Sibling Assignment #45: Being Thankful

Our sibling assignment this week was given by Silver Valley Girl. In the spirit of Thanksgiving we were to create a video focusing on what we are thankful for. You will find a heartwarming creation about her family Silver Valley Girl produced while staying at my house here. Raymond Pert's will be here.

I loved the assignment. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on all my blessings. It was a much better way to spend my day than lining up at stores for Door Busters at sunrise.

Images of The Thanksgiving Gathering

A Peaceful Then Busy Thanksgiving Morning

The sunrise this morning was a peaceful way to begin the day as JEJ and I got up early to build the fires, make coffee, and heat water for tea. The color of the sky changed over the lake as the sun began to rise above the fog and clouds. The sun didn't warm up the below freezing temperatures. The pace began to pick up as soon as Mom Mary got out the Betty Crocker cookbook and began preparing pie crusts. As most of you remember pie crusts are not my expertise so I rely on Silver Valley Girl and Mom to prepare the pie crusts. See how Mom makes it look so easy as she cuts the pie dough? Silver Valley Girl adds a special touch to the loganberry pie by cutting out cute turkeys for the top crust. The best part of the pie preparation is the extra dough. As long as I can remember Mom made special pie crust cinnamon rolls with the extra dough that we got as a treat.I got that special childhood treat today to fortify me for continued preparations!

Thanksgiving Week Blessing: Breakfast for Dinner

After school today I had an appointment in town and had to do the last minute shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. I knew that would put me home after seven o'clock so JEJ agreed to be in charge of dinner. JEJ doesn't cook dinner often, but the dishes he does are always delicious. One of his specialties is basic breakfast: tonight that included fried potatoes, bacon, and eggs over easy. When I got home he filled the house with the smell of frying bacon.

Next the potatoes began sizzling in the pan. Last the eggs were cooked. We splurged a bit more and had cinnamon bread toast. What a perfect way to end a long, hectic day- breakfast for dinner. Now I am off to my "to-do" list as I countdown to Thanksgiving dinner. Let's see... now where is that "to-do" list?

Good Grief! What Happened to Thanksgiving?

I love harvest decor and the Thanksgiving holiday. When I see cans of Libby pumpkin, canned milk, and little jars of Kraft cheese waiting on display shelves at the grocery store I am taken back to childhood preparations for Thanksgiving. Because of the food associated with Thanksgiving the holiday does still exists in grocery stores.

What happened to the other very large discount one-stop-shopping stores? One day we were tripping over Halloween candy, costumes, and pumpkins with steam coming out of the tops and then out came the Christmas stuff. How did we go from Star Wars costumes to Santas that dance when you walk by? Good grief! I waited too long to shop for Thanksgiving. All I wanted was a table runner that had a fall motif. What I found were candy canes, snowflakes, and things that sing Christmas songs as you walk down the aisle.

When did this happen? I used to love to look at the cute turkeys that could be placed on the table for dinner. I loved the fall colors in napkins and candles. One year I know I found place mats in harvest colors. I found one clearance shelf last week with leaf place mats and finally stumbled on a shelf of turkey paper plates hidden between holiday food and Santa displays. Perhaps the harvest decor was so popular it sold out quickly? Where are the pilgrim candle holders? What about the cornucopias? Grrrr!
Now don't get me wrong. I love Christmas and decorating and all the preparations. Just not the third week of November.

I will return to do some last minute Thanksgiving shopping tomorrow. I will look for a fall bouquet, fresh cranberries, and apple cider. I just hope none of them are already adorned with glittery red and green wrapping. Just give me a brown label, an orange bow, or golden ribbon. Remember Thanksgiving...that holiday some stores keep forgetting. We have much to be thankful for. Gobble, gobble, gobble.

Sibling Assignment #44: An Unusual Thanksgiving Day: Snow, Grounded, and Barney's Restaurant

Raymond Pert gave the sibling assignment for the week. It was to write about an unusual Thanksgiving Day. We don't dress up our animals, but this picture seemed to match unusual! You can read Silver Valley Girl's here and Raymond Pert's here.

Growing up our Thanksgivings were spent gathered at a family friend's house. We didn't have any family close so it seemed natural to us. Sometimes my grandmother would travel up from Spokane (which seemed like a big journey back in the day!). The women all brought the food, visited, and worked in the kitchen while the men sat around the T.V. in the living room watching football and drinking beer. A big buffet was set up and there was more food then we could ever eat. I tried things at Thanksgiving that we never had at home because my dad didn't like many dishes. I remember the year the Broccoli/Cheeze Whiz/ Minute Rice casserole was the big hit when Dorothy brought it. I also remember Don's potatoes, lots and lots of jello, and fancy whipped cream that came out of a can. There were other kids close to my age. Growing up we spent the holiday looking through Sears catalogues, playing Barbies, listening to The Beatles, and gossiping about boys we had crushes on. I loved those Thanksgivings.

As my siblings and I grew older and left home we soon had our own spouses and homes. Often we would return home for Thanksgiving. Between marriages, divorces, boyfriends, girlfriends, the passing of my grandmothers, nieces, and the death of my father Thanksgiving was in constant change. During those years I always looked forward to being somewhere with family during the traditional holiday.


About eight or nine years ago JEJ and I were ready to travel to Kellogg to spend Thanksgiving with my mom. A winter storm had been predicted, but we didn't figure it would slow us down from traveling four hours to Idaho. It was a bad storm. It did slow us down. It was an unusual Thanksgiving as I gazed out at drifts of snow wondering what we would do. Stay home is what we did. We didn't have anything to prepare for dinner so we did the second unusual thing. A restaurant about ten miles away was serving a dinner. That is where we celebrated Thanksgiving. I remember how different it was. When I was younger I couldn't imagine why restaurants were even open on Thanksgiving. Who would eat there?

We ate at Barney's Restaurant at the highway junction. I remember how delicious the food was. It was a quiet atmosphere and we took time to be thankful for our many blessings. Driving through the snow on the return trip home we recalled how unusual this holiday was. It wasn't such a bad thing. Yes, I missed seeing family, eating Mom's great food and leftovers, but we survived. Now we have stayed at our home for other Thanksgivings for various reasons. It doesn't seem so unusual now.
This year we will celebrate in a somewhat unusual way again. My sister's family and my mom will be joining us at our home for Thanksgiving. That has only happened one other time since I have lived here in northeastern Washington. Let the countdown begin!