Giving Thanks...

I still sit in amazement that Thanksgiving is over. How did it pass me by so quickly? I remember the turkey dinner, the furious shopping, but here it is Sunday evening and am I really supposed to be gearing up for Christmas?

Jeff took Tristan up hunting for the weekend. It was hard for me to let him go, but Jeff was quite firm on the fact that they were going and that he wasn't too young, despite all my pleas that he was.

They had a good time even if they didn't see any deer the whole time. Tristan was excited for the opportunity to target shoot and apparently he did well. I need not worry about my little guy growing up too fast. He still snuggled up to me and got teary in the evening... the sure sign that he was too tired for his own good.

I got to spend Saturday alone with my daughters. I spoiled them with a trip to Build A Bear, and a High School Musical movie marathon. They acted like sisters, with the youngest copying the oldest and the oldest teasing the youngest to no end.

Overall it was a great weekend except that I didn't get to spend as much time with my husband. As usual at the family gatherings, the men head to one side of the house and the women in another. It still surprises me how foreign this feels to me because since there was only three of us in my immediate family growing up, we always did things together. No one was ever segregated and left behind. At least Jeff understands this and puts up with all of us piling into the car to run the silliest errand... and I understand his hunting trips and fishing trips.

I thank God for the low-key times of my life. A lot of times, I worried that I would get used to the crisis mode that our lives were in for many years of my father's illness. That on some level I would need the adrenaline to feel useful and complete. But the truth is that I believe those hectic experiences made me stronger and more confident and appreciative to the quieter times in my life. I'm not sure if I am explaining it clearly, but it feels good to be where I am in my life. There is still room for improvement, but I feel like we are on the right track.