Thanksgiving Weekend

Well there were highlights and lowlights for the Thanksgiving weekend in Lawrence.
Highlights: lots of family time, playing with JT, good food, a trip into The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City with my parents to see the lights, seeing to old friends at church
Lowlights: well there's really just one - the KU vs. MU game & outcome. Ugh. Miserable.

Thanksgiving

Pastor Dave’s sermon on thanksgiving last weekend, reflecting on Psalm 100, was stirring - powerful for the whole year but particularly in this season of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. My earliest Thanksgiving memory is from when we lived on the farm in Canada; I was probably 5 or 6 years old. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October and there’s usually snow on the ground. The dining hall was set for dinner, the adults getting the food prepped, Dave Garriott in some tan plaid bellbottoms. (My sisters always say I remember odd details.) Thanksgiving fills me with cozy memories from early on. Through the years we’ve had it just with our family, included friends who didn’t have families to dine with, and gone to Aunt Marilyn’s in Missouri. I love what the holiday is based on – giving thanks for all God has blessed us with. I want to be more conscious of being thankful throughout the year of all the blessings in my life – family, faith, employment, shelter, friends, health.
I pray you have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Leaves

I have two ginormous maples in my front yard and an elm in the backyard, which is also bordered by lots of trees in my neighbors yards. So each fall I have a major leaf problem. Last night I decided to deal with the leaves in the front yard. I had just started raking when neighbor Joe yelled out encouragement - "It's a losing battle!" Ah, yes, but one that must be fought none the less. The first year I owned the house, I raked & bagged all the leaves whole. It was ~25 bags. But since then I have been introduced to neighbor GI's modern marvel - the chipper/shredder. It turns what would be 25 bags of leaves into 5 bags of leaf mulch. It is a thing of beauty. He's helped me in the past, but had a hurt leg so he showed me how it worked and let me have at it. His daughter Euna stood watch during my work, keeping me company as darkness fell and we finished by street light. Round 1 with the front yard is complete. I fight round 1 in back tonight and borrow that wonderful machine again.

Does she have all her teeth?

Are you ever asked completely random questions? The person asking them thinks they're either funny or relate to the conversation and the sane people are left wondering what in the world is going on in the asker's head.
Saturday night while telling friends that I'm expected to attend my sister's sister-in-law's wedding next weekend, a strange man at the end of the table asked "does she have all her teeth?" What??!!

Rock Chalk

I drove down to Norman, Oklahoma to spend some time with my college roommate Chrissy. It was really great to hang out and catch up and share pictures of our recent adventures.

Back in Wichita Saturday night, I attended a progressive dinner after church. At the last house, we were thankful the tv was on to the KU game. Go Jayhawks! So completely odd that KU is now 10-0, #3 in the BCS rankings and #4 in the polls. After years and years of football woes, it’s very strange for Jayhawk fans to adjust to this new reality. One KU alum said he knew this was the year Jesus was coming back because KU was doing so well in football. When I turn ESPN on during my morning workouts and they’re discussing KU’s chances for making the national championship game, it’s hard to fathom this is real. But we'll happily take it!

The Accidental Opera

I went to see Little Women last night at WSU with a friend & two of her daughters. We thought it was going to be a play, but it was an opera (did you know WSU has an opera performance dept?!). Umm. The 7 year old loved it but the 9 year old didn't. I'm more inclined to agree with the 9 yr old. I love musicals but operas are a whole different bag. Maybe it's the style, maybe it's the non-stop singing, but I wasn't loving it. Maybe it was that Little Women is an opera in English - not exactly the most lyrically lilting language in the world. I admit the only other opera I've seen was a marionette opera in Salzburg, Austria when I was 15. So I promise to give a non-English opera a try before I say no to it entirely.

On a pop-culture note, check out Peyton Manning's priceless peptalks for a good chuckle. You can even personalize them with your name.
http://www.priceless.com/peptalks

Monday's dinner menu

Poached cod with olives and lemon
Fresh cooked spinach
Multi-grain bread (thanks, Danielle!)
Green salad

Lemon pudding cake with raspberry coulis

Montevina Sauvignon Blanc (California/same wine the fish was poached in)

Good conversation with Tanya & Chris (& Seth) and Jim & Danielle.

These are my enjoyable adventures these days.

Daddy

Happy Birthday! Love you!

Oops

I may need to back off my "favorite aunt" campaign with JT. A week ago Hannah called Sharon. JT wanted to know who was on the phone.
Sharon - "It's Aunt Hannah. Do you want to talk to her?"
JT - "No, I only talk Aunt Jemfer."
Hee. Sorry, Hannah.