It is with great happiness and a thankful heart that I begin this Thanksgiving Day. I have so much to be thankful for. I started my day by sleeping in. Well, I slept until around 8 AM this morning when the kittens decided it was time for their breakfast. I gave Potatoe a big snuggle and then scratched Chewy’s chubby little cheeks, and gave little Winter her morning kisses. I then watched the three of them greet Trooper as Trooper strolled inside from his night out. It is adorable that they all four seem to have a conversation each morning, and the three kitties rub noses as if giving one another sweet little kisses. I guess that being adorable works up an appetite as the four of them devoured their breakfast.
I am now sitting in my outdoor office on my back porch watching the rain pour down. Brainy Bird helped me move the desk further into the interior of the porch in preparation of a day of rain. I am out here enjoying the sound of the rain, while I watch the Macy Thanksgiving Day parade on my iPad. I plan to enjoy some time out here while I finish Brainy Bird’s advent calendar, and I get some time to myself to work on my writing, while the boys sleep late. It is so good to have Brainy Bird home for the weekend, and I cannot wait to give him his advent calendar.
Brainy Bird arrived on Tuesday evening ahead of the time he was scheduled to land. For the first time in my life, traffic at the airport delayed us significantly. When we finally got out of the airport, we grabbed some Tex Mex, and had some time to catch up. We both felt exhausted when we got home.
Yesterday, we spent the day as if it were a Sunday back when the boys were younger. I worked in the morning, while they slept in before heading to the grocery store. We cooked lunch together, with each person in charge of a different part of the meal. Brainy Bird took charge of making his famous pork chops; Little Chirp made a salad, and I made a mushroom sauce and egg noodles. I laughed when Little Chirp confirmed that my sauce was not going on top of Brainy Bird’s pork chops, which are delicious by themselves. To Little Chirp’s relief, I explained that the sauce goes on the egg noodles. My favorite part of making lunch together, took place when Little Chirp finished making the salad, and then took to directing Brainy Bird’s pork chop making activities. Little Chirp did not let the fact that he had never made the pork chops before stand in the way of expressing his opinions on how to do things. It was just like old times.
After lunch, we watched a short movie, and then we went outside to fix the Christmas lights. After a couple of hours of me being extremely nervous about Brainy Bird being on the roof, Little Chirp begging to get up on the roof, and a few blow fuses (literally fuses on the Christmas lights), we decided to head back inside. We cleaned the kitchen, and then sat down and played dominoes. I lost about $30 to each of the boys. I am notorious for overbidding my hand in Moon, which is our favorite domino game.
Little Chirp treated us to tuna steaks and rice for dinner, which made it Brainy Bird’s turn to provide Little Chirp unwanted direction on how to cook. The tuna steaks, which Brainy Bird was worried that Little Chirp would over cook, were delicious. We then played some more dominoes, and then we discussed our plans for tomorrow.
We decided that our Thanksgiving Day should be a balance of time together and taking time to simply rest and stop to smell the roses. All three of us live non-stop busy lives. Today is to be a day of rest, reflection and thinking of all that we are thankful for. I told the boys they could do whatever they wanted with the rest of the evening last night, and they could sleep as late as they want today, as long as they are hungry and chipper at Thanksgiving dinner at 3:30 this afternoon. They liked this idea. Brainy Bird was out the door in a flash to go spend some time with his friends from high school, and Little Chirp headed to his study for some creative time. I headed to bed early.
I have about four and a half hours to do whatever I want today. I will spend all of it finishing the advent calendars that I have been making the last couple of months and working on my writing. For Brainy Bird’s advent calendar, I wrote him a letter for every day. Now, I need to get all of the letters edited, printed, and into the little boxes of his advent calendar. I can’t wait to give it to him. It is a complete surprise. Little Chirp knows that Little Chirp is getting his own specially made advent calendar, which I finished about a week ago. My guess is that Little Chirp has already peeked at the contents of his calendar. I certainly repeatedly caught him trying to peek at big brothers. I am excited to give everyone their calendars in the upcoming days.
To my complete surprise, I just went inside to get another cup of coffee, and I found Little Chirp awake and headed to the shower. I guess the crescent rolls and Lil’ Smokies that the boys got from HEB yesterday are more enticing than sleep. Either that, or Little Chirp is wanting to take yet another peek at the advent calendars. I am excited about today. I suspect that Little Chirp is too!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!