November things

We just got into November, and now it’s the home stretch. Are you like me and wondering… what on earth happened. Something must happen to days as you get older. They are no longer a full 24 hours as you age. I’m convinced of it. There is some scientific time warp that happens as we age, that makes days fly by and our boobies sag. Because the holidays never came up this quick when I was a kid. A day was a week and a week was a month and a year was a decade.

These days, a day is an hour, a week is a day, a month is a week… and a year is a mere month. Well, it seems it at least…

The bad thing is, I don’t want these days to fly by… I want to enjoy my kids while they are still kids, I want to relish every holiday light and Christmas song, and I want to embrace the hunt for the perfect gift.

Actually, there is a hunt for the perfect gift, the dash to the “hot” toy, and the days to get my craft on and my bake-a thon.

I hunt for my mother’s gift- she’s into antiquity things, and I can’t afford actual antique stores, so I peruse thrift stores and yard sales for her. My daughter is only 6 so she has her little toy wishes, and of course, I just love toy stores…except the boy section.

There will be no gifts for my husband or myself this year, we have decided to sacrifice and take the money we would have spent on each other and give it to a cause that will make a difference in someone’s life.

Which means I have to hold out on my shiny new cookie sheets I am in slight need of, so y’all are still going to be seeing my battered pans for another year or so. 🙂

A lot of bloggers out there are doing the Thanksgiving round ups, and some have even pre-made entire Thanksgiving dinner weeks ago in order to post at the precise time society is googling everything related to Thanksgiving dinner. Myself? I could round up and edit some photos and make a post all about Thanksgiving foods, I could do a round up post conglomerating previous Thanksgiving recipes. But, instead I am doing this.

I am writing to you about the excitement, and the joyous anticipation of the season. I have not made a meal in advance to inspire you with gorgeous drool worthy photos, I have not created the perfect pie for you, I don’t have the bourbon whipped cream made, either.

Why?

Why am I not here as a food blogger cheering you on to create that perfect feast? Why am I not here with my tips and tricks for the perfect brine and my mother’s “secret” stuffing recipe? Why am I not here with the perfect Thanksgiving photo spread?

Because I don’t want to ruin Thanksgiving. For myself or for you. You see, it’s not about creating the “perfect” meal. It’s not about the perfect table setting, the nice dishes, or even the turkey. You know this already, I’m sure… It’s about giving thanks- we are all reminded of the true meaning of holidays, and I am not here to give you the “be thankful” lecture, either.

I am here to remind you that’s it’s okay.

It’s okay if you want it to be “perfect”. It’s okay that you cry when your crust burns or your cranberry sauce boiled over and set off the smoke alarm which woke up the baby and that sent you into a frenzy because you had a million things planned to do while the baby napped. It’s okay that the dog puked on the floor fifteen minutes before the guests arrive and it’s even okay when junior gets the stomach bug an hour before that. It’s okay you forgot to remove the giblet bag, and it’s even okay if the turkey is as dry as sawdust and you forgot to make gravy.

In reality, people don’t mind.

Nobody starts to hate anyone because the meal wasn’t perfect, or the kid got sick.

You’re actually more loveable when you aren’t perfect, and things happen sometimes.

No wars started over bad meals or burnt cookies.

Remember all the times you snapped back at some kind person attempting to console you with the calm: “It’s okay.” ?

You know the times you reply, “It’s NOT okay.”

It turns out, despite the circumstance… it probably really did end up “okay.”

So, I am here to tell you that if the baby wakes up, the dog pukes or the kid gets sick, hug them all, be thankful, and tell yourself:

“It’s okay.”

I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.

I will be back with a re-cap, including any stories of mishaps.

Right now, I have to go clean up dog puke.