"I felt bad that I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet"

Are you familiar with this saying? I know it's old; so old it probably seems cliche'.... and yet it really hit home with me this past weekend.

Yeah, I've been feeling a little sorry for myself, what with the holidays coming, and not being able to spend them the exact way we'd like.... not to mention how we're crammed in this tiny apartment with most of our "things" in storage because they won't fit here, and it seems like every time we go to someone else's home for a Bible study or something their homes are enormous!! I mean, seriously, not even 'normal big' but huge!! (Okay, what do all these people do for a living?? They are mostly one income, homeschooling families, just like us ... and yet.... I guess these women married better than me, lol!!)

So - last Saturday my little family took the dog for a quick stroll just before dark along this walking path they have here called the W&OD (that's for Washington and Old Dominion, I guess the path runs along the old train lines or something). Well, it's quite woodsy there, but since it's hardwood forest and the leaves have mostly fallen now, you can see pretty far in. In the very short distance we walked - since it was nearly dark - we saw at least a dozen tents in the woods, where it was very obvious that people we not just camping but living there. Yeah. So it got us all thinking that we are so very blessed, and we've been pretty ungrateful to have been thinking the way we have. How can I be thinking how horrible it is to have to eat at a restaurant for Thanksgiving when those folks may not eat at all that day??

So, tomorrow Kiwi and I will tidy up the apartment and shop for some groceries to make a special breakfast on Thursday. We bought some supplies to make crafts on Thursday while daddy is camped out on the couch watching football, and we bought a log so we can have a fire crackling while we play games together. And most of all, I plan on being THANKFUL for the wonderful life that I have.

Something Wicked this Way Comes

It's called - The Holiday Season!!

Okay, just kidding... I love the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas.... they make me happy. Usually. This year is a little tougher, being so far away from home and family. Kiwi is so upset about not being able to do all the "traditional" things that we usually do.

I'm trying to have a good attitude about it. There must be a million cool Christmas-y things we can do here. Then, we are flying to Idaho for Christmas, so at least we'll get to spend time with the ones we love.

Thanksgiving is going to be the wierd one. I'm used to the big get-togethers - lots of family, a handful of friends who didn't have anywhere else to go, ("strays" in my family's vernacular!) hanging out after the meal to make puzzles and play games.... that's what the day means to me. This year, well, we're 2,500 miles away and it's too darn expensive to fly two months in a row (heck, it's too expensive to fly once! We're only able to do it for Christmas because that is my MIL's gift to us this year). My husband has a cousin near us, and he and his wife invited us to go out to dinner with them on Thanksgiving. Now, going to a restaurant on Thanksgiving seems like so many shades of wrong!! It's not even a buffet - just a "plated meal".... now, how the heck do you do Thanksgiving without going back for 2nds??! I made my husband promise that we would find something different and interesting to do the rest of the day since the meal out is only going to take a couple hours... I refuse to do our 'regular' stuff the rest of the day (ie: sit in front of the tv and feel sorry for ourselves). Okay, a little tv for football, that's fine.... but that's all!

What do all of you have planned for the big Turkey day??

Speaking of turkeys, we saw a wild one hanging out on the side of the road a few days ago! It was so funny - and then, I saw a news article about that same guy on MSN news! Crazy bird.