What was your Thanksgiving desert?

Here's what Abbie had

Ok, we had pie too, but we managed to get a fire going and toasted marshmallows. She doesn't like the black ones.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and have lots of things to be thankful for.

Here are some of mine
Abbie
my family
my job, because we all need one right now
my marriage
my home
my friends
there's so much I could list, but this year just the basics are enough. We had food for Thanksgiving, more than we needed, Rick, Abbie and I spent it together and we are all healthy.

birthday

We always take pictures of Abbie with each of us for her birthday, which means then we have a picture of Rick on his birthday but we never did on my birthday. So this year, a picture.

And one she took of me and Rick.

don't mind the mess

screw the socks

So yesterday I asked Abbie if we could go through the socks in her drawer and get rid of the ones that itch. Not would you wear socks, you have to wear socks, and these are the socks you have to wear, butlet’s just get rid of them to make room for more stuff. She said sure mommy. So we sorted the socks into piles of like socks, she actually tried some on and found 2 pairs she could stand to wear and wanted to leave some on. WONDERFUL I thought. So she went to a friends to play, she said after an hour or so she asked if she could take her socks off and they NEVER went back on. Ok, no sweat I’m not pushing. Well as I was going to bed last night I heard her screaming and crying in her sleep. I went in to see what was going on and she was clawing at her ankles trying to get off some socks that she wasn’t even wearing shaking her head back and forth saying no, no, no. I told Rick NO MORE SOCKS I’m not even asking or buying or anything. They can go on ebay or craigslist or the trash for all I care, but not on her.

Anyone need some socks?

history

This is a picture of my grandma, my mothers mother, Jean. Yes that date is 1929. I am assuming that the arm peaking out is her mother Ester. We've spent some time recently looking through old pictures, this is not even close to the oldest one, we have pictures of my great-great grandma as a young woman, Mom Dueser was born in 1887. So like I said this isn't the oldest picture. I think it struck me because I'm pretty sure that the chair my grandma is sitting in is sitting in my mothers entry way right this very second. I hear people talk all the time about what they want, the silver, the china, the money the art, the stuff. For me it's things like this picture, and all I have is the scan. Now when I walk past that chair I will see my grandma sitting there just like in this picture. So for me the pictures, that's what I want. Even more than that I'd love to know who's in them. So my new project, other than getting them printed and in albums, is to put names and maybe even stories to every picture in my computer. And the little old things, I've got a ring that was my great great grandma's and when I think about the things it's been through and the strength of the hands that wore it, I feel stronger like I can do more than I could without it.

We were looking at old things at my grandmas one night and she pulled out some tiny old things. One of which was a button hook, you know like you used to button up shoes in the days when women wore high button up shoes. At first I thought it was bakelite, but it's older than bakelite, they thought it was tortoise shell. And it was my great great grandma's mothers they thought, and they think perhaps she got it from someone she worked for. How many hands, buttons shoes, mornings and dreams. It was warm when I held it in my hand like it held the warmth from all of them.

by the way, want to see more?

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=9715l27e.atz1f5gu&x=0&h=1&y=-vlmsgu&localeid=en_US

voting

So I took Abbie with me to vote this morning. We were there about an hour and as we left she said to me, wow all that for a sticker! I'd explained to her in the car what I was going to do so she kept asking me to explain again in the line what we were doing. Lots of standing and waiting, lots of explaining. There was someone in line a couple people ahead of me who wanted to know if there was anyone who could explain what was on the ballot, like she didn't understand what she was voting for.

I guess everyone gets a sticker right?

on a side note, there was boy there TALLER THAN ABBIE with a paci in his mouth. I can't even tell you how glad I am we kicked that habit!

don't laugh

or disown me or what ever, but we can't start a fire. We can start one in our gas fire place in the living room. That's easy, well so long as it's lit, then we just flip a switch. But not in the fire pit in the back yard. We had some Lowes gift cards and the thing we had them for wasn't as much as I thought it would be, so we got a fire pit. I've wanted one FOR EVER so we got it. WASTE. Ok, so it's just the first night, I'm sure we'll figure it out. We had a difference of opinion. One thought to put some paper and stuff in a pile and then stack the wood around it like a tepee, the other to smash as much paper as possible in a pile and then smash wood on top of it and surround with paper and light. I kept my mouth shut. Neither worked. I don't think the first one got enough of a chance, the other not such a great idea? Who the heck knows. Now we live in the country, this is something we should be able to do.

My family can start a roaring 5 alarm blaze with 1/2 a wet match and a wet noodle. I fondly remember Christmas around the table with candles and fresh pine and snap crackle popping. Then I could start a fire, now not so much.

All we wanted was toasted marshmallows.