It's Coming!

I went to bed early last night, well early for me, around 10:30. My body is used to barely 5 hours, so sleeping a full eight is almost impossible, but last night I did. If you're doing the math, 8 hours puts me up at 6:30. This week, thanks to a generous invitation by my sister, I am at the beach for Thanksgiving. The house is oceanfront, so there was a good amount of light in the room at 6:30. I checked my Weather Channel app on my phone,  6:56. I hadn't missed it. I quickly put on sweats and a sweatshirt to step out of my room onto the deck into the 35°air to watch the sunrise. There's nothing quite like sunrise at the beach. There was a thin line of clouds just above the horizon that had a pink hue as the sun teased behind them. I checked my phone, 6:40, 16 more minutes of waiting for the sun to appear. Standing in the freezing wind. Did I give up and go inside? No, I didn't.  I waited, my body huddled in a ball to keep warm, camera phone at the ready. I checked the time again, 6:53, 3 minutes. I looked out on the horizon, the to p of the ridge of clouds was on fire with gold. Standing out there alone, I got so excited! I actually said aloud, "It's coming!" I started to snap pictures as the sun rose, what seemed like, out of the ocean, and then I stopped to just watch it, right there in front of me. Let me say that again, I stopped to watch it. Today, the day after Thanksgiving,  for me, is the official start of the Christmas season.  The next  4 weeks will be jam-packed with all kinds of activities. Waiting for the sunrise today made me think how excited I used to be for Christmas. It was filled with things I wanted to do, not things I had to do. IT'S COMING! I'm really going to try this year to "stop and watch it," because, like the sunrise, it will be over before I know it, and I will have been to busy "taking pictures," to enjoy what is right in front of me.

What have I Got to be Thankful for?

This year has brought many challenges and struggles. If you keep up with this blog, you know that we sold my mother's house after 30 years of living, a task that would make anyone want to pull their hair out, but along with that, I was also having to move as I lived with her. Finding the right place at an affordable price so that my youngest daughter could remain at her current high school was not easy. We found out in May that although my oldest was accepted into a very prestigious University's BFA program for Theatre, she would not be able to attend because something that I thought was a benefit at my current job, tuition exchange, was not a given, and the tuition was just too high without it. My little family of 3 is feeling the pinch just like everyone else in this economy of ever climbing prices weighed against stagnant income. WOW! Painting a pretty pathetic picture, huh? What have I got to be thankful for?............A LOT! First, let's address the issue of my mother's house. In this TERRIBLE market, the house sold in less than 3 months. With the help of a wonderful real estate agent, Barbara P. Bennett, we found a place for my girls and I to live in the right school district and it's a place I really love. When my oldest wasn't able to attend the University where she was accepted, she decided to take a gap year, and I have had the wonderful pleasure of having her home with me a little bit longer. She was able to get two jobs that she's perfect for and she enjoys. The economy? Well I don't really have encouraging news there, but in the times we have really been up against it financially, we have had someone there to help us. In three days we will celebrate the day set aside for giving thanks. I love this holiday, partly because it's not so rushed and jam packed with so many things to do or places to be. I am lucky enough to have 5 days off, and I spend them at home. No, I am not a BLACK Friday shopper. I wake up on Thursday morning and put my turkey in the oven, and spend the day making all my favorites that I grew up with and a few of my own too. I sample and enjoy the smells of turkey and dressing, and carrot cake as it bakes. I watch the parade and sit down with my favorite people and enjoy the meal I've cooked. No rushing, no craziness, just time to enjoy each other and all we have to be thankful for. Even with all the struggle, I am so blessed. I wouldn't trade my life for a struggle free one if it meant giving up the things that truly matter, the love of my children, the privilege that I have of watching them grow and share in their joys and sorrows, the fact that I am there for them, and they know it and rely on it, a wonderful church family that has been there for us in so many ways, family and friends that are encouraging and supportive. I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I do, however, encourage you to look at all there is around you to be thankful for and appreciate it not just on Thursday but every day of the year.

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

It is 8 AM, and I am sitting on a kitchen barstool watching the ocean waves roll into the shore from my view at the house we are staying in at the Outer Banks. I am here with my family, (daughters, niece, sister, brother-in-law, and mom) for the Holiday until Sunday. This stay was a gift, from my sister and brother-in-law to my mother for her birthday last May. I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my MY whole family since I can't remember when. One of the arrangements of my divorce agreement was that my girls would spend Thanksgiving with their father, but they would always spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with me. The fact that they are with me, is more than enough to be thankful for, but to be here in this lovely home, looking at the beuty of the ocean is like winning the Thanksgiving lottery.
I am especially glad that we are all together this year, because after this year, things will be different. My oldest is a senior in high school, and next year she will be in college. Thanksgiving will mean something different next year. My plans will center around her homecoming.
I am especially thankful for this wonderful gift because it affords me the freedom of just relaxing. Something I haven't done in QUITE some time. My life is filled with rushing here and there, being in this place by that time. I don't take the time very often to just stop. Stop to realize just how much I have to be thankful for.
The house we are staying in is right on the beach. Last night as we finished dinner, the moon had risen up over the ocean. We went out on the deck to look at it. The picture was amazing! The light of the moon cast this beautiful shimmering band across the water. The sky was clear except for a few thin clouds around the moon. It was the kind of thing you look at, and you think that it can't be real, that all of a sudden, someone will yell, "CUT" and they will roll the backdrop away. But it was real, and it made me stop and just think about how lovely the world really is if I would just STOP and notice once in a while.
I am so blessed. We all are, but we let life sweep us away with the mad dash of our schedules, and work, and "Carrot Cakes", okay that last one was for me, and we don't take the time to notice, let alone give thanks. There is a scene in the movie, The Blindside, where "Big Mike" has been invited to stay with the Tuohy family for Thanksgiving. The entire family is watching the "Big Game" and Leanne calls the family in when the spread is set. They all rush in, grab a plate and rush back to the sofa to continue to watch the game, all except for "Mike". Leanne looks in her dining room and sees Mike sitting at the table eating alone. She, of course, promptly calls all the rest of the family in to eat with their guest. The Tuohys who have everything, are a lot like many of us, certainly thankful, but in a rush, not sitting down to take the time. Mike, who has NOTHING isn't taking the huge meal or the fact that he is not alone for granted. Be Mike today. Take the time to enjoy all the things you have in your life and be thankful. It IS called THANKSgiving.

Is this the way Paula Deen started?

Everyone who bakes or cooks in any way shape or form usually has a signature dish. It's the one thing that, when invited to a party of some sort, you are asked to bring. Well, I have had a few requested dishes in my time, my macaroni shrimp salad, my baked spaghetti, my pan-fried chicken, but the one thing I am always expected to make at the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas both, is my carrot cake. I first baked this cake about 28 years ago, and I don't think I've missed a year since making at least one. It is a rich, moist cake full of texture with freshly grated carrots and, of course, it has cream cheese frosting made with real butter and real cream cheese (no cutting corners for me). Every time I bring it to a gathering, it's a hit. People always say, "That's the best carrot cake I've ever had," or "I don't usually like carrot cake, but that's really good." I even had a co-worker that wanted me to ship him one to South Carolina once he moved, and my sister will stage a coo if I don't bake one for  Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over the years I have toyed with the idea of selling them but never really did anything about it UNTIL I found out that my two daughters have a spring choral trip to NYC this year that is going to cost me $1600.00, $1600.00 that I don't have. So on November 10, 2010, I announced to the world via Facebook that I would be taking orders for carrot cakes for the holidays. I didn't know what to expect, and I was surprised when in about a week, I had 15 orders for Thanksgiving and thus 24 Carrot Cakes was born. I designed a logo, and I even have a slogan, "We only make 1 cake, because we make it the best!" I even set up an email account to do "business" 24CarrotCakes4u@gmail.com. Today I am down to the final 2 to be picked up. The whole adventure has been a little overwhelming. 1) It's hard to run a small side business when you have a full time job, and 2) I need to beg the services of a mathematician because I suck at converting measurement to purchase the right ingredients for multiple cakes, hence several trips to the store instead of ONE. So what began as a resource for a spring trip may turn into something bigger, and, who knows, by this time next year, everyone might be asking for my signature dish.