Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

This past week being Thanksgiving week, I decided to use a couple of my personal days and take the entire week to just hang around the apartment with Ado. The time away from campus has been absolutely wonderful. I wanted something colorful to cover up the old phone jack on the wall in the kitchen. Now, this makes me smile every  time I walk into the kitchen. I've always wanted to learn to play an instrument. I figured since Funny Delightful Son didn't want to take this to school with him, my opportunity to do so opened up. I now know how to play one song. So far, my week has been me learning three chords on the ukelele, beginning a painting of birds on a wire, painting over the birds because I decided I didn't like them and painting new birds that I now like, going to the dentist for some teeth work I've been putting off (and happy to find out my blood pressure is good -- 112/80 (though the 80 is borderline) -- which I credit to regular meditation), pu...

It's official. I ate way too much today. All day. Started around 8 this morning and finally took my last bite at 8 this evening. First morsel in was the delicious almond flour with coconut drizzle cinnamon rolls. Last morsel in was the homemade pecan pie baked by Lovely Beautiful Daughter. Now I'm thinking, "What in the world was I thinking?" I've not eaten this much food in one day in . . . probably . . . ever! Tomorrow, I'll get back to eating the way I know I should eat: a lot less and way more thoughtful about what is consumed. This being the first Thanksgiving without Mom, I was kind of dreading the day. So many of my Thanksgiving memories include her. She would always be up and in the kitchen early, way before the rest of us pulled ourselves out of our warm beds, fixing breakfast for us while at the same time prepping the turkey and preparing the stuffing. Along with the mashed potatoes and gravy, Mom always fixed a cranberry dish for Dad. He was the o...

My always funny, always delightful boys, Hubby, and I traveled to Indiana to spend the day with my dad, my sister and her husband, and after dinner, a short visit with mom. Because she's been having some rough days, we decided to break up the visits, with only a couple of us going at a time rather than all of us and tiring her out too much. While Mom was noticeably uncomfortable due to increased pain, she put on a smile and seemed to enjoy seeing her grandsons. They did their darndest to make her happy and accomplished doing so by telling Chuck Norris jokes. Those can definitely make a person laugh. I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, number one on the list being having the opportunity to be with my mom. Seeing her in pain, seeing her frustration, seeing her apart from her family gathered around a table filled with a bountiful feast make me sad, but seeing her smile at the boys and the boys give her hugs and hold her hand is priceless. I hope for just a second she w...