Gladness and joy shall abide there, Thanksgiving and the sound of music.*

by chuckofish

We had a grand Thanksgiving. On Wednesday I got everything ready for the arrival of sons 1 and 3, who zoomed in on Thursday afternoon.

I baked an apple pie, pureed a roasted butternut squash, and even tried cooking Jerusalem artichokes that we got in our CSA (not a success).

You can tell it’s homemade because it’s a mess.

Meanwhile, the DH, a true kitchen god and culinary king, took charge of the turkey, the roast potatoes, stuffing, peas and gravy.

Although my sons could only stay a few hours, they put up the Christmas lights, went through some of their ‘stuff’, and moved heavy items for us. Now that the DH and I are “old and infirm”, we appreciate all the help we can get!.

Dinner was delicious and informal; rather than crowd the small table with serving dishes, we left most of the food in the kitchen.

Afterward we played a few raucous rounds of a game called One Night Ultimate Werewolf. Tim, who is the gamer among us, brought it, but despite his valiant efforts to explain the rules to me, I never quite got to the strategy level of play, though I did laugh ’til I cried. In between rounds we also talked at length to the two Christophers (brother and son or uncle and brother) and Grandmother Pam. It was a full day and over much too soon.

Before you could say ‘Yukon Cornelius’ the boys were packing their cars and heading out, leaving their parents happy, tired and with too many leftovers (rest assured, we gave them as much as they would take).

James and Tim loading a bookcase into James’s car. One never has enough bookcases.

I spent yesterday at home reading, puttering, and Black Friday shopping unsuccessfully, probably because I wasn’t looking for electronics, phone paraphernalia or toys. Then at 3:45 on Friday afternoon I noticed that the furnace kept starting and stopping (it’s old), and the house was getting chilly, so I called the heating guys, who — wonder of wonders — came over almost immediately and fixed the problem (at least for now). When was the last time you had a semi-holiday, late Friday emergency that got fixed without delay? I was amazed and grateful.

Today, I’m going to leave my snug house to attend an auction. Then I have to get cooking because tomorrow we’re hosting coffee hour at church again. At some point, I will start decorating the house for Christmas. I am truly blessed.

*Isaiah 51:3