Happy Thanksgiving Day

Wishing all the blessings of a Thanksgiving with those you love and love you.


May this year bring a bounty to you and yours.


Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Declutter before Christmas

After reading 3 Grrrls Knit post about clearing out, I sent her an idea which a friend gave me years ago and works wonders.

When Debbie got married her husband moved in with lots of clothes. She noticed he didn't wear lots of them and closet space was a premium. She pulled out items she hadn't washed recently that were in season. Putting the bags in a back closet for 3 to 6 months, if an item was asked for it returned to the closet. After the time period, out the bags go to a local thrift shop/charity.

I had a similar issue when DH and I married, uniting closets and the other household stuff. I used Debbie's idea and it was great. We did go through closets together at times, but DH at times likes to keep the old trusty items for "comfort."

With a household that now includes 2 kids, the stuff just multiplies. MM and LB at times will put items into the Goodwill bag with a generous spirit, but other times the little horders surface. I usually pull items off the toy shelves and bins times when I have to clean up the house. If I have to put it away, then it stays. Hey they are playing with it. If things sit on the shelves for months and even need a dusting, it isn't an item of interest so into the Goodwill box.

So far on the kid front I have only pulled two items out of a bag during the isolation time. And after items leave the house, only when one Carebear wasseen at the church sale did something return home.

If this idea works for you - go for it.

Haircolor?

Thanks to Bridget - a new color may be in order.

I have a funky inner hair color, who knew?!

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Rushing the season...

And I'm not happy!

There are already at least 3 houses between the school and our house with Christmas decorations out. Alright last weekend's warm weather probably did encourage some to put up outdoor decorations without the need of gloves.

So I can sort of handle the idea for those who want to support the electric company, but one house actually had their decorations turned on tonight!!!!!! Not just the cute white twinkle lights, but the illuminated candy canes, inflatable Santa, and other lighted decorations all over the front lawn.

I love Thanksgiving. It truly is my favorite holiday basically because there is no pressure for selection perfection. No gifts to buy or make, wrap, and ship across the country just in time. Thanksgiving is just that a day for giving thanks and being with family and friends who are important.

What has this country come to when stores are putting up Christmas holiday decorations the day after Halloween? With the financial mess growing daily - I hope people find their way back to the importance of being thankful for what they have and concerned about those in need in their own neighborhoods.

Join with me and keep Thanksgiving the focus for the next week!

Let Christmas have it's own special place on the calendar! One that doesn't start before the turkey and trimmings!

Thanks from one who refuses to loose the join in Thanksgiving.

Homemade Bread Day

Wow - found this out through one of my quilting lists.

So perfect since I have bread dough in the bread machine right now and soon will have this week's sandwich loaf.

DH wanted a bread machine back as we put together out wedding registry. Since most of the decisions were mine, I played along and let him add it. Then we ended up with two machines both from DH's family. After MM came along and my time for making bread dropped off to a minuscule amount - I pulled out the bread machine.

Now about 7 years later, I make at least 2 loaves of bread a week. With all the use it gets, I'm quickly wearing out the machine. In fact each loaf I make I'm keep my fingers crossed and hope that the dough comes out before the machine dies.

Thankfully - This year my folks are granting a gift wish and I'll have a new machine for Christmas.

More fun then should be legal

This weekend, since Thursday, I've been in VA/MD for the MARAC conference and a visit with part of DH's family. The invite to stay with the DC cousins was a treat. This is family I so enjoy spending time visiting. Discussions are always enlightening and enliving. Also being spoiled away from home is just great too.

I walked Thursday night and was handed a glass of white wine - great way to end the drive from Philly.

The "more fun then should be legal" aspect is riding the Metro from VA to Silver Spring friday and saturday. One of my favorite things is people watching. I enjoy the little kid who is just sooo excited to be on the train, especially if it's not mine. I also am entertained by the wonderful oddities of people when they aren't trying to be the image they want everyone else to see. From the guy who is so into the tunes on his MP3 that his "white boy" shimmy comes out to the college kids dressed for a night on the town.

My favorites for this trip were two boys I saw Saturday. This weekend was the Autism Speaks Walk DC. In the morning, a family group with 3 boys were heading into the District. The one boy was so excited to be on the train and riding underground. Also he would read the next stop posting for everyone. His mom would ask, "is that where we get off?" His anwser each time was nope, we go to Metro Center. Since that was my change point, I considered this generous public service.

On my way back home, evidently the walk was done. I rode from Metro Center back to VA with another family proudly sporting their t-shirts. My entertainment was a dad and the 4-5 year old chatting about their good walk and the fun of riding the train. These observations made the travel back and forth so entertaining.

I really give credit to both of these families and those others who continue to keep their kids out in the world of normal family activities. Over the past three years, thanks to a good friend, I've become more aware of just a few of the issues around life with an austistic child.

More later about the fun and other activity of the weekend later.

Halloween results

Only 12 goblins, princesses, and other characters made it to our door for treats ... but my race car driver and pirate came home with way too much.


This bowl could put even the most balanced person into a diabetic coma. And this is after a couple of days enjoyment by the entire family.



Saturday brought friends over for an Autumn party. This was held to make up for an over active August and too little time for MM's birthday party. After leaving the distribution of the invites to MM and DH, we had 8 kids for the afternoon.

We had pumpkin crafts, bobbing for apples, and general kid fun. The kids had a good time and MM enjoyed having friends over.



For me it was great, I got a chunk of the house really clean!!!




Of course Nana provided seasonal sweaters with glow in the dark designs.

I did

and I hope you did also.


My half hour waiting around as the new poll worker fouled up the process that the ladies who've been at our precinct since we moved into our house, was a breeze compared to some of the reports for others here in Philly.