"Thanksgiving... On Mama We Do Depend"

Thanksgiving for me is a day of celebrating my family and all of the blessings that we have in our lives. We all gather together and there is much noise, much laughter, much love and great food.

The great food is courtesy of my Mama. My Mama is an amazing cook. She learned everything about making turkey and dressing and all of that from her Mama, My Granny, also an amazing cook.

When my Mama became an adult herself, She was smart enough to realize that She should pay attention to how my Granny made Thanksgiving dinner. My sisters and I haven't had that forethought.....

We sit in the kitchen with my Mama every year sipping coffee, telling stories, laughing and yucking it up, while getting Mama the occasional item here and there, if she needs it, or opening the oven door for her if she's carrying a large dish she needs to slide inside it.

Oh yes, we are her helpers kind and good, but when it comes to cooking the turkey and dressing or gravy or any of that, we couldn't buy a clue..

I tried to gently point out to my sisters, standing there with Mama last year, that we might need to start learning a little bit about the whole Thanksgiving meal preparation process by saying to them "y'all, we need to pay attention to how Mama makes this dressing".

My twin sister just looked at me, suddenly in a state of confusion, and said "what do you mean?"

I said "you know...take a note, get a recipe, learn something..get on the page with this dressing making thing...

Little sister pipes up.."Why? Mama always makes the dressing."

Now, like I said, my Mama was standing there listening to this whole conversation, and I am sure by this point, thinking to herself, Dear Lord, I am not even going to be able to die in peace, because my children will not be able to have a decent Thanksgiving ever again.

Well needless to say, amidst all the confusion that I had created by such a thought, I was forced to put gentle suggestion aside, and just give it to the two of them straight.

I looked right at them and said "Let me simplify it for you.. If we don't learn how to make this dressing and all of this other stuff and God forbid something happens to Mama, you, me, our brothers, children, grandchildren, and spouses are all going to be at the Cracker Barrel."

A hush fell over the room. My Mama just shook her head, and by the time I had all of this explained she had the dressing made and in the pan, so I opened the oven door, and we all kindly agreed with each other that we did need to pay attention in the future.

Feeling sure we had taken care of this matter of most importance we continued to sip our coffee.

I called Mama this year, as I always do, and I said "what do you want me to bring Thursday?". She said "Sharon's (my little sister) making macaroni and cheese, call your sister and y'all bring rolls, tea and ice". I said you don't want me to cook anything? (Hard pause from my Mama)..No that's okay..just tea, ice, and rolls, and call your sister".

As I hung up the phone I was a little surprised that she didn't want me to cook anything at all...I mean I don't think she's ever heard the story about me baking a ham with the plastic on it(I took the big obvious plastic cover off of it, but some idiot thought it would be even better, evidently to put a thin second one on it that was vacuum sealed).

So it was settled..I would just bring what Mama said to bring, but when I got there I'd definitely pay more attention to her cooking, and get more involved. After reaching that decision, I called my sister. I said Mama said for us to bring Ice, tea, and rolls.

My Sister said that She'd get the ice, and I told her I'd get the rest, and so it went....

As I walked into the kitchen where Mama was cooking this past Thursday I saw that I was just in time to open the oven door.....I apologized to my Mama for not knowing more about it all and not being of more help to her. She looked at me and said "I love cooking for y'all. I just really love and enjoy it."

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the cheek and silently thought to myself .... We'd never be able to cook as good as Mama does anyway. Cracker Barrel would definitely be better than I could do....

and who in the world am I, to steal my Mama's joy???

"When All Else Fails Accessorize"

My Husband has been retired now for five months, and he is becoming more of a hot mess with each and every day that passes.

He has done several "great" things to keep himself occupied since his retirement, for instance, painting numerous sample colors on the walls in our house and never actually making a choice and painting.

He is so full of ideas, that when I go to work, it's almost the equivalent of leaving a toddler home alone. The only difference is he can drive, which gives him the ability to go out and get things whenever the spirit moves him, like paint samples for example.

He can also browse the Internet and make purchases which, again, also makes him much more dangerous.

My husband is also "the creator of outfits". I have touched on his wardrobe choices in some of my previous writings, but for those of you who haven't read them let me give you a brief description of a daily ensemble... please keep in mind when you are forming this visual that he hasn't held a razor but once since last May...

T-shirt..old, and weather permitting, no sleeves. This allows a full display all of his arm "ink".

Cargo Shorts...worn solely, I believe, to show off his sock and shoe choices to the fullest.

Soccer socks, vibrant colors and stripes are a must. These are worn pulled up all the way to the knee, or pushed all the way down, depending on the mood of the day...

Shoes vary from Crocs to Ed Hardy...

His entire look when all pulled together says "I am a pure Situation"...

I thought that his look was about as far as he could go to draw attention to himself when we are out.....I was wrong.....

I came home from work the other day and discovered that he had made himself a purchase...In the form of an accessory...He had gotten himself a new pair of glasses.
He was just standing there with them on waiting on me to walk in and experience the wow factor.

Considering he did the purchasing, I probably don't need to tell you that these were not an average looking pair of glasses, so I will jump straight to the description.

He is the proud owner of a pair of black framed glasses...not just ordinary black frames, very large ones..Huge. That's right, I'm talkin' Harry Carey. They are just about the exact same glasses...I know this to be true, because I checked on google images after the shock had worn off.

I just looked at him and said Seriously??? He said "I am serious. I like them." I was stunned into silence.

The overall look of the glasses combined with his fashion sense sent me reeling. He had me feeling for the sofa behind me so that I could sit down. I thought to myself he's finally done it...we can never leave the house together again....

I looked at him again, and I said "Yes sir...When all else fails accessorize". At that point I had no choice but to leave the room. I had to go and soak in a hot bath, because I needed desperately to be alone.

I had to try to fully absorb what I had just seen, and then pray for myself some patience and understanding... and even more importantly... some mercy......