thankful

the turkey has been roasted (and basted with apple cider, mmmmmmm), the maple cream tart crust dough is in the fridge, the cornbread pecan dressing is prepped (with help/distractions from an extremely amorous girlfriend) and ready for baking. all the green bean casserole ingredients are on the counter, along with the future mashed potatoes. the Red Wings beat Boston 6-1. i didn't finish the pajama bottoms, but there is Calder Dairy chocolate milk for our morning parade-watching coffee, and that's exciting.

this past tuesday was the 17th anniversary of Dad's death. i was 17 at the time, and it is hard to wrap my head around being twice that age now...especially since this year, the days are arranged exactly as in 1996. he died quite suddenly on the 26th, two days before thanksgiving. we joked that he did it when the family would be getting together anyway, so as not to inconvenience anyone. i had a dream about him late last week...the details are hazy, but i knew that he was dead and "visiting", and we just hung out and talked. i miss him incredibly much. i am so fucking lucky to have had him as my dad.

i have a soft, warm bed, amazing family and friends, two meaningful jobs. Michfest exists, there are stars in the sky, my car is still running, i am in good health, and i will be marrying the woman of my dreams.

Blessed. I am it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

prioritizing

we've already established that i love Christmas. what i don't especially love is the stress - specifically, the stress that i bring upon myself because i want to bake/craft/do ALL THE HOLIDAY THINGS!!!!!!! call it what you want (i prefer Inspiration Overload), but the reality is that you just can't cram everything in and expect to retain your sanity. and so yesterday, i wrote a Holiday Priorities List:

- Finish my pajama bottoms by Thanksgiving so that I can wear them while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv

- Have all handmade presents ready for finishing (weaving in ends, mainly) by December 12th

- Decorate the tree with E

- Go ice skating at Campus Martius park with E

-  Read the Santa Claus book (that we got from our Finnish pen pals in 1987) to Little V

- Watch Love Actually, Home Alone, White Christmas, the Muppet Christmas Carol, and the Peanuts Christmas movie (probably while weaving in ends)

- Volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen

- Bake and ice molasses cookies for gifting to extended family

- Wrap presents while listening to Christmas music and drinking hot chocolate

- Eat my weight in green bean casserole (and leftover turkey)

- Sit quietly, with all the lights off and a cup of tea in hand, and look at the lights on the tree

- Attend the Christmas Eve service at the local church (assuming i'm not barfing this year)

i expect that there will be a fair amount of unexpected and/or last-minute things going on - family get-togethers, parties, outings, trips to the store ("How did we run out of vanilla extract?!"), and lots of opportunities for quality time with loved ones - and whittling down my absolute "must-dos" leaves me free to be excited about them without the stress of worrying whether the "must-dos" will get done (or at least get done in time).

that's the plan, anyway.  *wink*