Howdy

Hello, my blogging buddies... I have not dropped off the face of the Earth. The winter holidays are upon us and I have gotten a least 10 times busier between class plays, field trips, Camp Fire candy sale stuff, my children's birthdays, doctors appointments, etc., etc.

Hope y'all had nice Thanksgivings! We did untraditional this year and went to Magic Mountain. Before you get on me about not creating a traditional dinner for my children to cherish and remember forever, please remember I am not a very good cook. I'm too impatient and I always mess a least one thing up. I can feed my family but just barely so they enjoy the same food over and over.. I am learning though. The Crock-Pot is my friend.

Also, I think the holidays should break from tradition from time to time. I'm not saying don't do anything but mix it up a little. I think a lot of the holiday depression comes from people sitting around realizing that their holiday is not Norman Rockwell picture perfect and then they start picking apart their lives and getting all sad and stuff.

After my dad passed (I was 13 and thought I was grown-up ahead of schedule) all the first holidays were so painful because tradition was broken and things were not "normal" and oh yeah, now I don't have the picture perfect family and "No my parents are not divorced, he died." explanations.

Make new traditions. My tradition is going to be that holidays are sometimes "untraditional". If that messes up my kids because they didn't stuff themselves with turkey and mashed potatoes (because that's all they will eat anyway), then they will just have to get their own therapy. On Thankgiving, we were THANKFUL, thankful to be together, thankful for our health so that we could go on some of the world's scariest roller coasters, thankful that we had the money to buy a $7.00 turkey sandwich. Next year I will TRY and cook a turkey again and not drop the stuffing all over the floor and break my favorite baking dish.

I'm getting off my soapbox now. Can you tell I have gotten some strange reactions to my Thanksgiving? Mostly from other moms. I guess I'm just wierd.