Good Friday

Today is "Good Friday".  What does that really mean?  Well, to many it is one of 2 or 3 days a year that they will take the time to stop and reflect what is important in their lives.  To some it means a day or half day off of work, and who doesn't like that?  To others it is a day to hit the stores, grab those sales, buy those sandals, choose that Easter bonnet.

I have already had people asking if we are leaving work early today, and I am already dreading the idea of hitting the grocery stores tomorrow, because I know they will be packed with well meaning moms, aunts, and grandmothers scurrying about, trying to get all the special ingredients for that carefully planned Easter Sunday meal. 

My question is this.  Shouldn't every Friday be Good Friday?   I often think about the sacrifice that was offered for me.  The ultimate sacrifice.  While it saddens me to imagine a world that had gone so wrong that  this was the only option, I am ever grateful that it was a sacrifice that was given for me and for those I love.  I am thankful that I have a loving God who made the choice in offering the sacrifice of his son, so that you and I could live eternally with them both.

I have recently been doing some studying in the Old Testament, and I have to tell you ....there are some stories that just downright bother me.  I am not a fan of violent blood and guts movies. For example, my most recent lesson learned.  

This story comes from the book of Judges.  There are some pretty graphic stories in this book.  "The Terminator" has nothing that can compare to some of these stories, as far as gore goes.  I am talking about the story of the Priest and his concubine found in Judges Chapters 19-21.  This is just a terrible story.  It completely upset me...and does everytime I read it.    I have to admit, I usually just keep my comments to myself and move on, but this time, I went to my husband and talked to him about it. 

First, I have never really understood the whole concubine thing....I mean really...what in the world was anyone thinking when they thought that having 1 or many concubines would be a good thing?   Secondly, how could a society get so evil that a father and host would have to make a deal with worthless fellows to take his virgin daughter and the concubine of a guest just so that these fellows would not harm the man that he had taken in for the evening as a guest. Lastly, why in the world would someone think it would be a nice thing to do to hack someone into 12 peices and have them delivered to distant relatives.   I mean can you imagine getting that package today?  I'm pretty sure our UPS man would no longer wave at us if he had to deliver that.  After I point out these, what I think are very good points to my husband...he looks at me and smiles...thank goodness he didn't laugh.  Then he calmly points out the very obvious to me.  Nowhere does it say that God approved of these actions, but it does say at least 3 times in the book of Judges "Now in those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  You see, I was so caught up in what the circumstances were that I could not see the obvious.  I am like that in my day to day life.  I often get so upset about something I read or hear that I do not see the answer plainly in front of me.

Fast forward to today.  Many of us have traditions that we allow to force us into thinking that this one weekend out of the year we need to focus on the sacrifice made for us.  Today I challenge you to break those traditions, and to make every friday a good friday only because it comes before every Sunday the day we take to worship our Lord and King.  Take that Lord's day and focus on the sacrifice made for you.  Are you living your life and doing what is right in your own eyes or are you making God king of your Heart?

New Starts

A new start. I get the same feeling the first of every year. I always try to come up with some new year resolution...and then promptly forget it. So no new year resolutions this year. I will just keep trying to fix the old me with a little help from my friends and family, and a lot of help from God.

I really can not complain. I have a husband that I love,

Sons that allow me to be a part of their life without rolling their eyes too much.

Grandsons who have the super power of healing a broken heart, that I wish I could stay home to be with more,

They grow up too fast for my liking, and I wish I could get them to understand that they will long for the age they are now in the future. Check out here for the difference a year makes.

The world is a scary place and I worry more about them, then I did my own boys.

I have a job I really like, and better yet... a boss I really like that keeps enough on her plate to keep us all busy.

We were blessed this year with a new home (even with a touch of red), and with minimal damage from IKE.

We have lost some good friends, but know that they go to a better home and know that our lives are better off having known and loved them. We have gained new friends,


and hope that they stay in our lives for a long time. Most importantly, we have a great church family, and are growing to appreciate them more each day.
Happy New Years to everyone.

Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma!!!

This week has been very relaxing. My oldest grandson Logan and I left Saturday morning and headed north! We had a great trip up, made really good time, and had a few days to spend with Ma and Pa. Logan slowed down long enough to let me snap a picture of him and Ma. Mostly, he has spent his days trying to hunt down every squirel in PottawatomieCounty. Tomorrow we have to head back home.

On Wednesday, the rest of the family started showing up. I really enjoy seeing the clan, even if we were missing a few important ones. Hopefully we will all get to be together again soon. In the perfect world, we would all be living in the same town....make that the same part of the same town. We always have lots of laughing and lots of leg pulling when the "Abel" clan gets together.

These guys are pretty important to me. I don't tell them enough how much I love them, and don't get to see them as much as I would like. I felt like it was necessary to post this picture without their consent so that everyone could see how much younger I am than they are.....

I am sure they will understand...I am the baby of the family, and according to them I get everything I want....hmmmm.. don't remember that part. I was however the perfect child...that's why mom and dad stopped having kids after me.

I love you guys.

This is going to be fun!

Today Logan, Ethan and I went and did a little pre-holiday shopping. Ethan came home with a few more singing toys than I am sure that his parents will ever appreciate. And, Logan came home with a new "Navy Seals boat" that will help him save the world from all the bad guys. It is great to know that the defender of the free world plays in our spare room. We ended the day with a little pasta picatta and some mint ice cream, this is a relaxing day that I have needed for awhile. Life seems to meet me coming and going lately, and I have felt like life was passing by at a very rapid rate. But looking at the end of the day at 2 precious faces that love me no matter what puts a little sunshine in my heart. I hope you all had a good day.

Here is a 8 second dance with the abominable snow man. I know it is not very long, and mostly you can only hear me laughing, but his little dance is a hoot. I am looking forward to the next month and all the fun we will have.

On the other hand.... Football is over for Logan. While I enjoyed watching him play, I am glad to have my Saturday afternoons off again.

I am looking forward to next weekend when I will be heading to

Tag your it.

I was tagged...
6 Random things about me:

Here are the tagging rules:Post the rules on your blog
Write 6 random things about yourself

#1 I am a site stalker. I have a few blogs, and websites that I check regularly.
Here are a couple of them: http://thepioneerwoman.com/, and http://www.lauraodomphotography.com/clientproofing/ . The first is for fun, the second, even though is a fun site, has some amazing photos, many of people I know. (so, that makes me an internet stalker....but, Laura knows)

#2 I love to watch the Cosby show at night. It still makes me laugh.

#3 I have ridden a van pool to work for 9 1/2 years with many of the same women. It is kind of like an extended family, and even though we sometimes get on each others nerves, we really care about each other.

#4 I worry too much and internalize a lot.

#5 I am going to start going back to the gym tomorrow night. (tomorrow Monday, not the tomorrow that never comes)

#6 I have really come to appreciate electricity.

I am suppose to tag others, but.... I think the only people who read this have either been tagged or are the tagger (thanks Laura, PS, missed you and your family today hope all is well)

My ride to Kentucky

Here I am riding on the bridge over Kentuky Lake, and entering into the area called the "Land between the Lakes"

The weekend we were there, an antique boat show was occuring. We were able to see lots of nostalgia in the boats.

We were blessed to have missed the rain, both coming and going. We also had great temperatures. I was able to meet some really great folks, and do some shopping with some of the other wives. I found a great little rooster for my table. (a great buy at only $4)





This area is beautiful . We stayed at Barkley Lake Lodge. This is a great place for family vacations. The days were warm, and the nights were cool. There were plenty of sight seeing opportunities, and there are areas where you can just sit and relax. This is a picture from the porch of our room. I sat one morning and watched the fish jumping, and wished that Logan were here with us. He would have loved the "Nature" of the area.

Here are some of the deer that hung around just outside of the Lodge entrance. As I said we stayed at the lodge where the rest of the board members stayed, but there are cabins available as well. We were told they sleep 4,6, or 8, and are fully stocked with utensils. All you add is food and fun.







Check out the link
http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/resortparks/lb/



stay tuned for more pictures.

Man am I glad to be home

Here are a few of the pictures from our trip. Others will follow, including one of me when I was bored on the back of the motorcycle. I took a picture and was sending it to people. I also figured out how to access facebook from my phone, so I was able to keep myself busy while dodging all the love bugs.

Simple things

On Monday, I went to go see a dear friend of mine. This woman took a chance on me many years ago, and has recently retired, sold her home, and moved to the country. Rozie is now living in the country. She gave the preacher and I a tour of her new "homestead", with the main house still in progress. She kept us laughing while there, which is something I have always appreciated about her. She can find the humor in anything. For example here is a picture of her new bathroom door. (She says there is a story with this door, but she is still tring to decide what it is)

Rozie has always been a great recycler. She has also found a barn that she had all the wood removed from, and milled into her new kitchen cabinets. Most of us would have tossed the wood, or used it to make a really big bonfire. She talked to us about enjoying life in a small community, and how different it was than living in a fast paced Houston suburb. She also has a new love in her life in the form of a fuzzy jack russell terrier rescue pup. Being a cat person since I have known her, I really got a kick out of seeing her dote on "Molly wiggles be". I can almost see a children's story growing out of this relationship. Until her house is finished Rozie is having to enjoy the simple pleasures of country life. Things many of us forget about by living in the city. The amazing quiet, discovering how dark the night can get when there is no ambient light, and in contrast how bright the stars are. Rozie currently has no internet, no TV, and on a good day she says she can get fair reception with her cell phone.

Part 2 of this blog revolves around my grandsons of course. How fun it is to get to see them get enjoyment out of the simple things in life. Many of us have often made the decision that we are too busy to enjoy these simple pleasures. Logan is now playing tackle football. I have never seen a child so proud of a bruise. No I do not have any pictures of the bruises, for fear that CPS may swoop in at any second. Boy, they would be disappointed to hear that his bruise was the result of a GREAT tackle. (also, I have not had the opportunity to go to a game yet) He can talk for 30 minutes about a takle that took him 2 seconds to complete. But... being the grandma I love to see the joy in his eyes when he talks about what he loves. Kind of reminds me of his Dad who at a very early age could spout off sports statistics better than most sportscasters.

Ethan, on the ohter hand.... is learning lots of simple pleasures, like sneaking a drink out of Pop's coke when Mom and Dad are not looking, or eating Oreo's dipped in milk with Dad.


But the latest joy is to see him leading singing with every song leader on Sunday mornings, or dancing to his singing bunny who waits patiently in the corner of my living room waiting for E's return and his never tiring energy. We have learned to keep the batteries charged and in waiting.

These small pleasure in my life have reminded me of this verse. Phillipians 4:11 "11Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. "

I hope that we all can learn to be content. Whether it is dancing with the bunnies, explaining the finer points of a good tackle, or just learning to listen to the quiet.

The move is on

Wow, I can't belive it has been so long since I got onto the blog. But, I really have had a good excuse. It all started something like this.

I would love to have a red Kitchen.

Well, I got a red kitchen, and new floors, and a repainted family and dining room with new floors, and repainted bathrooms with new floors, and repainted bedrooms with...you guessed it new floors. Then, my sweetie announced

We should see what we could get for the house if it went on the market. "What?'' was my reply. I like my red kitchen, love it, except it is a little small.

Being married for 29 years has given me an insight to the man I share my life with. If it is something he would like to do, I might as well just buckle my seat belt and enjoy the ride. So...we "decluttered" which is a word I have come to hate. Basically, it means take everything that you love to have around you, put it in a box and rent a storage unit to keep it in. This was the most painful part of the entire process. I still do not have my beloved fabric out of the storage unit yet.

Next, we get put on notice that the house must stay clean, and we should find "someplace" to be several times a week, for a few hours at a time so others can come and look at my red kitchen, and decluttered house.

Finally, you get the call that someone wants to make an offer....Of course it is never the offer that you want, but you must declare... let the haggling begin.

After several haggling sessions, an agreement is made, and you have to start with the next phase

Now you get to put all of your treasures in boxes. All the while I am thinking: A) I have no place to live. I need a house. But I hate going into other people's decluttered homes! B) Even if I liked looking at other's homes, I need to be here packing my home. C) All I wanted was a red Kitchen

However, We made the move, packed the boxes, are in the middle of unpacking them, found a great house with a great kitchen (even has a touch of red) and are now haggling with all of the utility companies. Life is fun...

I have been able to have some time to relax away from work, and be jealous of my son's mother in law who gets to stay at home and take care of our 2 grandsons every day.

During this whole process I have had many moments where I had to repeat to myself "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." and I am sure there is suppose to be something there about red Kitchens as well. All I can say is when I get to heaven I am going to have a GREAT RED kitchen, and you can all come on over.

PW

Happy Easter

Family all gathered together on Easter Sunday. I really enjoyed having everyone at the house. It is always great to see your adult children getting along so well, when you thought they might just take each other out when they were younger.

The boys even got Ma on the Motorcycle, (but only for a photo) , and terrorized Pa behind his back

There were eggs to be hid and hunted, although I think we lost Ethan after he discovered that the eggs hid chocolate.

Both boys had a good time collecting the goodies, even if Logan did get picked on by his uncle just a little. He could not understand how the eggs in his basket kept ending up back in the trees, flowers, and other hiding places... Even when they grow up, boys will be boys.

And then there was this picture... Not really sure what was happening here, all I can say is like father like son.

All in all it was a great weekend. Lots of kids laughing, lots of stories being told, and lots of memories being made. I hope that you all had a great holiday.

Happy Birthday E

Wow, where did it go! I am sure that just last week I was ignoring the cardinal rule of no noise while Jack saves the free world, and focusing all my attention on this cute, wrinkly, little bundle of joy. Luckily we have a DVR, because no world was being saved from evil terrorist the week of Jan 25, 2007. We were too busy taking pictures!

Now suddenly he is crawling, standing, eating chocolate cake with his fingers, and enjoying every minute of it (even if he was not sure if he could get his fingers dirty!)

He did eventually warm up to the idea!

I really enjoyed my boys being little, however I frequently forgot to enjoy the fun they were having. Life gets busy, dinners have to be cooked, and bills have to be paid. However, life is sweet. 3 years ago we were blessed with meeting our first grandson, and have learned all over the fun a boy can have with the simple things in life. Give the kid a stick and he will be busy for hours! 1 year ago we were blessed with our second joy! While we all hunger for the prissiness, and lace that a girl would bring into our lives, we can not even begin to imagine what life would be like without our little bundles of snails and puppy dog tails!

Happy Birthday E!

The Flu has landed

In 1969 I remember coughing so hard my head would start to ache. That is the last time I had the flu. I have been very lucky. I have taken the flu shot since 1989, this year included, with little to no side effect other than a sore arm. Wow! imagine my shock when after having a swab that must have been at least a yard long (it seemed that way!) shoved up my nose and then tested came back positive for FLU. Both the preacher and myself had been sick since Wednesday. I knew that this put us out of the "miracle cure" window, but was not worried because walking in to the dr.'s office I was 100% sure that we did NOT have the flu. Surprise!! The conversation went something like this.

Doc: Glad you had the flu shot. It is very important to protect yourself from influenza.
PW: blankly staring back because speaking would have caused me to exert energy that I was using at the moment to breath.
Doc: And....I hope that you continue to get one each year.
PW: continue eye contact while thinking "maybe he can read my thoughts about how cold his office is to someone who has 101 fever and would prefer to be in her bed with Sandy the wonder heater
Doc: However your swabs have tested positive.
PW: glazed look continued while thinking What, this can't be. I was one of the first in line at work for the flu shot. I then enlisted all of my co workers (who were exposed on Wednesday Sorry!) to be quick and go get their shots to protect themselves.
Doc: No need to test your husband he has the same symptoms and time frame. Stay away from everyone until next week. If you don't feel up to work on Monday don't go (oh! lucky me It's my last holiday until May. Thanks doc!) . You don't want to relapse.

Boy is he right. I will continue to be a flu shot campaigner. And if any of you out there who read this think you might be getting the flu, Go immediately to the dr. Don't lay around for 2 days thinking that you can whip this. Tamiflu is only effective for 48 or so hours. Luckily for us I think we were on the end of that.
Still have the symptoms, and the cough (tussi pearls are great) but I can definitely tell I am on the mend.

Are you Glad?

Our oldest Grandson just recently returned from a fantastic adventure! He was so excited, and had to tell us all about it. He was invited to go to Hawaii with his other grandparents for a week. He called several times to check in and let his parents in on all the fun he was having. He was able to tour a volcano, see (and from what I hear get water blown on to by)whales, go snorkeling, swim with the sea turtles (his favorite by the way)and do all sorts of other adventurous side trips. What fun!! He had statements that really struck home with me. On the day that he got close to the whales, he called and told his mom all about it. I soon received the report. Dil #1 said she asked him if he was excited about seeing the whales so close?, and he replied yes (fairly calmly). She said "Well, you don't sound very excited are you ok?" Grandson replied, "Mom, I'm just so excited that I don't know what to do with my excitedness!" Later, when his trip was coming to an end and they were flying away from the Island in which they stayed, his Grammy noticed that he looked out the plane window, reached up, and closed the shade on the window. "What's wrong?" she asked, "Don't you want to see the Islands from the air as we leave?" He looked over at her and said, "It's just too sad".
While I heard all the stories and have seen some of the evidence of his trip (a great tan!!) his statements really made my mind take some quantum leaps.
The Psalmist states "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the Lord" Wouldn’t it be great if we were all so excited about Worship that we just "didn't know what to do with our excitedness?" and if upon leaving worship services, or even the fellowship of other Christians we felt as he did "It's just too sad"
I am hoping that we call all regain a little of our excitedness about being together and worshipping the Lord.

pw

You can Say Merry Christmas to Me 2007

Blessings of having a baby in the house on Christmas day are too many to be numbered. The worry of wondering if a 9 year old will like what you bought them is at times overwhelming. However, a baby's first christmas is great! Give 'em a brightly colored bow that comes off easy, and they are happy for a good long time. Picking out bows are much easier. We were blessed with a wonderful christmas (Ernest Elf , who hid several times, included).

He doesn't seem to be as excited at 6:30 as his brother was

But they both cheered up pretty quickly!

Here are my "dangerous boys" opening their book.

A Happy end to a Blessed day!

Ernest the Elf

I thought I had lost my Christmas Spirit.

Wednesday night L my oldest grandson informed me that he thought that he had an Elf. He was sure that this elf was tricking him, and that it lived somewhere in his house. He even told his Dad that he thought the elf was "stalking" him. (Oh... life is fun when little ones try to use new words that they have learned.) L explained to me that he had started planning a way to trap the elf. He was sure that it was currently living in his closet. He had heard noises. He was sure it was the elf messin' with his stuff.

Thursday 8 PM, I was summoned to L's home to inspect the trap that he had fixed. He really put a lot of thought into catching this elf. He had a box, a stick (surprise, surprise), and a candy bar tied to the stick. He was sure he would catch the elf. After leaving his house, I joined in with Son #1 on the search for the perfect elf....of course; it was the one time when we could find nothing that would resemble an elf...so we planned a night of a near catch. We bought a couple of small toys. Son #1 waited until L was fast asleep, and went to inspect the elf trap. He exchanged the surprise items for the candy bar, and left a note stating that it was "a nice try", but L would have to try harder if he thought he could catch a "Christmas Elf".

Friday 7 AM, on my way to work, I got a phone call from L. He was talking very fast and explaining to me how he had almost caught the elf whose name was..."Ernest Elf" He read me the note that the "Elf" had left, and told me he knew the elf was still in the house, he knew because he had made sure that ALL the doors were closed. Apparently an elf can get into a house, but can only leave through a door. Well...this put us in a predicament. Now we had to find an elf. I called almost every toy store in the greater Houston area. Called most of the book stores, and quite a few Hallmark stores, only to be told either

A. No

B. No

or

C. Ummm...No.

I only had one person laugh at me. I encouraged co-workers, and friends to help, and finally did a Google search for Elf and Houston. I came up with a bunch of phone numbers, and finally the moment came when I heard something besides "No". Son #1 was given the location of the "Elf drop" (I really am serious about the drop part. In fact it was more than a little weird). The plan was laid;and a"Better" Elf trap was set.

Saturday 8AM "Grandma, I caught my elf"..."No way, elves are too smart to be caught"..."No really, I caught it, come see it" "How did you catch it?" Now the rest of the conversation I can't repeat word for word, but it had something to do with a baseball, string, a Hershey bar, a net, and a bed post? This I had to see. Now I have to give it to Son #1. All those years of terrorizing his brother had finally paid off. Now he was the coolest dad! The picture above is L with his elf Ernest. Ernest is very tricky. He almost got away at lunch today (Thanks to Hector and others at Lupe's. They pulled off the perfect heist with all the gusto of any mission impossible episode. I could almost hear the music in the background.) Luckily, Ernest was found hiding in a nearby palm tree. Apparently he is shy in crowds, and only wanted to get away from everyone, but still be able to watch L. I didn't lose my Christmas spirit. I found it in the palm tree with Ernest!

The psalmist stated that "Children are a gift of the Lord". I repeated this often when L's dad was little, and I felt like I was not the mom I wanted to be. But, today I have to admit that it came to mind again and only brought me joy.

Decisions, Decisions.....

I hate making decisions. I hate change in my life. I am not talking about the everyday should I wear blue, black or red, I mean change with a capital C. I like to stay with one relationship (I think my husband appreciates this decision...at least I hope he does). I don't like to change jobs. I despise having to change households. Give me my space and let me put down my roots, and feather my nest. We have recently been doing a little remodeling and sprucing up on our "nest", and I think I lived with a paint swatch for about 3 months. I also have a child who feels the same way I do(sorry dil 1, this quirk is my fault). On the other hand I have a husband and child who embrace change (dil 2, you can blame this on his dad). They love the challenge. They love the stimulation. I guess opposites really do attract. I have spent the last week talking with people who also embrace change like a warm cup of cocoa on a cold winter day. I just don't get it. Unfortunately these people (with the exception of my husband and child) do not understand how this makes me feel, and have been tying to push their comfort with change on to me. Being the "good pw" the I am, I have mostly smiled and nodded, all the while looking for a place to run away to. Boy, talk about wanting a "Calgon, take me away" moment or two or ten. So... those of you who know me, please do not think that I have picked up a nervous twitch, and please do not point out my new frown lines. Hopefully this to shall pass, and I will be my ever-loving self again soon.

What is this world coming to?

What??? Jack needs writers?... I am shocked! I have to say that I rarely watch much TV...who has the time? But January to June is my time with Son #1, family, and Frank ( who is also kind of family in a not really family but we love him and wish he were kind of way) Everyone who knows us knows not to call for the 1 hour a week (occasionally 2) that Jack is saving the world. In fact... the only time Son #1 was even close to being rude was when someone ( salesperson) called at a critical moment (apparently they did not know the world was in the hands of terrorist, and life as we know it was about to end). Sigh... I guess we will have to live with the fact that while Jack is still "the man" he does have his limitations. Apparently he cannot save the world and write about it too! Oh well.... maybe we will have to go back and watch a previous season (yes we have them) until the writers get this worked out.

So much to do....so little time

I need more time. I would love to know the location of the closest Automatic Time Machine. Hubby and I are in the process of updating our kitchen. Work at my day job is overwhelming with tasks (seems to be more chiefs than indians and I definitely count myself in the indian category). My day usually starts at 5 AM and lately has been ending somewhere after midnight. I am so thankful for my 1 hour commute. I can at least get in some reading, or catch a few winks ( no I am not driving) coming and going to work.

Don't get me wrong, I really like my job. It is just an overwhelming time of the year. I am really appreciative of the work my husband is doing around the house, but with the cool weather, and dark nights, I keep thinking that I would rather watch on old movie, than paint, or scrape, or put on new hinges, or sweep, or clean, or..... well you get the point.
If I could just find that machine, it would really help. Then I could find the time to do all the things I need to do (go to the gym and work off the pie from Thanksgiving), as well as the ones I want to do (snuggle on the couch and watch a good movie). My other option is to find someone who wants to pay me for doing what I really want to do in life. As soon as I figure out what that is I will let you know. Oh well... this to shall pass.

pw

Thanksgiving dinner

Carbs, Carbs, everywhere....and oh so much to eat!! I have just finished my prep for the big dinner on Thursday. I have never been much of a cook, and usually prove it over and over. My idea of preparing the meal is offering to stop and pick it up on the way home. But, since my true love and I are trying to lose a few pounds, we have decided to eat more from our own fridge, and less from the local eating establishments. So...that being said, I polled the family, asked what they wanted to eat, and have been searching for easy to fix, yet tasty additions to our Thanksgiving dinner. First off...none of us are that crazy about Turkey, so... being from Texas, our remedy is cross out turkey, add grilled steak and shrimp. Ohhhh, I like this plan already. Grilling is strictly the job of the men in my life!! Next, the side dishes...hmmmm, of course there must be potatoes..those from the pioneer woman (carb), and corn on the cob (carb, carb), oh...and mom would you fix some of that macaroni stuff (carb, carb, carb), the one from the girl you work with (thanks, TH). Plus, we must have a couple of pies. Suddenly I realize that I will be walking on the treadmill for the rest of the month just to walk off the meal. Oh well, I am thankful that I am able to do this, and spend time with all the guys (husband, 2 sons, 2 grandsons) and gals (2 daughters in law a.k.a., dil 1 and dil 2) in my life. I hope that you all have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving, and I am sure you will be seeing me on the treadmill.


pw