Thanks and Giving, Do you ever think of it as such? The Lord Bless you life.....

Thankgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays.  It has sometimes, for me been about the food, sadly I must confess.  I have known hunger days in my life and for anyone who knows me knows I have struggled with food issues all of my life.  I have great moments and times of fanatically healthy living, as an adult I have weighed as little as 125, and I have weighed as much as 265, but for the most part I am a big healthy "Montana girl" as my Dr once put it.  I have eaten a relatively healthy diet for the better part of 20 years, we make most of what we eat, as little processed as we can have, we don't drink soda at our home and haven't for years, the rare bag of potato chips is soon stale or is crushed into a meatloaf because it just doesn't get eaten, we all know of Poppie great despair for the death of hostess, so maybe even his diet will become better or atleast his snacks will.  We do eat sugar in our home and there are no restrictions, I have found the fastwst way to make a child want it, or anything for the matter, is to deny it.  It makes them curious as to what it must be that they are missing.  My ladies are just not big sweet eaters, I have found more frosting cut off and left on the plate than I can shake a stick at.  They eat veggies because as a family we eat and grow veggies.  We eat a great deal of goat and there is just about nothing leaner than a goat, and believe it of not pork is not the evil that the Dr's, and society, is trying to convince you it is.  Our is so lean that we actually have to add oil to the pan to cook sausage so we are actually healthy eaters here, but I digress.  Thanksgiving is about the eating but with the eating is the family time.  Family and Friends gather together to share of their time, to fight in some cases I am told, my family never really has ever fought at Thanksgiving, any other time, but not at Thanksgiving, okay back to the subject.

Thanksgiving has always been about watching the Macy's day parade, one of my earliest memories of a TV is watching the Macy's day parade and of course the Wizard of OZ in the spring, don't know why they showed it in the spring but.... okay back to the subject.  I have always gotten up and watched the parade each and every year of my life as I can remember it.  My kids have never known a Thanksgiving with out the parade.  When I was a kid, after we would watch Miracle on 34th street or It's a wonderful life after but now it is a dog show, so sad, we do other things....  We at this house are not sportsters, so no, today isn't and never has been about football.  We try to make the day about sharing with our kids.  Sometimes it is a movie for the kids in the background of our day.  Sometimes it is all about the cooking, the Ladies and I spent the day baking yesterday.  Booboo, Boy and Cubbie helped with bread and pie crust, when  we were done with the needed doughs and they were in the oven cooking the littles rolled, rerolled and rerolled again their doughs.  They had such fun creating and learning about doughs, they managed to cook up pans of their creations.  Yogie helped me with the cranberries sauces, but forgot it at the simmer and it over cooked so she is going to make new this morning.  Burning food is as much a learning tool as is successfully cooking it.  We have sweetpotatoes to cook this morning as well.  The bird will go in to the oven all stuffed full of Booboo's stuffing.  We will do light cleaning this morning, as the christmas music plays in the background, after the parade is over,  We are going to have dinner later than normal this year maybe 5 or 6.  Mokie and family will be here, Bug and maybe Grandpa and Grandma, but they probably won't come but who knows, they were invited.  11 total if all come, a small gathering this year, but sometime less is more.

I told the girls thay they had to make a list of the things they were thankful this year, I notice Yogie working on hers diligently yesterday, it surprised me that she was writing a list and not just going to fly by the seat of her pants and say what ever came to her mind when the time came.  I have no idea what Booboo willl say.  I told them that this year they had to have a list of giving as well.  I wonder if they will make their list of what they plan to give in the coming year or of what they have given in the past year.  I guess I will see how it goes.  I do know that as I have aged Thanksgiving is still about the food but it is no longer all about the food, the cooking  and the sharing of the cooking, for me as an adult, is far more important than the eating.  I thank the Lord that I have the food to eat but more importantly I have the traditions of the foods to share and give to my kids.  I like that they can associate good times with a particular memory of a food.  I can make something and share my childhood with them over a recipe.  The giving of our lifes memories is a special part of Thanksgiving, most families do it I think, there is no competition of interests on Thanksgiving, no costumes, no presents, no attention to anything but the love of your family, the Love of God, the happiness that just recieving and giving of those loves can bring..... tomorrow.