Thanksgiving 2014

Marathon training season started for me today, followed by a game of Risk in which Connor utterly crushed me. During the game, Connor announced that he and Helen had waited until 8:00 to wake up (a rare treat for Ed, indeed) and Connor had even set the table for breakfast before Ed came out to put something on the table - surely a good omen for the day.

Helen ran a half mile and Connor ran a mile as I told them we were participating in 37 days of awesome by running every day until New Year's. The original challenge I signed up for was to run at least one mile every day, but Helen feels she needs a little time to work up to that. 

Next came cheesecake (the dessert Connor requested) and banana bread (the bananas on the counter called me to end their misery) baking, a decadent seafood platter put together by Ed to take to our neighbor's home, and then back home for the main event with just the four of us. It's not our typical Thanksgiving, but it did provide a nice break. Friends joined us for cocktails and dessert to top off the day. Helen and Connor went to bed giggling, zipped up in the double sleeping bags that Ed and I first used on our honeymoon in Alaska back in 2001.

The 3.5 pound red snapper that we baked in salt, something which is becoming our traditional fancy meal.

There is cheesecake! We will conquer it later!

Potatoes Anna - so much buttery goodness.

The perfectly baked fish. We consumed about half of it - so there's plenty for leftovers! It's almost like having a giant turkey at our home!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Elaine

Around the House Week 4: Thanksgiving

This year, I'm thankful for emergency room doctors who make calls to orthopedic surgeons, and orthopedic surgeons who answer those calls - even when they're not on duty. I'm thankful for a clause in our insurance that provides 100 percent coverage for everything related to an accident that happens within 72 hours, which means the first round of Connor's surgery was covered completely. Amazing luck. I'm thankful for bones that heal quickly and even more, I'm thankful for whatever force caused Connor to land on his non-dominant arm when he fell,  rather than anywhere else. Even more amazing luck. As bad as Connor's fall was, I'm well aware it could have been much worse. As of Tuesday afternoon, I'm thankful for a little boy that is walking around without a sling.

I'm thankful for fancy chocolate shops and delicious cupcake shops - and probably even more thankful that they are next to each other about a mile from my home. Pure Indulgence.

I'm thankful for Helen, who runs at mid-to-top speed most of the time, laughing most of the way. I'm thankful for the "I love you, too", that she says most nights in her sleep when I make sure she's tucked in warmly before I go to bed. I'm even thankful for the way she digs into an argument. It'll serve her well in her future.

I'm thankful for Connor's good spirit. Without it, his broken arm would've been much worse. He adapted well to limited abilities, though I have yet to break it to him that he can't ski until the new year. Shhh...

I'm thankful for a gift of a second grade teacher, who has wrapped Connor in love and kindness, and finds a way to push him when he needs it. She coordinated a balloon delivery and get well cards from the class, which meant a lot to Connor. I delivered chocolate chip cookies to the class a few afternoons ago as a thank you to them and I was thankful for those kids, because more than one of them expressed that these were the best cookies they'd ever had, exclaimed "these are homemade!", and asked me to give them the recipe because their grandma knew how to cook. Talk about an ego boost!

I'm thankful for Helen's school. There's no place else I would want to drop her off in the morning.

I'm thankful for little people who still think I can solve most problems. I'm also thankful when they solve those problems on their own.

I'm thankful for rhythms that ground our house and equally thankful for surprises that keep us on our toes. 

And finally, I'm thankful for the glass stars that hang in my kitchen window, disbursing the occasional rainbow and hanging always as a reminder that there is beauty in the world. I'm so lucky to be able to enjoy it.

 Elaine

NaBloPoMo Advice Column - Day 24 - Give Thanks

I'm writing 30 thoughts in 30 days for NaBloPoMo. In no particular order, I'm giving you my worldview - as it comes up.

This piece of advice, like many of the others, pretty much goes without saying - give thanks! And so I give you my almost annual Thanksgiving letter.

This year, more than anything else, I'm thankful for great health, outside of my kidney stone episode at the beginning of the year. Both Connor and Helen continue to enjoy extremely good health, battling nothing more than a couple of colds and ear infections this year. Oh yeah, and the strange puking incidents that left us baffled, but ultimately resulted only in eliminating mussels from our diets. I'm very aware we're getting off super easy in the illness department, and I start every day by taking a moment to be grateful for this.

I am also thankful for long summer days spent at the swimming pool, Connor's fearlessness on the diving board and Helen's endless laughter at the pool. That pool provides more entertainment for our family than anything else in the summer - often filling both afternoon and evening hours.

Thank you, Coach Bobby, for making the diving team the most fun children's activity our family has ever been a part of. We're looking forward to many more years. Next summer, I'm confident Connor will finally complete that back flip.

I'm still thankful for the proliferation of fancy cupcake stores in the area, and for the creative concoctions that keep being produced. Look what I brought home from Sprinkles, yesterday!

2 salted caramels, 1 cranberry orange, 1 cinnamon sugar for Connor, 1 dark chocolate for Helen, and 1 chocolate peanut butter chip - my favorite.

I'm thankful for fantastic meals (our Thanksgiving consisted of a salt-encrusted red snapper, potatoes Anna, mushroom-orzo stuffing, Brussels sprouts, and flourless chocolate cakes) and family to share them with. I'm also thankful for Miriam's Kitchen and other places like it, who keep many people in my area fed and warm. I hope the economy turns around soon so that fewer people will be in such a fragile state in the near future.

Helen breaking into the fish.

Yummm....roasted brussels sprouts and potatoes Anna.

I make ill-fated cheese runs to Arrowine like frat boys make runs to the beer store at 2 in the morning. Last night was no exception. Helen and I made it into the store with 5 minutes to spare, grabbed a bottle of pink bubbly and three fantastic cheeses. Not a person eating dinner today had room for that cheese - but we all did our best.

I'm thankful for a few recent evenings spent in the pottery studio, good company when I'm there, and lectures that continue to inspire. The world is a tremendously beautiful place.

I'm thankful for grandparents who babysit so I can go out of town.

And grandparents who bail me out when my childcare falls through.

I'm thankful for my kids. They've shown me the world in a whole new light - and that light is bright, and fun, and really good.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And that this starts a year of giving thanks daily.
Elaine

Building a worldview:
Day 1: Surround Yourself With Brilliant People (though my friend Susan makes a good point that clever is pretty good, too).
Day 2: Whatever, it works.
Day 3: Surround Yourself With Beauty
Day 4: When You Go Through Something New - Drag Someone With You
Day 5: No sweatpants.
Day 6: Embrace the Crazy
Day 7: Listen to Your Friends or Fight Old Fogey-dom. Get out there. Keep experiencing fun, new things.
Day 8: Don't Let Anyone Sell You Short
Day 9: Take a Lesson From Your Child
Day 10: Consume the best chocolate you can
Day 11: Help your neighbor.
Day 12: Take Breaks
Day 13: Establish a Realistic Rhythm
Day 14: Sometimes, you just have to ask.
Day 15: Loose Lips Sink Ships
Day 16: Stop Things from Going from Bad to Worse
Day 17: Understand the Price of Success
Day 18: Question Everything
Day 19: Drink Great Wine with Old Friends
Day 20: Never Be a Volunteer at a Street Show in New Orleans
Day 21: Let Your Friends Bail You Out
Day 22: Turn Trash Into Treasure
Day 23: Always Have a Dream

Happy Thanksgiving: 2010

One nice thing about Thanksgiving is taking a moment to breathe in, look around, and give thanks. Here goes.

This year, I'm thankful for 5 year olds and good grooves, because for several months now, Ed and I have both been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Connor is just a happy kid. And he can (and does) dress himself (albeit mostly in sweat pants) most mornings and he even celebrated daylight savings recently by sleeping in until 8:00 the day before daylight savings started. It was awesome. Regularly, he hops up to his chair at breakfast, consumes a big meal, and then starts smiling and bubbling with excitement. It's contagious. Of course, there are still the occasional tired, very emotional days, but those are few and far between. And hey, I have them, too.

I'm also thankful for Helen. She is truly a pain in the rear end many days, saying "no" before considering any other answer, jabbering away non-stop, and recently taking to waving her arms, clapping, and shouting "Hey, Elaine!" when she wants my attention. But she also brings joy with her almost everywhere she goes, and she continues to be the snuggliest child in the world. And that is such a gift.

I'm thankful for healthy children and a partner that celebrates them with me.

I'm thankful for sleep, when I get it, and am hopeful that these last few nights of sleep are going to turn into a string of many, many nights of sleep. It's not the kids waking me. I think it's just the memory of waking often several years ago and never quite being able to kick the habit.

I'm thankful for a Democratic Senate that will hopefully hold the line in this next Congress and that we're getting closer to universal health care (though I continue to hold out hope of single payer). I'm thankful for the midwives that assisted me during pregnancy and that caught Connor and Helen. I still wouldn't do it any other way and I look forward to my annual visits with them. I wish the healthcare legislation would've provided more protections for midwives.

I'm thankful for no longer having to carry diapers when I travel.

I'm thankful for new recipes, dinners that get eaten by everyone (which happens occasionally), and that our local grocery store has started stocking Chincoteague clams. Everyone in my family loves those delicious, salty morsels. The last time we had them, Helen had 23, Connor had 23, and Ed and I had 1 apiece. Two didn't open.

I'm thankful for grandparents that come on ski trips, come to visit, and always agree to take morning duty when they visit. I'm also thankful for grandparents that allow me to drop my kids off for a week - or at least I hope to be someday (hint, hint). I'm also thankful for grandmas that never stop reading books.

I'm thankful for full-length musicals and lots of great, local children's theatre. Even more, I'm thankful that Connor and Helen seem cut out for the role of theatre buddies for me. Hopefully they'll wheel me into the theatre when I'm drooling on myself in my old age so I can see just one more show.

I'm thankful the Chiefs are winning again. It's been a long time.

I'm thankful for date night, HR57, and the proliferation of cupcake stores and high-end chocolatiers in the greater DC area. I'm thankful for good open mic nights at Iota, old friends returning to the States, and being back at Miriam's Kitchen. It's been a long time. I didn't realize how much I missed it. And along those veins, I'm thankful for Kevin Crowe's lecture at the Foundry this year.

And finally, I'm thankful for friends and family that inspire me daily. I believe in the power of positive energy. Thank you for sharing yours so freely.