We're still in Minnesota, soaking up every minute of family time. Last night we were flipping through the channels and my dad announced with his tv guide in hand, "this is a hallmark movie called, A Dog named Christmas. Stay tuned for the sequel 'A Cat named Easter.'"
Perfect Paul Harrington humor.
I am off this morning to The Great Cookie Swap. I can't wait!
the perfect thanksgiving plate.
Going clockwise you'll find creamed corn, my-favorite-ever-sweet-potatoes-and-marshmellow-lisa-I-love-you-fluff, my mom's amazing cranberry and apple jello, stuffing with gravy and my personal ham. I don't really care for turkey, and Kyle and Lisa are SO GOOD to always make me some special ham.Actually, great story: one of my first Easter's in the family, Kyle pulled me aside and said, "Hey, we know you don't like ham, so we made a turkey just for you." It honestly was the most thoughtful, welcoming, we-love-you gesture. And then I had to kindly say, "Oh, shoot, I actually like ham. It's the other way around...it's the turkey I'm not so crazy about" The polite side of me thought I should just go with it, but the thinking side of me realized that if I didn't speak up in that moment I would be eating Easter turkey forever. Regardless, the lengths of making an entire extra meat for me on the holidays speaks VOLUMES of how well cared for I am in my married-into family.
black friday
It's true, that last post about cell phones was written on Monday and set to post on Friday, because I knew I wouldn't be posting that day. I knew this, because my mom and grandma and I had big plans of sewing.
Unfortunately, in order to sew, we needed to go to JoAnn Fabrics. On Black Friday. In the morning. Yikes. So mom and I set went together and it was an experience to remember. And mostly, just to remember never to go again. On Black Friday. In the morning.
We got there and found our fabric and then found the line to get our fabric cut. There were 25 carts in front of us, most of which looked like this:
...take a moment to notice how small that cart is compared to this woman's fabric! Before I took this picture I asked the driver of the cart for permission to photograph her loot. She looked at me sort of funny and I said, "I just don't know how I can explain this experience to my husband without pictures!" She and her line-waiting buddies all laughed and we bonded in our JoAnn-Togetherness.
It was an adventure, and in a cool we're-all-in-this-together sort of way, it was fun. We made friends with the people in our lines, asking everyone around us what projects they were going to make with all of their fabric. And after an hour-and-a-half of standing in lines, we were able to come home and start sewing. Yes! Did you know?!! Over the last two weeks I have learned how to sew!!! More on that later...
the bummer about cell phones...
And then remember how when you answered you had no idea who was on the other end? And how no matter who was on the phone you were socially obligated to have some sort of conversation? When I would pick up at our house growing up, the person on the other end might have been a friend of my mom's or a person from church looking for my dad. It might have been a friend of my brother's or it might have been my grandma. Regardless, some sort of small talk followed after picking up the phone.
I miss that. In the day of cell phones and caller id, there is never really a moment when you just answer your phone and don't know who it is. Even if it says, "Unknown caller" we know that obviously that person's number is not in our phone already, so we might as well screen that call and see if they leave a message.
But I think we're missing out. Because in those small talk conversations with my mom's friends or the woman at church who was calling to see if Dad could come to the hospital, conversation was shared and my community grew just a little bit bigger.
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