Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

                

Happy Thanksgiving! (Thanks, Shelly, for the tag above.) Today I am reflecting on all the things I am thankful for and the many blessings in my life.  The biggest blessing is threefold....that would be Becky, Joey and Megan; my children.  There isn't a moment that goes by that I do not thank the Lord for blessing me with three of the most beautiful, smartest, kindest children in the world.

I am also thankful for my father, even though he is no longer with us.  My father bestowed unconditional love upon me and also my children.  All little girls should have a daddy like mine.  He loved and respected my mom; while "spoiling" the daylights out of me.  Because of my father, I am basically a loving, trusting person; content with my imperfections.  My dad thought I was the most beautiful person to walk the earth and told me so all the time.

I am so thankful that my mother and I have reached a common plateau with each other.  For many years, it was my mother and brother vs. my father and me.  My mother and I have nothing in common.  We are as different as night and day.  My mom tried her best to turn me into a mini-me of herself.  It didn't happen.  She was bitter for a long time.  She was hospitalized a few years ago with the MRSA infection.  The tide turned more so in my direction.  We have both become more mellow.  My mother is 88 years old.  I no longer feel the need to disagree with her opinions constantly.  Without my mom, I would be homeless; seriously.  My mother cannot display her feelings.  I know that she adores the ground Joey walks on .  I now know that she is constantly praising my girls.  I have heard from others that she praises my family quite frequently.  We are her life; even though she can't express it directly. 

I am also thankful for my BF.  I got it right this time.  He is so much like my father as opposed to my ex, who couldn't be more different than my father.  He also thinks I'm the most beautiful female to walk this earth.  (LOL..he needs glasses.)

Now, I am thankful for my flimsy, dingy shower in the basement from hell.  I have a plumbing nightmare on my hands.  Yes, my plumber's name is Randy.  I call him handy, dandy, Randy because he is "retired" but is busier now than ever.  He can't turn anyone down who needs help.  My drain is not only clogged but is leaking under the bathroom floor along with God only knows how many other pipes.  He was here off and on for two days and left.  He will be back.  He told my son I'm going to have a heart attack when I hear what has to be done.  I already know he has to cut through the ceiling, which leads me to another area.  I am thankful that my homeowner's insurance will pay for the repairs from the water damage.  I pay Randy for the plumbing.  Insurance will pick up the amount to repair the ceiling, etc. which is going to be quite extensive.  So, back to the shower....thankfully, we are able to stay clean while the repairs are being done.  A bottle of Tilex goes a long way.  Megan and I never use it.  I'm surprised my son isn't diseased because the only time I go to the basement is to do laundry.

My bird is in the oven.  I am "accomodating" Megan's gluten-free diet.  I will take her Butterball (the only frozen turkey she can eat) with the stuffing made from the gluten-free bread (grrr...$4.50 for half a loaf so I needed two) to my brother's.  Ok, I am thankful that I will get to spend the afternoon with all three of my children and my mother.

And...since I tend to ramble on....lastly, I am thankful that the house is slowly getting cleaned thoroughly once again and looks like it. 

I wish all of you continued blessings!  I am more than thankful for JLand; my home away from home and my escape from daily stress.  You are all the best!

Thanks, Donna,This and that, andhockey! for this adorable turkey!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that you and yours have joy today as you eat and spend time together!
love,lj

Anonymous said...

Thankyou for sharing your blessings with us ,Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your lovely family love Jan xx

Anonymous said...

I hope you and your family are having a wonderful "Thanksgiving" Day ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

Wishing you and your family a great Thanksgiving :)  Millie xx

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving my friend. Enjoy the day!
Blessings, Sugar

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving :P

hugs and love
jennifer

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Chris

Anonymous said...

Have a Great Thanksgiving!!!!!!

hugs

tina

Anonymous said...

 Chris, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope your plumbing problems are fixed soon.

                  Julie

Anonymous said...

Have a good Thanksgiving

Deb

Anonymous said...

Chris, Have a great Thanksgiving, Hugs Lisa

Anonymous said...

Hi, good to hear about you and yours.  I think it is very nice that you talk about the good relationship you had with your dad because people need to hear that not all relationships with parents are bad.  Some are very nurturing.  It also sounds like you are the Mom you think every kid should have.  I have some wonderful moms in my family who would do anything for their kids. It is inspiring to see, and you know because of having a strong parent in their lives they will be all the stronger.  Some kids are lucky enough to have two nurturing loving parents.  But such a mate is not easy to meet up with, and we women have such a short time when we can get our children into the world, we may have to settle for less than perfect fathers, if we have a tremendous need and drive to have kids. I know it was that way with me.  My mom and dad had individual stengths they passed on, but both had a terrible struggle being loving understanding parents.  Well, anyway I just loved your words this morning!  Sorry about the plumbing.   Gerry
http://journals.aol.com/gehi6/daughters-of-the-shadow-men/    

Anonymous said...

Chris,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.  We have a plumber in our family which is nice, except he lives in Hawaii now.  I'm glad your DSL is working.  Smiles to a beautiful woman (and I'm wearing my glasses....hehe)
David

Anonymous said...

Oh! dear sorry about all the plumbing problems.always something for somebody isn't there now? Hope it gets sorted soon.You told a lovely story of your parents.
Yes our kids are our life are they not.We have to be thankful for everything around us.Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Enjoy to the full.Take Care God Bless you and Yours.
Astoriasand http://journals.aol.co.uk/astoriasand/MYSIMPLERHYMES

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving Chris!!!
Hugss ~Terri~

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your entry today.  Hope you had a great day.
Missie

Anonymous said...

HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING! DANNY WAS MY PLUMBER, MY MAINTNANCE MAN...I SURE HOPE NOTHING GOES WRONG WITH MY PIPES NOW! PLUMBERS ARE NOT CHEAP, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW!
LOVE YA,CARLENE

Anonymous said...

Happy thanksgiving to you and yours!!!!!!!

hugs and love
jennifer

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris...this was a nice entry to read.  Enjoyed reading it a lot.  I sure with I had a handy dandy Randy to do plumbing at my house.  Send him my way!!  
You DO have a lot to be thankful for!  You are very blessed.
Enjoy your day.
Pam

Anonymous said...

I am thankful for you!  I hope that your day was wonderful and the gluten free sounds wonderful...you are such a sweet mom!
KJ

Anonymous said...

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving Chris. It sounds like you have a great family! I hope the plumbing gets fixed soon! Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

I hope your Thanksgiving turned out to be everything you wanted it to!  Being able to spend it with all 3 of your kids is awesome in and of itself! :)  I only got to spend it with 2 of mine.  But it was all good! :)

Love you
Jackie

Anonymous said...

Yep, you have so much to be thankful for.  I wish you the best of luck with getting that plumbing fixed.  And I hope you had a super fantastic Thanksgiving. : ) Hugs and GBU, Shelly

P.S.  That is a cute turkey! : )

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful entry, Chris.  You have much to be thankful for and reminded me of more things that I have to be thankful for too.

be well,
Dawn

ps... hope Randy get the disaster under control soon!

Anonymous said...

I am behind as usual and with sick granddaughters, dont know how much I can catch up.  I just. We are all blessed to have each other here in JLand and I am so thankful I found this place.  I hope you day was full of joy and love. Thinking of you and yours, Barb  

Anonymous said...

Yah, it will probably take him a week but hopefully he wont have to repair much...I hate those leaks...I remember as a kid haveing to mop up water from our basement daily..lol....loved hearing about your father....how lovely to have known a father like that.....My father was the jerk and my mother was the good parent....she tried and that is what counts...I think our generation of parenting is so different than our parents...We are really more open to uniqueness than our parents were....somehow carbon copies dont need to be repopulated by us...good thing....Its funny how fighting for our opinions to be heard ends up later on in life, not worth it....Its not like we arent opinionated its just exhausting to try to win anymore....hope your thanksgivine went well...-Raven

Anonymous said...

I really hope that you had a good turkey day. Sounds like you know what to be thankful for, i think its a good idea to take time out of our busy lifes and just realise how blessed we truly are!

Shermeen xx

ps, even though we dont have thanksgiving over here. i'm thankful for your friendship!

Anonymous said...

Sorry your house is giving you so much trouble. It's always something isn't it?

Hang in there Chris!!!  You can come use my shower anytime hehehe :)

Kara

Anonymous said...

Lots to be thankful for, even in the midst of some problems!
Love you,Chris. xo
penny
http://journals.aol.com/penniepooh/pennys-pieces-of-ohio/

http://journals.aol.com/penniepooh/let-the-earth-rejoice/

Anonymous said...

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Chris!!!! http://journals.aol.com/shayshaydc/Golfaholic
Sharon:)