Thanksgiving the Ward Way

      Before we were almost empty nesters, we would have upwards of 30 people join us at our house each Thanksgiving.  I had a system.  Thanksgiving on Thursday, take down fall decor on Friday.  Put up Christmas decorations on Saturday.

     Now I don't have a system.  That's hard for me.  I am a planner, a system-in-place type girl. I'm not really sure what to do with that.  So I started Christmas decorating early, but I'm not done. I decided to just leave it and take to the road.

    Thanksgiving at the Wards began this year with an adventure in snow.  We started out Wednesday to head to PA where our girls are.  Had we left at 7am we may have avoided a snowstorm. But what fun is that?  No no no; we wait until 10am so we are sure to hit the worst of it by the time we reach Binghamton. Lots of close calls, white knuckles and tightened muscles later, we arrived not much later than usual. 

        The fun really begins on Wednesday night. We all sit around the table and play spotify.  By that I mean we designate a SJ (Spotify Jockey) and we take turns picking songs while the teenagers do complicated dance moves ...

busting a move

sometimes an adult will join in the fun

and of course after all that exercise we want to eat - this is our pre-thanksgiving treat time...

Ronnie's first attempt at homemade pumpkin cheesecake

    Ok that pumpkin cheesecake was the bomb!  Funny how we ended up with approximately 10 desserts.  Really?  10 desserts?  No one complained


     My favorite part however is when we all sit down to the table on Thanksgiving Day and give thanks to the Lord for all we have.  Then everyone looks at me to make the yearly toast?  What?  Why didn't you warn me so I could prepare something?

    "Because mom, if you knew you wouldn't do it"

    "Oh right".

    So I give extra thanks and we enjoy a sweet meal together.

    Afterward, football, snoring and coffee ensues.

this is how teens do post Thanksgiving dinner

    Yesterday we decided to go shopping - yikes!  Black Friday shopping??  Well we weren't entirely crazy.  We didn't go until the afternoon  and apparently we missed all the sales because we didn't see one single Black Friday sale deal!   But somehow our cart was so full we kept bumping into everything.  

    Anyhoo - here it is Saturday, sitting around in PJ's by a crackling fire watching movies all day - now that's what I'm talkin about.  

     

All in all, it was a quiet, fun, thankful weekend, with just a little crazy - perfect.  


I'm still not thinking about everything I have to do when I get home - nope, not going there, not going...

MIND - BLOWN

MIND - BLOWN

Part of being an empty nester is realizing that youth is no longer a personal attribute.  How do we realize this?  Well, let me give you some examples...


*Cleaning the house and forgetting where I put anything;

*Remembering to grab my computer bag before leaving for work in five minutes - then getting to work and realizing I forgot my computer bag;

*Realizing I told someone on Sunday that I would do something for them on Monday - and forgetting who I even talked to;

And there are other things...

Selfies aren't really a good idea

coconut bras are out of the question

Like not being able to figure out why my blog suddenly decided to center all my text and me not being able to figure out how to fix it.  Oh well, fancy blog it is. 

So, I finally decided to do something to preserve and increase my brain capacity.

PIANO:  Yep.  I'm taking piano lessons. I am now an expert at playing "When The Saints Come Marching In"! 

GUITAR: I am also working on playing the guitar.  I can now strum a mean rendition of "Smoke on the Water".  And yes, my family has that worm of a song constantly in their heads.  

CROCHET:  I have been an avid crocheter for years.  But now I am crocheting with a purpose.  I have added organic soaps and props and will be doing my second craft fair ever on December 3rd at Life Church in Watertown, NY.  

RAISING A TEENAGER:  What can I say?  I'm a glutton for punishment.  However it does have its perks:  fashion forward thinking, the lingo of the day, knowing immediately when my clothes or hair or anything else makes me seem like an old lady - and being challenged to fix it!  But best of all, less laundry!  Cassie does her own laundry so my laundry duties have serverely diminished!  

My mind is running like a well-oiled machine! 

Oh, I almost forgot the biggest thing: 

WRITING:  I started a blog - oh you already know that.  I am also taking a Writer's Class and working on a novel and a devotional series.  It's my favorite thing to do - and believe me - it keeps my brain working hard! 

I feel like I am one of the luck ones.  Empty Nesting can be tough.  I miss my daughters every single day.  But with Cassie around, it helps me to ease into the the syndrome at a slower pace.  And it's helping me to not fear the empty nest. 

Crochet - It's a Sport (is too, is too) 

No I know that a blog title with the word Crochet in it doesn't sound that exciting.  But hold on, just hear me out.

Your idea of a crocheter

I have been crocheting since I was about 14 years old, I think.   I have no idea why, or how I learned - in fact, I have absolutely no memory of where it all began.   I may have just arrived on earth with a hook in my hand,  I don't really know, but I'm going with the young teenager thing because it just sounds right.

Actual modern-day crocheter

I never really thought of crocheting being cool

                                                               Then this happened...

                                                                         and this...

                                            and...well, unless you're living under a rock...
                                                                 I could go on for days 

Oh and have I mentioned that at least 4 teenage girls from my teen girl class at church bring their crochet projects  with them every Sunday?  Yep, they do.  

Ok, so once I established that crocheting is cool, I realized last year at our church craft fair that it can actually make money.  People want homemade crocheted stuff!  That's when it became a sport.   and the more I made, the more people wanted. 

Picture it -  sitting on the couch, always in comfortable clothing, each hand and every finger on it moving at a rate that they have never moved before, the body bending and twisting each time more yarn is needed, or scissors, or a tapestry needle - feverishly working to get as many projects completed before the next craft  fair.  A neck stretch every ten minutes or so to avoid your head permanently jutting out and looking down at a 90 degree angle...

It can become consuming...and isn't this how most people feel after a workout?  

• laundry?  - nope
• dishes?  - no way
• dinner? - free  for all .....again
• sore hands?  - yep
• sore neck?  - for sure
• general all over body aches - uhuh

After reading all of the above, how is this not a sport?  

Would you consider signing a petition?  (You might get a free hat out of the deal) 

  

Husbands and Entertainment

HUSBANDS AND ENTERTAINMENT?  

     In the short span of time that my husband (Ron) and I thought we were empty nesting, we had a brief revelation of what entertainment would look like for us - a  "So what do we do now?" kind of revelation (Ron's translation:  "who do I tease and annoy now?")  

I mean it has been 25 years, ya know?  

Well, we talked about what we liked:  (hey, at least we talked!)

                       Sports on TV (yes for Ron, NO for me)

                       The Theater (yes for me, no for Ron) 

                       The Bars (no for me, no for Ron)

                        

Movies (Yes for me!  Yes for Ron!)... Wait...

                       at a movie theater?  (yes for me, No for Ron)

                       my pics: romance, drama, comedy, fantasy

                       Ron's pics: action, horror, action, western

     -you guessed it, we couldn't agree on a single genre! 

       Then this happened (and I should have known better)  He was being sweet on our 25th anniversary by making dinner and renting a movie for us as he knew I was leaning toward celebrating at home. 

                                                   LOOK what he came home with!  

                 SERIOUSLY? 
            Aliens vs. Predator?  

   After he saw the look on my face he said "well it's fantasy.  isn't that what you like?"   (deep breath, deep breath)  Ok, so what?  It's the thought that counts right?  Soooo being the sweet wife that I am we watched.  He stayed awake (miracle in and of itself) and I was horrified.  But, hey, the food was good!  

   So although we are not yet alone, we have fallen into somewhat of a routine - he is no longer allowed to pick movies so he sticks to football and I can tolerate it as long as I can sit and crochet - that's right, crochet - and that's a whole different story...

What happened to my empty nest??? 

     Some parents can't wait for that empty nester thing.  I mean, not that they don't love their kids - but after about 18 years, empty nesting, while a little scary, starts to look pretty good. Right?  

     Nope.  Not for me.  I dreaded it!  Loathed the idea.  I was one of those moms that didn't even like it when my kids stayed overnight somewhere.  Well....until....

My youngest (the blonde) Laice Mae
 at college graduation

This happened.  My daughter Laice graduated from college.  Hmm, she hasn't been living at home for about 4 years now...hello sewing room...

My oldest, Paige, on her first day at her new career

Then...this happened 
My oldest daughter Paige got a really good job in PA - off she went with her briefcase, new Apple laptop and nice office clothes...hello guest room


     Yep, no I had a guest room AND a sewing room!  Yeeeehaaa!.... I mean,  don't get me wrong, I miss them horribly and want  to be with them every second that I can...  but, hey, this having my own crafty, sewing, room all to myself isn't too bad.   

     Neither is going out to dinner any time we want, or not having to work around sports schedules, or pay for school trips or......

SCREEEEEEEECH!  Stop the presses...

Cassie, my niece, isn't she cute?

Then this happened ...

     This is Cassie, she's my niece.  She came to live with us when she was 12 years old, precisely 4 years ago - the same time my other girls had recently moved out.  













    So now my sewing room is a guest room, and my guest room is....well you know... Cassie's lair.  Yes, I said lair.   It is donned with all the things you would expect a teenager's room to be:  hideous posters, giant flags tacked to the walls, notes and drawings from her friends plastered on every wall, tv, wii, rock band, netflix, clothes from floor to ceiling, and shoes - oh the shoes...blah blah blah - you get the picture.  

     And you guessed it, we are back on the sports schedule circuit, the school trip empty wallet syndrome and a daily scolding for having her eyeballs attached to her smartphone during her every waking hour - which by the way is not a very long stretch of time.  Sleep is definitely a priority.  

     Here's the funny thing.  My husband and I wouldn't have it any other way.  When I say she's a cutie - she really is.  And frankly, we love being on the sports schedule - well, ok, we could do without the empty wallet - but at least our hearts are full. 

She made this for me in Plant Science class 

     We love our girls, all three of them.  And while our time for empty nesting is still something to look forward to,  we think we are the most fortunate "almost empty nesters" on the planet.  Besides, it keeps us young.  Cassie said just the other day "Aunt Terri's not old, she wears cool shoes and boots".  Ha!  How else would I keep up on the latest trends?