Still a warm up to post about the parade...

The night before Macy's

 the whole group of us

 caught a train

  to the upper west side.

There was the museum, of course,

and

the BIG balloons were being inflated.

We wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

It's an impressive undertaking to get the massive characters full of helium and then weight them down to spend the night on the street.

Turns out the pre-parade hulla-balloo(n) is almost as much fun as the big event.

exploring the Big Apple

It was a whirlwind trip.

We (mostly) cleaned up from our Thanksgiving meal.

We packed our bags

(and bag lunches with turkey-leftover sandwiches).

We left in three vehicles on Wednesday morning.

Aaron and Rachael plus three girls, 

Roger with five of our kids, and Ellen and I.

It was rainy. We agreed that with day-before-Thanksgiving traffic and rain, it wouldn't be a good idea to caravan.  Turns out there was NO traffic to speak of. We rendezvous'd at our hotel on the corner of Lexington and 49th in the early part of the afternoon

and set off to explore the city.

It was a short walk to Rockefeller Plaza and Times Square.

We took a quick subway ride to The Museum of Natural History.

 There was no shortage of things to see.

(...to be continued)

I have so much to tell you...

however...

I'm off to chaperone a seventh grade field trip.

We were in New York City for Thanksgiving.

It was amazing.

Details forthcoming.

Happy December!

Turkey Dinner on Tuesday

It worked!

It's just as much work to have Thanksgiving on Tuesday as it is on a Thursday, but it worked.

We're feeling thankful and our bellies are full.

 We recruited some cousins to help fill out the "kid table"

 rounded up enough desserts to satisfy a small army

 and were thrilled to have mom and dad join us.

We're stuffed full of turkey and all the trimmings, thinking thankful thoughts and resting up for our big trip to the big city.  

this morning, it snowed

We woke up in the dark, two girls and I, and sat together under blankets at the seminary table until the sun came up.  It was then I noticed the snowflakes.  They were fluttering around, coating surfaces, teasing us with their presence, because I knew they would end.  Secretly, I hoped they would keep falling at least until the last child woke up, so I could share in the revelry as he looked out the window to see early signs of winter.  Wish granted.
The snow has stopped, and mostly melted away now that day has arrived fully.  Just two hours from now I'll be putting the turkey in the oven and prepping for our early Thanksgiving Day feast.  We contemplated skipping the big meal, but around the table on Sunday we voted unanimously to hold it on this fourth Tuesday of the month.  A few phone calls later, the seats at our two tables are reserved and we're anxiously awaiting the sights and smells of the great kick-off to the holiday season.
Here is why I am feeling Thankful on a Tuesday:
-all is calm
-family and friends are on the way
-this morning it snowed
-I can still tell both sets of parents that I love them
-my reasons to feel thankful far outweigh any reason I might have to complain
-my husband made me a deluxe custom-for-me omelet for breakfast
-I have no plans to leave the house today
-there's a fire in the fireplace
-dessert was made before the turkey went into the brine
-there's a hot shower waiting for me upstairs
-I am loved
-Enrique texted me from the bus a few minutes ago, and said he's on his way to the big apple... I'm excited for his great adventure!
-in less than 24 hours we'll be on his heels
-it's the most wonderful time of the year

I hope your Tuesday brings even more reasons to feel gratitude in your life.

tolerance and respect

We attended a vigil in town Sunday night.  Someone in our community was wronged.

As part of a great human family, we are taught to do good to one another.

 I hope the message of many hands, one community shone bright.  We can't stand for the slander of God-given dignity in what makes us unique. 

Living together with mutual respect for one another's differences should not be such a challenge in today's world.  

C'mon people now,

Smile on your brother

Everybody get together

Try and love one another right now.

spicy

Leaving Provincetown last weekend I spotted the Atlantic Spice Company as we drove on by.  I was disappointed

that I didn't know it was there, and felt sad as we kept driving. It took me about three minutes to work it all out in my head before I said out loud

"Would you please turn the car around?... I want to go back."

It made me think of a song I used to hear a LOT when the older kids were little. We watched many hours of Sesame Street, and I probably enjoyed it just as much as they did.

"Nearly missed a sunset,

nearly missed a rainbow,

nearly missed a shooting star going by..."

I resolved to myself some time ago, to make an effort to have fewer regrets if it were possible. I'm getting pretty good at "no photographic regrets" and now it pleases me to report that I did not nearly miss the Atlantic Spice Company driving on by.

 By the way, they are not paying me to promote their business.  I just really loved browsing through the aromatic aisles of the store.  I came home with a large bag of catnip, a bag of mulling spices and some chopped dried onion for next to nothing.

 I'm sure I could have filled a cart if left to wander longer... the prices were great and seeing gourmet spices and herbs in such large quantities made me strangely happy. I may not make it back to Truro soon, but you can bet I'll be visiting their online store.

I like life a little spicy.