Fill in the Blank Friday - a day late

Remember to go see more Fill in the Blank Friday entries here!

 

1.   Black Friday is a great day to get amazing deals - we usually either start or finish our shopping on Black Friday!  And by we, I really mean Alif.  God bless him!

2.  Christmas shopping this year will include the usual - gifts for family and a few close friends!

3.  Holiday shopping makes me excited.  But we keep it very simple, so it's not terribly overwhelming.

4.  This year my Christmas list will include  a griddle, which we already ordered online for an awesome price, workout clothes & shoes, gift cards to iTunes, Target and fabric stores, and any fun girly things!

5.  Bargain hunter, or full price shopper?   Bargain for sure, though I have very little patience, so if I really want something and have the money, I'll go ahead and pay full price.

6.  The best and worst things about shopping is the high I get from shopping and getting new stuff.  It's silly but true.

7.  Online shopper or in-person shopper? Both.  I like the ease of shopping online, and the excitement associated with waiting for The Truck to arrive, but I get annoyed with the limited options online - I like to just scan around the store and get the big picture and not feel like I'm missing out on something just because I didn't click the right category.  

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart!

I was stressed out yesterday.  I was hosting Thanksgiving, and I had a cold, and on top of that, I'd been out of town for the previous 4 days.  I didn't really feel up to all the preparations - the cleaning, the cooking, the decorating.  But most of all, I didn't feel capable.  My Mom, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law - all of the women who would be coming to my house, they all know how to put on a serious shindig.  They all have lots of decorations, lots of style and boy do they know how to make a party special!  I felt seriously inadequate.

God kept whispering to me, though, that I needed to be content with what I do have and that a warm welcome means more to my guests than gorgeous decor does.

The kids enjoyed their meal . . .

. . . and so did the adults!  Look at my Mom smiling, at my mother-in-law enjoying herself!  My Mom brought that leaf garland and my mother-in-law loaned me the white tablecloth.

Alif & Graham set up a really cute candle display inside the fireplace, and it made things so cozy.  We adults sat around the table and played Phase 10, ate pie (and more pie), laughed loudly and finally, after we sent our guests into the chilly night . . .

. . . we rested.

Fill in the Blank Friday

My friend Raquel has been doing these and it looks like fun, so here goes!  Go see more here.

1. My Thanksgiving plans this year will include our annual beach trip with my Dad & sister (and the whole family), then it's our year to be with Alif's family on Thanksgiving Day so we'll see what we end up doing on that day.
2. My favorite Thanksgiving was any Thanksgiving spent with my maternal grandparents at their home at the beach.  The memories I have from those holidays are priceless!
3. My signature thanksgiving dish is the deep-pit turkey that Alif actually makes.  ;-)  
4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is the entire plate.  Any one Thanksgiving dish isn't the same without buddies to back it up.  Turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans . . . 
5. Thanksgiving free association turkey, indians and pilgrims, thankful heart, family
6. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, because we get all the family time, good food and talk talk talking, without the gifts
7. I am thankful for my Mom still here with us and healthy, my awesome husband and children, a very close extended family, my gym membership - many others, but most of all the love and compassion of my sweet Lord.

Evaluating

If you blog, you've probably read lots of times about how important it is to evaluate why you're blogging, and let your answers dictate your blogging style and content.

I haven't really done that.  It's funny when I think about it, how eclectic my entire life is.  If I take a personality test, the results are usually some strangely clashing answer that indicates that I might be an unstable person.  Trying to settle on a decorating style for my home is equally frustrating.  Oooh, that French Country home is so lovely!  Oh man, that funky modern one is awesome too!  But wait, I love that "traditional with a twist" house! 

Anyway, I've never really wrapped my mind about why I want to blog.  Do I want to just preserve memories and have fun doing it?  Do I hope to supplement my husband's income?  I cringe at taking personality tests these days.  The hope is gone that one will really peg me.  My home goes basically undecorated because I can't even decide on colors, much less an actual style.  And yeah, clearly my blog is suffering too.

But guess what?  I have actually come to a conclusion in this matter!  Are you ready?

I really just want to write. 

Ta-daaa!  That's my answer.  I love to write.  I started keeping a diary when I was a little girl and have kept one going ever since.  Like I told my kids today, I was most prolific during junior high and high school, but sometimes still I just need to process, and I'm a visual learner, so seeing my thoughts in print is highly satisfying.

So.  I'm sorry you can't ever know what to expect when you come here . . . but then again, maybe that's part of my charm.  Ha!  :-)

Exciting Afternoon

The kids and I left the house at 4:40 - stopped for gas and then out to pick Alif up from dropping off his truck at the auto repair shop.  On the way there I took my eyes off the road for a few seconds, looking in the mirror, and when I looked up I was FEET from a big blue car.  I slammed on my brakes and stopped in time.  Ugh! 

We picked Alif up and were heading to take Malachi to his soccer practice.  We stopped at a stoplight.  The light turned green and I waited a couple seconds, started to go, looked both ways and saw a gray car blatantly running the red light - I mean, this was 3-4 seconds after it had turned red for her.  I slammed the brakes (AGAIN) but the car to my right did not.  The gray car slammed into the other car, taking off the whole bumper (which flew like 25 feet), then she kept right on going down the sidewalk, taking down a speed limit sign and coming to a stop on the sidewalk about 40 feet down.  Thank God no one was walking there.  Both people were fine, but gosh, what a mess.  We pulled into a parking lot so we could go give them our number.  The kids and I sat in the car while Alif walked over, and within a minute or two there was a fire truck, ambulance and 3 police cars.  It took a while but Alif gave our numbers to the police officer and both drivers.

While we waited, there was a AAA van a few parking spots down changing a lady's battery.  Alif got back in the car, I turned the ignition, and - yyyeah.  Dead battery.  We looked at each other and started cracking up, as did the AAA driver and the lady whose battery was dead.  Darn if that AAA driver didn't come on down and give us a jump!  LOL!  Talk about nice!! 

From there we dropped Malachi off at practice, 30 minutes late, went over to an auto parts store to get a battery - of course I couldn't turn the car off at all, and as time ticked by it was 6:25 and I could not wait one more minute to go get Malachi so I had to leave Alif there and go get Malachi.  I didn't have my cell phone so I sent Graham and Caris in to tell him I was leaving.  Picked up Malachi, went back to get Alif, stopped for McDonald's, and FINALLY got home at like 7:20.  Canaan had been in his seat SOLID for almost 3 hours and hadn't complained once - oh man I was proud of him!

SO ridiculous.  What an evening!!  It totally made my night though when I put the kids to bed, went for my computer and there was a sticky note from Malachi that said, "Thank you for making today a fun day and thank you for helping me with my schoolwork.  Oh yea, Good night!"  :*)