Thankful

Andrew made it fine through the surgery yesterday. Thank you for your prayers!
He has been out of it mostly. I think this may be all the morphine he has had since Saturday. But you may find it funny to know he has watched a lot of The Food Network when he is awake. He and I used to snuggle together and watch Emeril years ago. Now he likes Alton Brown. It must be the scientific aspect Alton Brown brings to food!

Hopefully Andrew will be discharged some time tomorrow. Some good friends are fixing Thanksgiving dinner in their home for our other two children and my husband and I will eat with Andrew at the hospital.

We are staying local to do the radiation and chemo. We just can't leave our children and our support system again. It was too hard on the whole family before.

But I am also still researching alternative treatments to be used in conjunction with traditional protocol. We did not want to have Andrew go through the radiation and chemo because it does not cure this type of cancer and we hated to put him through the side effects to no avail. However, we are hoping it will give us more time.

Andrew's diagnosis is a GBM stage 4. It is the deadliest brain cancer and very rare in children. We are told there is no cure. BUT GOD.

I keep coming back to that because we know that God heals and we have heard of miracles happening for people who were sent home to die.
We continue to believe, hope, pray and breathe faith. Last week we were at our weariest and, to be honest, I thought I was near a break down at any moment. Sleep deprivation is a bad thing.

I am still praying for so many of you that have requested prayer. I don't have all the answers but I do have my faith and trust in a good God. I pray and believe because His Word tells me to. I persist because Jesus gave us the parable of the persistent widow. I trust in Him because He is trustworthy.

Happy Thanksgiving! We have our son so our day will be full of thanks.

Keepin' It Real - Good Times, Tom Turkey and Ted

We shared an early Thanksgiving meal with my folks in MS a few days ago. Once home in Florida, however, it was just the 5 of us around the dining room table Thursday. Okay...6, I can't leave out Ted - the WonderPUP. Although he did not have a chair at the table he did wait patiently for a little deep fried Tom.

One Fine Man, TechSon, Skate-Boy & Guitar Girl hammin' it or turkeyin' it up for the BlogCam...

Most of our meal is on the sideboard behind Guitar Girl. Once again, my favorite dishes were Mother's cornbread dressing and my sweet potato souffle with praline topping!

Pst! I have a secret fantasy - of a picture perfect Holiday meal. It involves everyone dressed in their holiday finest, the table beautifully set, the food hot and ready to serve at the same time, a perfectly carved turkey, pleasant conversation, no one leaving the table until everyone is finished, and the dishes washed and put away in record time! But I realize my picture perfect ideal will probably not happen. Because there's a little issue called REAL LIFE!

Nevertheless, what we have is still fine by me. But in the interest of keepin' it real, let me point out some of our realness. I suspect you might be able to relate...

Keepin' It Real moments: Notice the giant Tervis Tumbler One Fine Man is using. And I whisked away Guitar Girl's Diet Pepsi bottle before I took the picture. (Even though I do have a set of crystal goblets.)

TechSon finished his meal first, as usual, holiday or no holiday.

'So glad there is no smell-a-blog because Skate-Boy was out skateboarding moments before we sat down to eat.(I did make him wash up and change his dirty shirt!) And the male people all wore T-shirts!

Alas, my turkey carving skills need the help of Bobby Flay or Alton Brown, or at least the Publix poultry guy. (Oh well, you can't see how I carved it once it's between 2 pieces of bread spread with Hellman's! Like I said, Keepin' It Real!

Not so picture-perfect, but I'll take it!

Here is our Fried Tom below. Thanks to our Neighbor I didn't do anything to it but prepare it for the deep fryer. Nice! Old Tom looked pretty handsome before I came at him with the carving knife!

Deep Fried Tom rubbed with Creole seasoning...

And introducing Ted the pekingese...Wait for it, wait for it...(turkey, that is).

Later in the day our friends from NC came by for apple cake w/caramel glaze, coffee, and faith-filled conversation.

Although my picture perfect idea of Thanksgiving Dinner hasn't happened yet, still you can't get much better than a day filled with faith, family, friends and food!

And that is keepin' it real ~ good!

So what were your keepin' it real moments on Thanksgiving Day? I'd love to know. Do tell!

Friday's Favorites ~ In Every little Thing, Give Thanks!

Speaking ~ Teaching ~ Inspiring ~Motivating ~ it's one of my Favorite things to do!

Last night I had the privilege of speaking to 85 women at a combination Thanksgiving~Christmas event dubbed Thanksmas. I love opportunities to motivate, inspire, or teach women. But last night was all about fun and entertainment!

My presentation was based on I Thessalonians 5:18 ~ In everything, give thanks. While that scripture often gives us pause to reflect on the BIG things, the ETERNAL things, that we are thankful for, I tweaked it a bit and suggested that In Every little Thing, Give Thanks!

I asked each woman to take one minute and make a list of the little things, the small slices of life, the minor matters, the trivial tidbits, the tiny treasures that are worthy of her gratitude.

Time's Up!

Then I shared my list of 10 little things that I am thankful for. With each one, I inserted a little humor as I told why I am thankful for each triviality.

If a woman listed the same item as one on my list, my Christmas Elf (Guitar Girl) gave her a small gift bag with a tiny treasure! In this way I incorporated the THANKS in THANKSGIVING and the GIVING OF GIFTS in CHRISTMAS.

#1 on my list was COFFEE!

The first hand that went up with coffee on her list received a small bag of coffee...and down the list we went while the thanks and giving continued!

What an honor to stand before those beautiful women...all with a story of their own of thankfulness, gratitude and giving.

It really was a night of THANKSMAS!

I would wish you all a Herry Thanksmas, but that just sounds bad!!!

Just a little postscript~ Several women decorated tables with either a Christmas or a Thanksgiving theme. See the table I did below ~ A little Thanksgiving, of course!

Sometimes It's The Little Things

How about a little input? Can ya help a sistah-speakah out? I am speaking at a ladies function which is a combination Thanksgiving/Christmas event.

Here is where you come in...all 3 of you!

Aside from the big things that you are thankful for; you know what they are. What are some of the small things that, while not on your short list (a little joke there), cause you to be thankful?

One of mine is pictured above. Dark chocolate in small packages. Another is that first drink of coffee in the morning! Both brown things...hmmm.

What about you? What are the little things you are thankful for?

Friday Favorites - It's Almost Thanksgiving Day

My favorite holiday is only 20 days from now! I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving because it is filled with faith, family, friends and food. How full of good feelings can one day be ? (Unless, of course, it's Christmas.)

But Thanksgiving has all the good feelings of Christmas without the stress that is sometimes a part of the gift-giving process. We mostly celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way...family members join for fellowship and food and food and food. Did I mention the food part?
Years ago when my two brothers and I were teens, our family of five had an unusual menu on Thanksgiving Day. One of us suggested that, instead of the traditional fare, we have Tex-Mex on Thanksgiving! (Why? I have no idea.) Instead of turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes, we ate tacos, burritos, rice and beans. It was out of the ordinary and a break from tradition, but as you can tell-unforgettable!


My favorite Thanksgiving dishes are Mother's delicious dressing, my sis-in-law's side dish (green bean or broccoli casserole), and my sweet potato souffle. For dessert, Mother makes a couple of pecan pies and I usually add a carrot cake or a buttermilk pie.


Thanksgiving Day traditions at our place: One Fine Man always runs the Turkey Trot 5 K; we watch at least one Christmas movie; we play games (scrabble, etc.); and we eat more pie!

Tell me, what are your Thanksgiving Day traditions? I'd love to hear all about it!