Well, as of 2:45 today, I am off work until Monday!! YAY. And in between, I get to see relatives and friends, and have lots of good food. Wednesday night I am going to dinner with my bff Liz, and her best friends whom she shared with me 15 or so years ago, and are now my best friends, too. It’s our annual tradition. We have been doing it for 3 years or so… I really look forward to it.
I am especially looking forward to it this year, even with the one hour drive. I am listening to the audiobook, “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett. My bff, Tracy lent it to me a long time ago, and I have been plugging away at it. I was in the car about 6 hours this weekend, and made some major headway, and now it is always on my mind. It is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to it. If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend it.

I had a really awesome weekend. On Saturday I drove up to Cleveland to go to a surprise 30th birthday party for my cousin, Timmy. It was really nice, and he was completely shocked. I stayed for a bit, then headed to my other cousin, Krissy’s house to go watch her son at a local theatre in a play called, “Thirteen.”
Here is a pic of my cousin Krissy and me at another one of my cousin’s weddings this summer (I have a lot of cousins.)

Ever since I was a little girl I have idolized my cousin Krissy. She is 5 years older than me, and I would follow her and her friends around. I thought she was so cool because she had so many friends, and every where we would go around town, we would see people she knew. This weekend I stayed at her house, and went out to dinner with her and her best friend. Even though I am now 37 and she is 42, the little girl inside of me felt so “cool” being out with her and her bff.

On Sunday, I went to see my gramma, my dad’s mom, at the nursing home. My gramma has a lot of children, a lot more grandchildren, and even more great grandchildren. She has always been very active in all of their lives, attending graduations, parties, weddings, showers, and funerals. She doesn’t like to miss a party. At all. So, it is was weird to see her in a nursing home, not fully with it. She actually looks great, and interacts well, and if you didn’t know her, you’d think she was doing amazing. But, I know her, and it’s just not the same. So, the visit was a little bittersweet.
However, as she was a person who has given so much love to so many people, it is nice to see a revolving door of visitors to care for her. Also, she is very active at the nursing home, doing crafts and activities. It’s just a little sad to say goodbye to parts of my gramma that I wasn’t quite ready to let go of – though I know that nobody has lived a fuller life than her.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for so much. I know it is so cliche, but I really am blessed. I have the best of everything. I have the best friends, the best family, the best husband, the best blog followers!!, the best dog, and the best coworkers.
I am in a place of gratitude this holiday season, and I plan on making it the best holiday yet!

Beth WA