Thanksgiving, a Birthday, and sisters

It's Saturday... where did the holiday go?

Gone already, so fast. Monday and Tuesday was school. After school on Tuesday, I tutored til 5:00, thinking all the time how great it was that I would have Wednesday off to clean my house. Which it was and I did. Truly, I never clean so thoroughly and deeply as I do when I'm expecting a visit from my family.

So my house was put into order for the duration of the Christmas holidays as well. Yeay! That's a right on! for Russ's journal (Inner and Outer Demons) I forgot to mention when I submitted my "Right on!" to him by email today.

My sister from Georgia, and her husband, arrived Thursday, just in time for dinner. She would have gotten here earlier, but I convinced her not to arrive before noon because I had things to do before she got here (did I say I washed windows while the turkey was roasting?) And while the potatoes were boiling, I swept the floors, and while the cake was baking the day before, I was putting all my unironed clothes in the closet so they would be out of sight. Well, almost thorough...<grin>

Dinner was the feast it was supposed to be ... my son baked the pumpkin pie as soon as the turkey came out of the oven, and while I heated up the glazed sweet potatoes (made from scratch of course), my husband carved up the turkey.

As we ate, I couldn't help thinking that my sister and I have not done this together... ever... because of long distance (in the past she has lived in California and in Connecticut). It had never been a possible or practical trip for either of us to make over the years. Every year I've been spending Thanksgiving Day with my in-laws, and it has always been something we looked forward to in the past. His family became my family long ago, and the traditions we kept with them for 27 years have made me feel like I belonged with them, and they to me. 

Over the summer, my sister and I were talking, trying to make plans to visit each other this year. I invited her to my home for Thanksgiving... she was able to work it into her work schedule (and so was her husband) and got the time off. I'm so glad they came ... not only for Thanksgiving meal, but for some sister time. Little things like watching a movie on tv together, or talking at the dinner table, looking at old photos, even walking around the block or in the yard felt significant. It was good to see her, how healthy she looked, the weight she has lost. Her smile is so bright these days. Her eyes laugh when she laughs now. I remember when they didn't.

She asked if we could go shopping on Friday at the Christmas 365 store she saw from the highway, and so we did... it was my first time there as well. That's where I saw the knitted blue winter vests, and bought two of them, one for her and one for me. Aren't we a pair? She and Mike looked great this year, both having lost a great deal of weight. Now it's my turn!

                       

The other good news is that it was my son's twenty-ninth birthday on Thanksgiving Day. A couple of days before, I had written Marie (Marie's Muses) an email asking her if she had a recipe for Bavarian Cream filling and a whipped cream icing. I was trying to make the kind of cake that WalMart sells in their bakery. It's the best bavarian cream filled cake I've ever had, but this year, rather than buying the cake, I wanted to bake my own.

Marie responded graciously quick. I had all the ingredients except the heavy cream, which I purchased on my way home from school on Tuesday. I whipped up both the filling and the icing on Wednesday while the 2 layers baked. Then, right after dinner, I spread the filling and icing on the cake. I will never buy another cake at the bakery... it was too easy to make my own with this particular recipe.

                                                                     Thank You, Marie!

                                                           

            HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SON!

                                         

I've been reading about how thankful everyone is for their family and friends. More than anything, I am thankful for mine. I wouldn't be here sharing these stories without them.

I don't want to invade their privacy any further, so I'm going to end this entry now.

BTW, a big thank you to Shauneenie for sending me the little animated graphic of my name which I added to my sidebar today. If you didn't know, she is about to move from her lifetime home in South Africa to a new home in Southeast England. It is exciting, yet scary to pack up one's belongings and family like that, to leave one's friends,one's school behind, answering a distant call that will carry them all into an unknown (for them). It is the beginning of a new adventure, right Caroline?

If you have time, drop in and leave her an encouraging word.