

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children did you teach or encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more 'let's wing it'.  

I learned to cook by watching and helping my momma, a truly wonderful cook. She made everything from scratch, served balanced meals, set the table, and baked a ridiculous, but much loved and appreciated, number of Christmas cookies every year. 

Both of my girls also enjoy cooking and baking and I think would say they learned the same way I did. That is, by watching and helping me in the kitchen. Still one of my favorite places to be with them, especially at the holidays. So many great conversations are held while chopping and stirring. 

As far as cookbooks vs. winging it I'd say I'm a little bit of both. I'll follow a recipe, particularly in baking where measurements and proportion matter. I love cookbooks, but I can also come up with something on the fly from my pantry in a crunch. I guess I'll say that while I can 'wing it' I rarely do. 

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. 

I can't really think of the last time I might have said yes when I should have said no. I try not to do that in this season of life. I used to excel at juggling many many things, but these days I'm happier without quite  so many plates in the air.  

4. When did you last say 'the more the merrier' and mean it? 

I became part of (a witness really) to an extremely awkward conversation at an event we attended recently. I was chatting with a woman and her husband when their Thanksgiving host came over and rescinded their invitation because several other anticipated guests had cancelled and she didn't think she wanted to cook for 'just them'. Yikes. 

I wanted to slink away and pretend I didn't hear, but instead I spontaneously invited them to my daughter's house for dinner. I told my daughter the words were out of my mouth before I could actually check with her and see if it was fine.  It was fine. 

Thanksgiving is a time to be generous and I think is made for a 'the more the merrier' kind of attitude. As it turned out, the couple's original host ended up adding more guests to her dinner table, so their invite was back on. It all worked out. 

5. Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. 

Giving T-H-A-N-K-S today for...

Traditions kept alive

Home

Acts of kindness done without fanfare

New mercies every morning

Kids, the ones fully grown and the ones still growing

Sunshiny days and life's simple pleasures 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

This handsome fella had his nails trimmed yesterday. 

He's not a fan. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 630

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (November 26th) to share answers and count your blessings. See you there! 

1. Do you feel like you have a 'full plate' at the moment? In what way? 

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children did you teach or encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more 'let's wing it'.  

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. 

4. When did you last say 'the more the merrier' and mean it? 

5. Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Monthly Musings-November

'Twas the week before Thanksgiving... 

Time for November's monthly musings hosted by Holly (Pink Lady) and Patty (Good Better Best Life). They're asking this month's questions a week earlier than normal because next week we'll be giving thanks around the table for all our many blessings. 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It feels like it can be enjoyed for what it is as opposed to what we'd like it to be, which sometimes happens with Christmas. Family, food, and gratitude rule the day, and I for one am thankful for the pause this day brings before December bells start ringing. I'm going to throw in a few Thanksgiving throwbacks here too just because I can. 

How many times can I post this picture on my blog? 

Many it seems, but I love it. 

1. Favorite Thanksgiving dishes? 

In my opinion Thanksgiving is one of those meals that should not be messed with or changed too much from year to year in any big way. It's comforting familiarity is one of the things that makes it special and I want the same tastes and aromas that have filled this day for as long as I can remember. 

My favorite dishes are all of them, but dressing is tops, there must be cranberry sauce, homemade or canned either one, or better yet both, and my momma's fruit salad with homemade whipped cream on the dessert table. 

2. Stuffing or dressing? 

I sometimes call it stuffing, but I don't actually stuff the turkey. My mom used to stuff the turkey and have a separate dish of dressing on the side so we used the terms interchangeably. We have cornbread stuffing made with cornbread baked the night before so it dries out a little, a bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix added to it along with turkey stock and lots of onion, celery, and seasonings. 

3. Are you hosting any of the holidays this year? Please share any tips. 

I'm not hosting this year, although we will have an early Christmas here with our girls and their families the weekend prior to Christmas. My tips for hosting are pretty simple-

• make ahead what you can make ahead
• people want your presence more than a perfect meal, home, or place setting. 
• take time to look around the table, whether there are two or twenty seated there, and count your blessings 

4. Turkey trot or football game? 

I'm going with football game and by that I mean watching, not playing. I enjoy spending the whole morning in the kitchen as we tend to eat late afternoon, so a turkey trot messes with my meal prep.

Also, I don't like to run and I don't like to be cold so there's that. 

5. If you decorate for Christmas do you decorate before or after Thanksgiving? 

Team after all the way. 

6. Are your holidays sit down meals or more casual affairs? 

Ours are sit down. I like to use my china on Thanksgiving and my Christmas dishes in December and fancy napkins and pretty glasses and the gravy boat and big platter that only come out for holidays.

If I'm invited to your house for a meal you do you. I actually like a casual get together if we're talking parties, but for the dinners themselves, both Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, at my house I want sit down. 

7. Pumpkin or apple pie? Or another dessert? 

My daughter is making an apple pie this year and I like it better than pumpkin so am good with that. Growing up we always had a simple fruit salad as a dessert option too, topped with whipped cream. Lots of years I'd skip the pie and just have fruit. 

The meal is filling and sometimes a bowl of fruit is just the right thing. The salad is made with chopped apples, chopped oranges, and halved and pitted purple grapes, all topped with a can of crushed pineapple. It doesn't sound like much, but it's refreshing and delicious. 

8. Are you traveling for Thanksgiving or staying closer to home?

Staying closer to home this year. 

9. Do you Black Friday shop? 

In person? No never. Online? Maybe. I mean Black Friday has turned into a whole month now hasn't it, and most places offer deals for more than just a day. I'm not mad about it. 

10. Thing you are most looking forward to this holiday season? 

Time spent with family, both my family of origin and the one I birthed. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Home Is Where The Hodgepodge Is

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and leave a comment for your neighbor there. Everyone is thankful for comments. Here we go-

1. Let's do our gratitude question first this week...what's the best thing about your home, and have you taken time to enjoy it lately? 

Best thing about my home? The view. 

Have I taken time to enjoy it lately? Absolutely. Every single day. There is never a day I walk out of my bedroom in the morning, see the lake, and feel anything less than a lot of gratitude for the beauty of what's right outside my window. 

2. Do you like squash? Of the varieties listed, which one's your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Is squash of some sort on your Thanksgiving menu?? 

acorn, butternut, delicata, spaghetti, zucchini, crookneck (yellow squash), patty pan

I do like squash, all varieties really. My favorite is probably yellow squash in the form of a squash casserole. I make this one when I have squash on hand and sometimes add zucchini too. It's easy and delicious (Mrs. Hopkin's Boarding House Squash). I also love butternut squash roasted or as a soup. 

I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year, but I am bringing a vegetable and think I'll make it squash. 

3. Last time you were 'squashed in' somewhere, or felt squashed? 

Not exactly squashed but...hubs and I had sushi on Friday evening and we sat at the bar to eat. There was an empty seat between my chair and three gentleman who were talking business. On the other side of hubs there was one empty seat and then on the other end of the bar there were two or three empties, maybe more. A man came in and asked hubs if he'd mind if he squeezed another seat in next to him? Huh? Why? 

It was so odd. He jammed this bar stool in where there clearly wasn't enough room to sit without being right on top of hubs when there were empty seats on the other side of the bar. We were getting ready to pay, so we just rolled with it, but it was odd and I wouldn't have wanted to eat my dinner that way. I was trying to decide if he was on a date with someone he hadn't met before, because it kind of felt that way. I mean we were all squashed in together so it was hard not to hear.  I wanted to tell him this wasn't the best way to begin his evening, but I refrained. 

4. Have you ever played squash? What about other 'racquet sports' such as racquetball, tennis, pickleball, badminton, table tennis (ping pong)? Are these sports something you enjoy? 

I've never played squash and only played racquetball a couple of times in college. I have played all of the racquet sports at some point in my life, but none seriously. Except maybe ping pong. I'm competitive at ping pong. 

Hubs and I played pickleball some when the craze began, but then I broke my elbow (unrelated to pickleball) and we never picked it back up. The injury count is particularly high in this sport (just ask my son-in-law the orthopedist) so I don't think I'll go back to it. 

5. Something in today's society or culture that feels like a 'racket' to you? If you don't like that one, tell us about a place you've been recently where there was a lot of 'racket'. 

Personal property taxes. I own the car. I've paid for the car. I paid taxes on the car when purchased. Why do we have to continue to pay 'personal property taxes' on a movable asset we own outright? Real estate I sort of understand because you live in the community where schools and other services you require benefit from them, but vehicles and boats are something entirely different and I burn a little every year when I have to pay that particular tax. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

I've been running all day so am light on random thoughts at the moment. Who's cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year? What's on the menu? 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 629

Here are the questions for this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (November 19th) to share answers with the blog world. See you there! 

1. Let's do our gratitude question first this week...what's the best thing about your home, and have you taken time to enjoy it lately? 

2. Do you like squash? Of the varieties listed, which one's your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Is squash of some sort on your Thanksgiving menu?? 

acorn, butternut, delicata, spaghetti, zucchini, crookneck (yellow squash), patty pan

3. Last time you were 'squashed in' somewhere, or felt squashed? 

4. Have you ever played squash? What about other 'racquet sports' such as racquetball, tennis, pickleball, badminton, table tennis (ping pong)? Are these sports something you enjoy? 

5. Something in today's society or culture that feels like a 'racket' to you? If you don't like that one, tell us about a place you've been recently where there was a lot of 'racket'. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Excited About The Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to leave a comment for the blogger before you, because comments make the blog world go round.  Here we go...

1. What's worth standing in line for? 

Boarding an airplane for a trip somewhere fabulous, security for a college football game or live concert event, the restroom when you're in a public place. 

2. Tell us about a favorite food related memory. 

I have so many I don't even know where to begin. An anniversary dinner at Cliveden House? Our long leisurely lunch made by an adorable Italian chef overlooking Lago Maggiore? My 50th birthday dinner at Asiate high above Columbus Circle in NY City's Mandarin Hotel?  

Those are all favorites for sure, but something about this question made me think of childhood, and one of my favorite food memories from childhood would be Thanksgiving dinner. 

My mother would spend the whole day (or two) cooking and we kids would help. My little sister and I were usually in charge of setting the table and pitting the grapes for our traditional dessert fruit salad. There was pie too, but to this day we all make fruit salad with fresh whipped cream as another option. Purple grapes, chopped apples, sliced oranges, and a can of crushed pineapple stirred over all. 

My mother has an artist's eye and she made holidays and special dinners look and taste so lovely. She set a fancy table in the dining room with the good china, and we always had an appetizer of shrimp cocktail in crystal glasses which was such a treat. 

Sometimes another family would join us and we always got dressed for dinner. No jeans, no loungewear, no excuses for not being at the table on time. Our best manners, cloth napkins, family chatter. 

That's me front left, and my little sister looking like an absolute angel on the right. Those dresses! I wish I still had them and could pass them on to my granddaughters. My teenage sibs are standing in back, and my dad must have taken the picture. That perfectly roasted turkey is just waiting for his expertise with the carving knife, and there's the shrimp cocktail on my momma's plate. 

Sometimes someone will pose the question, 'if you could go back to just one day in your childhood which one would you choose?' I might pick this one. 

3. What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming? 

The lake off season, reading on the porch, a walk in the woods, the sound of a waterfall, waves lapping the shore, and snow falling at dusk. 

4. Is there something you do now that gets you just as excited as it did when you were a child? 

A few things come to mind, but I'm going to say my birthday. Nobody's surprised are they? It's no secret I love my birthday and it's almost here. I mean it will be here in a month, but close enough. I love thinking about the year that's ending and the one I'm running in to. I love hearing from family and friends, love a card in the mailbox, love a new beginning and...

I love my super delicious chocolate cake with the raspberry filling and chocolate ganache overall that hubs gets me every single year. 

5. To what degree are you in touch with friends from grade school? high school? college if you attended college? 

I'm in touch with all of the above to some degree or other. I'm mostly in touch with grade school and high school friends through the miracle of the Internet, but there are some I see in person still from time to time. 

I'm in regular contact 'in real life' with a number of my college friends. We had college friends here last weekend and have more college friends coming to the lake this weekend. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Got a question for you...do you allow anonymous commenters on your blog? What about a commenter with a name and a profile and even a picture, but that's it. They've opted not to share their profile? What about a commenter with nothing more than a name in their profile? 

I've had a couple of these lately and I don't know if they're real bloggers who choose not to share their profile, if they're some sort of scammer, or if they're AI? I don't allow anonymous comments on my blog, but I'm also hesitant to post comments from people who technically have a profile, but I have no clue if they're genuine or it's something sketchy. Your thoughts? 

Merry December

Good Monday morning friends. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was lovely and I'm linking my weekend recap with Holly and Sarah as per usual here on a Monday.  

We spent Thanksgiving with Daughter2 and her family in Tennessee. Technically it was the in-laws year for Thanksgiving and it's our year for Christmas, but she asked us to join them and we all enjoy one another's company so it was nice. 

I baked a loaf of pumpkin bread in this cute dish a friend gave me back in October and this recipe is really good. I added white chocolate chips mainly because I thought the bag in my pantry was semi-sweet, but  turns out they were white chocolate and it also turns out white chocolate chips in pumpkin bread are a winning combination.

My daughter always makes the trip to her grandmother's the day before Thanksgiving to collect her and bring her back to her house for the holiday. This makes my heart so happy and I hope one of my grands does the same for me and the hubs someday. Hubs mother lives about an hour and a half from my daughter which means three hours of driving with her two littles in tow. She loves doing it though and my mother-in-law really enjoys it too. 

This thought reminds me I was mostly a photo failure because I don't think I have a single picture of my mother-in-law. 

Hubs got one. Whew. 

We just do not seem to manage the family picture taking thing very well. We try, but not too hard. Littles this age have places to go and people to see and sitting for a posed photograph is way down on their to-do list. We snagged this one (barely) the day after-

We did get a fun picture with our girl on the actual turkey day-

She bought these shirts for us at least four years ago, but we all decided to pull them out this year for Thanksgiving morning. My older daughter who is currently living in the UK and thus not celebrating Thanksgiving with the family, saw it and asked for one to wear next year. I cannot wait to have everyone on the same continent once more. 

Hubs and I drove over to Tennessee Thanksgiving morning. It's about three hours but we left early and arrived before 11. There were charcuterie style snacks and my mother-in-law's cheeseball, and we all just relaxed and caught up on life and baby girl snuggles. She is scrumptious...

 So is this one-

He is so smart and so funny and so chatty and we love him to bits. Nana had to bring him an early Christmas present because that's what Nanas do. He's a big fan of the Grinch. 

We ate about 4 PM and shoutout to my girl who made a fabulous meal with two under two, not only in the house but also under foot or, quite literally, on her hip. My son-in-law smoked the turkey and it was so good. He also cooked the brussel sprouts on the Blackstone because oven space was at a premium. 

I brought the dressing I'd made at home along with the cranberries, and Daughter2 did the rest-green bean casserole from scratch (no canned soup for her), mashed potatoes, the most scrumptious sweet potato casserole (recipe linked here-trust me, it's a keeper)-

There were homemade!! yeast rolls, plus two pies from scratch. Oh and there was a glazed ham too, which was yummy. 

Somebody 'helped' whip the cream.  

Friday we were back at it, the eating I mean, and we pulled out all the leftovers for lunch. My son-in-law was on call this weekend and ended up having to go in for a mostly minor work emergency Friday morning, and didn't get back to the house until almost 10 PM. 

Luckily there were four grandparents and a great grandmother in the house to keep everyone entertained. 

Hubs wonders why his back aches???

We spent the day mostly just chillin'. We read a lot of books to sweet baby J, watched Sugar trying hard to take her first steps, went for a brisk walk around the neighborhood...

And we set up a big jigsaw puzzle which kept us all occupied...

J couldn't wait to get into this 1000 piece puzzle lol. It had been sitting in the box on their dining room table the week before Thanksgiving, and every time we spoke on the phone he would tell me we were going to work this puzzle. 

Hubs and I headed home Saturday morning after dropping his mama off at her house. It's a challenge to get from our house to hers just now as Hurricane Helene continues to be a problem. The interstate we normally take is gone and the rebuild is going to take at least a year which means a work around for us. 

We found the Vols-Vandy game on the radio, and man the Vols like to keep you guessing until at least the third quarter. A win though so we'll take it. We stopped for lunch on the way home and ended up skipping dinner. 

We.were.full. 

Sunday we pulled out all the Christmas decor and made a dent in the decorating. Technically not all because we're not hosting and I won't have kids in the house, but can you decorate just a little? I'm finding that challenging. 

I've got a full day today so the dining room table will remain a mix of beads and baubles and Christmas cards waiting to be stamped. There are ornaments waiting to be hung, still in boxes in the family room, and we can't remember how we hung the garland but it will all get done eventually. I'll post some pictures here soon because I realized today I posted very few last year and a picture would sure be a help with that garland right about now. 

Happy Monday everyone! 

THANKS For The Hodgepodge

Welcome to our Thanksgiving edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. I'm truly grateful for all who participate here each week and for the friends I've made, both online and in real life, via my little corner of the Internet. 

1. Talking turkey...are you cooking the turkey this year? Does ham belong on a Thanksgiving day menu? When it comes to gravy do you pour it over your whole plate, skip it altogether, or land somewhere in between? Cranberries-homemade or jelled right out of the can? Do you look forward more to the main course, the savory sides, or the desserts? 

*I know there are at least a couple of bloggers who participate here who live outside the US and won't be celebrating Thanksgiving. If that's you feel free to adapt the questions to your December (or any) holiday meal.

I'm not cooking the turkey this year. We'll be celebrating with my daughter and son-in-law, and he'll smoke  the turkey on the grill. He's got skillz. I love ham and am not opposed to having one at Thanksgiving as long as there's also turkey. I've never served ham at Thanksgiving, but my son-in-law's family always has both, so we're having both this year too. 

 As far as gravy goes, I'm not a huge gravy/sauce person. I like to keep it light. I like gravy on my turkey and maybe just a tiny bit on the dressing but my plate definitely won't be swimming in it. I like both homemade and straight out of the can cranberry sauce and we'll have both this year. I definitely look most forward to the savory sides, with dressing being my fave. 

2. Holiday movies...tell us your favorite and what it is about the film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs? 

White Christmas. Partly because I love the story and the music and especially the dresses (swoon!), but also because my girls used to love to recreate the Sisters song whenever we watched, and that's a sweet memory. Daughter1 might have even sung the first line of that song in the toast she made for Daughter2's wedding. Pass the tissues please. 

3. A favorite way to give back and help others? 

I volunteer in a local soup kitchen every week and I really enjoy that. We make a hot lunch and I enjoy the team I work with and interacting with the folks who come in. It's generally the same crowd so you get to know some of them a little bit. It's not my reason for doing this, but one of the effects this weekly task brings is the way it shifts my perspective about so many things in my own life. 

Besides the soup kitchen we support several organizations with our dollars and our prayers too. Samaritans Purse, World Vision, Compassion, Young Life, and St. Judes. I also like to donate the cost of an ultrasound to pregnant moms considering abortion. Seeing and hearing their baby's heartbeat is often a game changer. 

4. Name a place or setting you encountered this month that made you feel grateful. 

We had friends visit a couple of weeks ago and the Saturday weather was sheer perfection. The sky was a brilliant blue and we were outside most of the day. 

There's something about a beautiful sunshiny blue sky day that stirs my soul. Beauty in the great outdoors stirs up feelings of gratitude for me. 

5. Knowing what you know today, if you could redo yesterday what would you do differently? 

I'm answering these on Tuesday so yesterday was Monday. Would I do anything different? Yes, and I'm just gonna leave it at that. 

6. Spill your own random thought here. 

Let the games begin...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 579

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Guess what our theme is? Answer the questions on your own blog, then waddle back here tomorrow to add your link 'to the table'. See you there!

1. Talking turkey...are you cooking the turkey this year? Does ham belong on a Thanksgiving day menu? When it comes to gravy do you pour it over your whole plate, skip it altogether, or land somewhere in between? Cranberries-homemade or jelled right out of the can? Do you look forward more to the main course, the savory sides, or the desserts? 

I know there are at least a couple of bloggers who participate here who live outside the US and won't be celebrating Thanksgiving. If that's you feel free to adapt this question to your December (or any) holiday meal.

2. Holiday movies...tell us your favorite and what it is about the film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs? 

3. A favorite way to give back and help others? 

4. Name a place or setting you encountered this month that made you feel grateful. 

5. Knowing what you know today, if you could redo yesterday what would you do differently? 

6. Spill your own random thought here. 

December. But First Thanksgiving.

Just doing my usual post Thanksgiving post. In December because that's how I roll. 

First things first...the little brown dog is doing very well. He celebrated Thanksgiving in the Animal Hospital following his belly surgery and is happy to finally be home with his person. 

fyi-his person is the hubs. Daughter1 is his second favorite, followed closely behind by my sister-in-law. I think I'm number 4 lol. 

This is his second time around with belly surgery, and hopefully his last!. This one has gone much more smoothly than the procedure two years ago, he's healing well, and the only real challenge is keeping him 'low-key' for a while. 

Because the pup had to stay in hospital for a few days we were able to travel to daughter1's more or less as planned. We left Tuesday morning and what should have been a seven hour drive max, ended up taking ten. It was raining which didn't help, and the traffic was insane. There's a part of the highway near Asheville that hubs and I swear has been under construction since my oldest started uni in 2006. True story. 

We finally arrived safe and sound sometime after dinner, but before the boys went to bed so there were hugs and squeals and whew, so glad to be here. We didn't see Little Miss until Wednesday morning as she'd already gone to sleep. 

Yes. I'm going to give an absurd level of detail because details help make the memory. 

Wednesday my son-in-law had to work, but the rest of us piled into the car around noon to grab lunch out. Let it be noted for the record that I climbed in and out of the third seat of a minivan at least eleventy million times during our visit, which is no small thing. Grandparenting is not for sissies. 

We went to lunch in a cute little place not far from their home, then ventured into the city to see the model train exhibit at Union Terminal. 

Later the Mancub and I kicked off a five day UNO tournament (the mancub came out on top), then daughter1 and I started prepping food for Thursday's feast. 

One of the things I most look forward to and enjoy about any holiday is spending time with my girls in the kitchen. We all like to cook and bake and it's always a sweet time of chatting and just being together. 

Thursday the men kept the littles entertained while we cooked and then we cooked some more and then there was more cooking. That's Thanksgiving, right? My daughter invited another couple and their children to join us for dinner and they arrived around 3 PM with the most delicious baked brie appetizer and a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. 

The entire meal was wonderful, and we had so much fun that at the end of the night my daughter said, 'Mom! We didn't take a picture of us in the kitchen!' Or at the table either for that matter, so we grabbed the phone and recreated our pretty mimosas to snap one for the books.  

These were yummy-pomegranate juice with a small piece of orange, some cranberries and just a smidge of rosemary, frozen together in an ice cube tray, then topped with champagne when ready to serve. 

Friday we stayed close to home until my son-in-law got home from work. Then we bundled up and went to the Cincinatti Zoo to see Zoo Lights.

It was cold but lots of fun. We got there before dark so were able to see some of the animals, and enjoy the lights too. 

Little Miss just goes with the flow and is pure sugar. She has grown so much since last we saw her, and it was especially fun to have lots of time to get to know her better. 

On Saturday hubs, daughter1, Little Miss, and I left the boys home with Daddy so we could meet up with some friends from 'the Maryland years' who live in Cincy now. 

We had the best time catching up in person and again, Little Miss was good as gold. 

Sunday we went to church followed by brunch right after. Then it was home to decorate the Christmas tree, open new pj's and ornaments from Nana and Pawpaw, and start amping up all the excitement little ones bring to the month of December. 

After 34 hands of UNO it was time to go. We were up early Monday to make the trek home with just one quick pit stop at the Animal Hospital to collect the little brown dog. The drive home was thankfully a breeze and while it's always hard to leave it's nice to come home too. 

And now here we are. Advent. The season where we prepare our hearts for Christmas. Honestly the other day I had a moment of anxiety about all there is to do then caught myself when I realized it was still November. Everything starts so early and is so full on and so buy this!-don't miss that!-do all the everythings!-that it's easy to lose sight of what it is we're actually preparing for.

I saw a quote recently that said, 'Let's approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush'. Not an easy thing in the times in which we live, but I know I want to try. 

Wishing all the weary souls in this world peace in this season of hope and Advent.