To turkey or not to turkey

Fall is here, although for a while I thought it completely passed over fall and jumped straight to winter.  Starting the car early to defrost the windows is usually the first sign.  A couple of years ago one of the guys Chad works with installed an auto start on his car.  I think somewhere along there Chad had thought about having it put in the van too, but that is as far as it got.  It has been really nice having that auto start function.  Before that glorious day I would don my shoes (sometimes boots) over bear feet, throw a coat over my pajamas and run out to start his car and occasionally scrape snow off the windows.  There are still occasions when I may have to fight my way out into the cold to scrape the windows, but auto start has saved me many cold mornings. 

I guess it feels more like winter when the wind is howling and the rain (sleet) is beating against the windows.  Today it just seems cold.  It was actually sunny yesterday, if you can call it sunny with the sun hanging so low in the sky and the temp defying the brightly cloudless day.  I saw people out running, something I might have done had it not been a Sunday and had I not a million other things to do every other day of the week.  I do miss running outside in the fresh air and seeing the beautiful scenery around me.  However, I continue to reach for my goal spending my time strapped to the treadmill.  I am almost half way there, but still have so far to go.  

Thanksgiving is just four days away.  Hooray!!!  I have always loved Thanksgiving, I think it has always been my favorite holiday.  Growing up it meant harvest was over, work in the fields was done for a few months, and all the family would get together at Grandma’s for the big turkey dinner.  There was always more food that we could possibly eat, and I could eat pie and ice cream until I was stuffed.  And every few years my birthday would fall on the big day.  Those were some of the best birthday parties.  Not surrounded by friends, but surrounded by family, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins.  I miss those gatherings.  In the last twelve years I haven’t been able to go very often.  When we were first married we didn’t go because we had to work the day before and the day after and travel was just too hard and gas was too expensive.  Instead we surrounded ourselves with friends from work or church who were also separated from family.  Since moving to Alaska 8 years ago we have only spent Thanksgiving with family once.   We hear of the big get togethers, everyone coming home, the crowded house, the mountains of food and we substitute in our own way.  Chad and I made a deal years ago.  I get to fill the house for Thanksgiving and get as many people together as I can, and he gets to plan Christmas.  Chad does not like big gatherings, crowds of people, or lots of noise, so it is often a quiet affair, although surprisingly not always lonely.  It has been a good arrangement.  

This year we are going to a friends house, which is great for me because now I don’t have to stress about cleaning everything in sight.  I am reminded of my grandmother who would spend weeks before a big family gathering scrubbing everything, including the ceiling.   I am not that crazy, but I can’t enjoy getting together if I am worried about someone seeing the stack of papers and crap piled up on the desk, or the endless clutter because we live in a house that can not hold all the accumulation of 6 people.   Or the kitchen nightmare of preparing so much food in a way too small kitchen.  So I am glad that we get to make our share of the dinner, leave the kitchen in a disaster zone, and spend the after noon with some good friends.  For the past 5 or 6 years we have cooked 3 turkeys for Thanksgiving.  One for work, one for church, and one for our own dinner.  I am soooo glad that Amy is cooking the turkey this year.  We already cooked 2 turkeys last week (one for the office party and one for the church party) and have almost the whole thing left over from both.  There was so much food as the church party that our 20 pound turkey, two trays or stuffing, and gallon of gravy never even left the kitchen to be set out on the serving tables.  We will already have had a week of leftovers before Thanksgiving is here.  Thankgoodness it is still my favorite holiday or I would be really tired of it by now.  As it is we are just tired of turkey.  For Christmas is will either be ham or prime rib, with no turkey in sight.   

Restart, again!

I am finally getting back to my schedule. Per doctors orders I laid off the running routine and got a little extra rest.  For the first time in a week and a half I was up running, and put in my 4 miles.  I really need to do some catch up from the week that I missed to reach my goal, but I did enjoy the extra hour of sleep everyday. 

We have still been working hard to be rid of the pest problem too.  The exterminator came last week and sprayed everything, and my house has not felt this clean in a long time.  I never knew it would take so much work to get ready for someone to come in and fumigate my house.  We were washing everything that could be washed, shampoo carpets, clean out closets, vacuum corners, baseboards, and heater vents.  It felt like we were cleaning for an inspection.  The kids still do not have any cloths in their rooms, which has made it incredibly easy to keep rooms clean.  Aside from having to deal with four giant plastic totes full of clothes stacked in my living room I am enjoying  it. 

Today swim team starts back up again.  Five months of running back and forth to the pool with one kid or another everyday.  This week the girl’s piano teacher is back in town, so piano lessons will start up again too.  I am glad to see that the kids will stay active again, and they really love to swim, and I am glad that they have that opportunity.  Growing up we only had volley ball, basketball, or track.   In those days I was not a runner, so the closest I got to sporting events was playing in the pep band. 

Each day brings a new adventure.  You could say that it looks like the same old thing day after day, and it does.  Each day we struggle with chores, homework, sewing, laundry, meals to prepare, church callings, and other responsibilities.   But even with all of the similarities each day, we strive to better ourselves, our home, and our relationships.    I know that my relationship with my children is better than it was two years ago.  There are many days when I wish that I could send them all off to school and enjoy my time, to spend my day as I want.  But I enjoy my children so much more now than I used to.  We talk more, we play more, and we learn new things each day.  I never thought I would be excited to have my children home, or that it would even be something I would want.  I am glad to know that even I am changing and and learning to be better along with my children.