Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ah yes, the smell of giblets cooking on the stove. . . I had that today. . . with my mom. She came over to help me get the turkeys ready for tomorrow and get the giblets cooked and ready for the stuffing. She did that last year too--I still have so much to learn! The cooking is the easy part--of course our three turkeys were still partway frozen, but that was okay. We are frying 2 and baking one so that we can still have gravy and good dressing that soaks up all the fat while it's cooking inside the turkey--oh and leftovers for everybody because there is nothing like Thanksgiving leftovers. My whole family will be over--all 18 of us (I had to sit here and count that on my fingers as I can never remember how many of us there is!). I still have my sausage dressing to make tonight--I'll bake that tomorrow. Then there's the 10 pounds of potatoes to peel. I have to find the little knife my Grandma Liz gave me a long time ago--it's the best potato peeling knife I have and one of my favorite things she gave me--probably because it was brand new when she gave it to me, and my sisters both got something from the second hand store that Christmas (tee hee). All in all it will be a fun day with lots of noise and activity. Yayy!!! Happy Thanksgiving to Everybody!!!!!!

Morgan's Gymnastics Meet

U.S.A. is a Free Country

Morgan (8) was given an assignment today in class. The students were to write a letter to somebody they knew who had been in a war. Morgan asked if the person could be dead, and the teacher said no. So, Morgan wrote a letter to Callie that taught her preschool and is now Syd's preschool teacher. The letters were to go in a box. She then decided she was going to write a letter to her Grandpa Ed, my dad, and bring it home to put on his grave. She drew an American flag at the top of the letter with the words "U.S.A. is a Free Country" written on the flag. The letter says:

Dear Papa Ed,
My name is Morgan and I am 8 years old and a third grader at Lockwood School. My little sister is Sydney and at age 4, and only a preschooler. It is the year 2008 and we all really miss you, but thank you for fighting in the war and trying to earn us a free country. I really wanted to see you. We just had election against McCain and Obama. Who would you vote for?

Love,

Morgan

How sweet is that? She even drew hearts by her name. When she came home she told me the story. I told her we could certainly go visit Papa Ed's grave, and then I said she's not supposed to make me cry when she gets home from school. . .

She really knows how to touch my heart. . .

Alone

I just had lunch with my mom. I always feel so sad leaving her--I want to bring her to work with me so she is not alone. I know she has grown "accustomed" to living alone, but I know at times "accustomed" does not mean "content". I think at times she is content, but I think lately it's been less often. She told me the other day that she has been really down lately. The cancer, surgery and treatment have been really hard on her, as they would be on anybody, but moreso because she goes home alone. She really misses Dad. Yesterday was Veterans' Day, and she said she cried a few times during the ceremony at the cemetery.

I am a fixer. I want to be able to 'fix' things or situations. Maybe it's a control thing for me, I don't know. How do you 'fix' loneliness when somebody's spouse of almost 50 years is gone, when the person you've lived with everyday since you were 18 years old is no longer there? There is no fix. I know that, but I don't believe it. I want to fix it, but I can't. The only thing I can do is talk to her every day on the phone, try to spend some time with her and make sure I am here for her. Besides, I can't replace what was once there and is now gone, but I can do what I am already doing and what my brother and sisters are doing, and that's be here for her.

One more Halloween post

So here's me on Halloween. . . at least I was KINDA in the spirit!!

Another week. . .

. . . over and gone. Pretty sad that I wish them away while I'm at work. Here's a couple small stories from this week. . .

We got the girls flu shots (actually the flu-mist) on Tuesday night at the school. Syd still freaked out. Actually, let me clarify. When I say freaked out, I mean FREAKED out--crying and SCREAMING!! And she hadn't even gotten the squirt in her nose yet. I knew I would get a reaction like this whether I told her ahead of time or just before the shot. I know the nurse who gave it to her (it's a squirt in the nose) was not happy (and she's a co-worker). She made some comment about how I should have told Syd about it ahead of time or something like that which really irked me. . . but the funny part was that after I talked Syd into doing it (she could have had a shot instead!), I put her on my lap, and the nurse said to lay her back, so I did. The nurse then stuck her hand on Syd's forehead and sprayed the vaccine into her nostril. Syd hated it and squirmed and was. . .well. . . ticked to put it mildly!! Syd tried to sit up and brushed (okay shoved) the nurse's hand off her forehead and yelled "Get off me!!!" I didn't laugh about this until later--I was still processing the comment from the nurse. It's a wonder Syd let her spray it into her second nostril. When it was all done, Syd was absolutely fine--like nothing happened. Errr. The joys. . . at least I can laugh about it now!

So we bought Guitar Hero Aerosmith this week. Morgan LOVES it. She can't get enough of it. And she does the same song over and over. I told her "I Hate Myself for Loving You" is permanently etched into my brain. Well, she conveniently forgot she had homework last night until it was time for bed. So, I made her stay up and do it, and now she can't play video games tonight. We'll see how well this goes over. She's always super tired on Fridays, and if she didn't eat well today, it will be worse. More fun!!

Oh, and besides the fact that Syd would eat oatmeal for every meal, just like my dad, the other night she shook her fist at me! That's what my dad used to do, and his mom used to do that too. I remember shaking my fist at Grandma Blaesius once when I was little--one of very few memories I have of her--and she laughed. So, I told Syd that Papa Ed has now taken over her body. First the oatmeal, now the fist. It was just too cute.

Halloween Night

Here are the girls in their Halloween costumes. Morgan got to take hers to school and wear it at Boys and Girls club for their party. One of the gals there helped her with her makeup. Then when we got to Mom's after I picked the girls up, I added to it so it showed up more for night time. I had to make her glamorous since she was Sharpay from High School Musical!!! Syd was a Kitty again--she couldn't wait to get her nose and whiskers drawn on her. Mom was excited to see the girls and got a kick out of the fact that Morgan said we HAD to go to Grandma's for Halloween because it was a tradition! That really touched my heart. After Grandma's, we found Jared and Kate trick-or-treating and stopped to see them. Of course Syd was scared. Then we went home so Morgan's friend could come over and they could go trick-or-treating together. After Kylie got to our house, I joined the girls and Kylie's mom (and Syd) to walk throughout the neighborhood. Well, let me tell you, Syd is not a trick-or-treater. It didn't help that she forgot her bucket--that threw her off right away. We got to the first house across the street, she went up to the door with her sister and Kylie, and when Morgan said, "Syd, where's your bucket?" and the guy answered the door at the same time, she freaked. She came running down the stairs and cried. . . so Morgan got candy for her, which was brave in and of itself for her to ask somebody for something extra. I was proud of her. Kylie's mom ran back to our house to get Syd's bucket, so we were off. Then Syd started crying and said she was scared--well there was a big group of kids in front of us all dressed up, and I think that scared her. She did calm down a little bit because I was trying to make her laugh--but then something spooked her and she said she wanted to go home--I think it was the fact that the big group of kids was now behind us as we were walking down the street. So, Kylie's mom went off with Morgan and Kylie, and me and Syd went home. Instantly as we were walking home she was happier. I guess it was just too much for her. The minute we got home, rather than wanting to eat any candy, she wanted oatmeal. I think I have the only child on earth that would rather have oatmeal than candy on Halloween. She is definitely a product of her Grandpa Ed. :-) That makes me smile.

Morgan got home about an hour later all excited with all the goodies she collected--she even got 2 cans of pop! I think she opened one, took a sip, then decided she wanted water. It's still sitting on the counter this morning! Morgan fell asleep on the couch at about 9:30 after saying she wanted to stay up until midnight.

I think we had about 50 kids--some really small--so cute. . . I kinda like answering the door on Halloween. . . I think that should be a new tradition. . .