I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal like our family did today. As I reflect on the day I realize there are so many things we have to be thankful to God for. Not only did we eat well today, we never wonder where our next meal will come from. We live in a multi-room home with indoor plumbing. It is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Every morning we get up and have to decide which of our many clothes we will wear for the day. We are in excellent health and can work to provide for ourselves. Our kids are receiving an excellent education. And most importantly, we are free to worship God publicly. It is so very easy to take all of this for granted.
LAST CHEMO! Speaking of health, unless upcoming tests prove otherwise, Pauline had her last chemo treatment Tuesday. We are so glad even though the final word on all of this will come closer to Christmas. She has done very well, and even spent yesterday cooking for Thanksgiving.
THANKSGIVING ACTIVITIES. For me the kick off to every holiday season is the Cross Plains Heritage Commission’s covered dish supper the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I had a stomach virus that night and missed it. At least I was better the next day.
East Robertson Elementary served their Thanksgiving meal Friday. I was unable to make it to that one either, though my stomach was much better. Vicki ate with all three kids (the cafeteria ladies let her spread her meal out). When Vicki was eating with Nate he looked over his tray, pointed to the meat, and asked Vicki to identify it. She told him it was turkey. Then he asked, “Why did they put slobber all over it?”
Sunday night marked out annual Community Thanksgiving service at church. It was held at our church with Cross Plains Methodist, Friendship Baptist, Milldale Presbyterian, and Owens Chapel Methodist participating. We had a big meal before the service. The Men’s Chorus from Friendship sang and their pastor, Keith Jackson, spoke. Milldale’s pastor, Kyle Gott, lead the communion. It was really a great service. Close to 400 people attended.
THANKSGIVING DAY. Today was a beautiful day. The kids and I spent this morning getting leaves off the yard. We cleaned about a third of the yard and spread the leaves in the old soybean field behind the house. Vicki spent the morning cooking.
We all gathered over at Pauline’s around 1:30 for dinner. The menu was the usual ham, squash dressing, sweet potatoe casserole, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, corn, green beans, rolls, and cranberry sauce. This was all topped off with carrot cake. After clearing the table the kids and Mom played a game of Monopoly (I was the banker and helped Nate). Mom blew everyone away.
DIFFERENT HABITS. When you have a married couple there are bound to be differences in the way they do things. For example, I am pretty good about putting things back where I found them. Vicki tends to set things down wherever she is when she’s done using them. The pen I try to keep in the computer desk best illustrates this.
Oh, if only I COULD keep a pen at the computer desk. Vicki is always taking the pens off somewhere else. We have pens that started life at the computer desk and have migrated to God only knows where. I think she sticks them behind her ear and forgets them so they ride on her head only to be discovered hours later when she is nowhere close to the computer. It wouldn’t be so bad, but I like to use a specific type of pen, the Pilot Precise V5.
Recently she defended herself to the last when I asked her to find at least one pen for me to write with. She gets defensive now because this has been going on for years. This time Jenna looked through Vicki’s purse and found two pens from the desk right off the bat. My new favorite nickname for my wife is “kleptoPENiac.”
RECOMMENDED PODCASTS. I recently got an iPod Touch. We all enjoy the games I have downloaded on it. I also enjoy several podcasts. Here are the ones I enjoy listening to. You can subscribe to any of them on the iTunes store free of charge.
LifeChurch.tv -- I enjoy Craig Groeschel’s sermons.
John Eldridge and Ransomed Heart -- I subscribe to a couple of these.
StarDate -- A daily astronomy update from the McDonald Observatory.
StoryCorps -- A weekly podcast from the StoryCorps project.
The News from Lake Wobegon -- Garrison Keillor -- Need I say more?
Two Chairs, No Waiting -- A new podcast for Andy Griffith Show fans.
Speaking of astronomy, Jupiter and Venus are putting on a great show every night just after sunset. The Moon will join them for a tight conjunction Monday night.
Joe
