The Other Side of Giving Thanks

      One day is not nearly enough time for me to take stock of all the things for which I am thankful.  My life is nothing if not blessed.  Even a year would not be enough time.  From the moment I wake up (in a warm bed I am thankful for, next to an amazing husband and perfect child I am eternally thankful for, under a roof I am thankful to have, to get ready for a job I am thankful for, . . .) until the long, full day is done, every moment overflows with people, things, and circumstances that I can not adequately express my gratitude for, given any amount of time.

      Thanksgiving is a day of pure joy for the fact that I am so very blessed that I can never truly to justice to the purpose of the day.  I try to find some time to spend in quiet meditation and prayer for my gratitude.  Granted, sometimes this time is short, what with the chaos of cooking food I am thankful for and spending time with family I am thankful for.  But I try.  And this year, we are doing a Thankful Tree (pictures to come after the holiday - probably ;-)).  At every possible moment, I work to keep the Thanks in Thanksgiving.  In the same way that many Christians despise the term X-mas, I get annoyed when Thanksgiving is called Turkey Day.

      But the day is not only about Thanks to me.  Or, more appropriately, Thanks to me is about more than simply taking stock of what I have.  For me, Thanksgiving is also very much about awareness of, and compassion for, those who have less.

      There is no such thing as "Turkey Day" for those who cannot afford to eat.

      The sermon on Sunday at our UU Church was about Thanksgiving Prayers.  There were a number of prayers discussed, but the two that spoke to me most truly captured what Thanksgiving means in our family.

      The first is by Samuel F. Pugh:

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.

      The second is from the book Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World, an outstanding book for families of all religions.  It is this book's take on a UU prayer:

Eternal Spirit of Justice and Love,

At this time we would be aware

of our dependance upon the Earth

and on the sustaining presence of other human beings

both living and gone before us.

As we partake of bread and wine,

may we remember that there are many for whom

sufficient bread is a luxury,

or for whom wine, when attainable,

is only an escape.

Let our thanksgiving for life's bounty

include a committment to changing the world

that those who are now hungry may be filled

and those without hope may be given courage.

Amen.

- Credited to the Congregation of Abraxis

      This year, as you sit down before a pletiful meal, or as you find yourself filled with joy in all life has given you, take a moment to remember those who may be thankful merely to have a drink of water or see their children fed.  But do not then sink into sadness at the state of things.  Instead, rejoice in your ability to make a difference.  And on this day of thanks, make a resolution that this year, you will give others something to be Thankful for.

      Teach your children Compassion, Empathy, and Charity.  And also, teach yourself.  And remember that in every thing you have to be thankful for, there is something worth sharing.

       May you all have a wonderful, blessed, and safe Thanksgiving!  And if you are reading this, know that you are one of the many things I am Thankful for this year.

Thanksgiving in the ER

From Cheap Wine and Cookies

We are currently sitting in the er after an extremely tasty Thanksgiving turkey because, of course, I had to go and get all sick during the long weekend. Se we figured we'd also get Punky's persistant cough checked out.

Everyone's fine, and I get some codine [of which I'm a fan]. But it isn't really how I wanted to spend the evening. Fingers crossed that we get out of here soon. We have pies to get to!

In the Spirit

From Cheap Wine and Cookies

I had been writing a long, eloquent (right . . .) lovely post about all the things and people I am thankful for this thanksgiving, and there is a hell of a lot I have to be thankful for. But it was becoming quite the long unwieldy post, and I have a turkey to dress. So I've pared it down. What I'm really thankful for at this very moment is this:
This is a terrible picture (it doesn't even begin to capture how friggin hot my husband is ;-)), but our bedroom will be fully painted tonight! I am SOOO excited. I can't wait to post pics of the finished product. Some of you are probably wondering about the master bath . . . Well, that isn't done, but it is closer. Possibly by the end of the long weekend. Probably not. But the bedroom is soclose. And it looks AWESOME.

Plus, after a long search, I found the perfect owl for the wall on Etsy. Now if I could just find a couple of black vinyl paisly wall clings, I would be even happier.

From Cheap Wine and Cookies

All we have left to do after the paint dries is put in the new furnature, curtains, and gorgeous new bedding (we have two different sets that I LOVE, and both match the bedroom perfectly). Hooray for a full on grown-up bedroom with none of either of our old, hand-me down, "ecclectic" college furnature.

For this, among a mountain of other things, I am truely thankful.

So Much To Say . . .

. . . And Yet So Little Motivation.

It seems to be becoming a mantra of my blog. I have so many little half finished posts and ideas floating around, but real life keeps getting in the way of my blogging. At least I've finally found a few minutes to catch up on some of my bloggy buddies.

What sort of things do I really want to yammer about but can't seem to find the motivation to pump out posts on?

1) I didn't accomplish crap this weekend. We had decided that this weekend was going to be completely devoted to cleaning, organizing, and redecorating the house until MacGyver reminded me that Punky had a birthday party to go to on Saturday, followed by the Auction at our church (which was quite fun), and Sunday was Thanksgiving shopping.
- The birthday party was a blast. It was at the roller rink we used to take Punky to every weekend before the last few months of craziness ensued. And I was once again treated to watching my hubby wallop a bunch of teenagers in the races then trade dance moves on them. He's so cute.

2.) I have so much to do this very short week. I have to prep the turkey for Thanksgiving tonight because I have to work until super-late tomorrow night, and I have to get MacGyver's birthday present ASAP (like, tonight, also) since I'll be in the field the whole week of his birthday. Ugh, I was in the field for Punky's birthday, then mine, and now I will be for his as well. Ugh. I would love to go into more detail about my plans for his b-day, but, alas, he has started actually reading the blog, so I suppose that story will be an after the fact one.

3.) I am super excited about getting the IUD out in just over two weeks. We have been waiting to start trying for SO LONG. But the time is finally coming. It is going to kill me to try to keep from talking about that ad nauseum, but I will try. We've already come up with a boy's name, a girl's first name (though either of those may well evolve in the future), and the theme for the nursery, though we still have to decided which room will be the nursery.

4.) As a wonderful surprise for me Friday, I came home to find our bedroom half way painted! And the color we chose is perfect. I can't wait till it's done. I was hoping it would be done tonight, but having just spoken to MacGyver, it doesn't exactly sound like there's a whole lot of painting going on right now . . . haha.

5.) I just realized that if we're going to start TTC that soon, I'm going to have to cut my caffeine intake back down (I say as I crack open my afternoon pop). I had been doing really, really well, but a couple months ago the insanity of the schedule here got the better of me, and I've been a serious caffeine pig ever since. I'm also going to have to start bidding farewell to the glass of wine I enjoy so thoroughly with dinner every night. :-( But it will all be worth it!

And NOW, a question for the masses:

What are you making for Thanksgiving Dinner? Anything new this year to your family/gathering? I'm brining our turkey this year, which I've never done before, but other than that, we're going with a similar menu to the last couple years. And I'd also like to know everyone's favorite Thanksgiving dish.