Turtles and thanks with a little bit of Xmas

We've been remiss in updating this blog. There is a myriad of excuses I could offer. It's been cold. We've been busy. Not much happening outside the house. Plain truth is we've just not gotten to it. I am getting to it now so hold on to your hats, this will be a rather rambling entry as I try to get it up to date with what we've been up to. Totally typical of me to ramble and be all over the map.

Thanksgiving was nice. My parents and Josh (younger brother) came over to eat with us. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures but we didn't take any pictures. It's really sort of a shame. Andy is a professional photographer and I love photography too. Between the two of us we have five cameras. And we didn't manage to shoot one picture of our first thanksgiving together. Oh well. It was a nice meal. Andy and Josh had steak because they don't care much for turkey. I didn't manage the timing right so the boys had their steaks about 30 minutes after we had our turkey. Andy doesn't care for thanksgiving as a holiday but I love it. I've always loved thanksgiving. More than the food it's the reminder that I have so very much to be thankful for; we all have so very much to be thankful for.

Case in point! I had purchased my turkey about a week before thanksgiving. Two days before thanksgiving I went to the grocery store to buy all the fixings to go with the turkey. I spent enough money that I qualified for a free turkey. "You get a free turkey because you've spent over $100. Do you want it?" "Uuuuuh sure." This because we are so conditioned to say "yes" to something free. (Remember - there is no such thing as a free puppy!) I am not even out of the grocery store before I am thinking to myself, "Shit. What am I going to do with two turkeys?" I called my mom. She isn't biting. As I am talking to her it occurs to me. I'll craigslist that bird! I figured there had to be someone who could use a free turkey.

I got home and immediately put it on craigslist. Free turkey for someone who needs it. It was a 12lb turkey. Sadly, as I knew would be the case, I was inundated with emails from people wanting the turkey within 30 minutes. The first email was from a single mom with four children (three teenagers). We agreed to give her the turkey and Andy spoke with her to make arrangements to meet. She told him she was struggling and how hard it was to feed that many kids. I have one teenager. She had three teenagers and one younger. Four kids. There have been times I have barely squeaked by as a single mom and then only because of the help of family and friends. It is beyond hard sometimes to just make it.

I started going through our cupboards and loading up grocery bags with stuff. Lots of stuff. I even through in some steaks in case any of her children didn't like turkey. I ended up sending five bags of groceries and a turkey with Andy. When he got back he said he had never seen a child more excited over food before. I wished I had sent more. I was humbled and grateful. That woman and her family made my thanksgiving. She reminded me how heroic people can be. She is out there doing everything she can to take care of her family. I feel thankful that I had a turkey and one to spare. I feel thankful that there are people like this unknown woman out there who give me something to aspire to.

Huh. That isn't much about our house, is it? But it's about our lives so it's okay. Plus it's our blog so I get to write what I want! So where was I?

Uhhhhm. The house. We've not done much to the house the last few weeks because it really has been cold. Not the right time to plant really. We've continued to clear out brush and weeds. The rest of the front beds got the mulch treatment. I trimmed back the big tree/bush/shrub on the front corner of the house. It looks much nicer now. The Christmas tree is up and has presents under it. We have just been busy living our moments.

It will have been a year this New Year's Eve since Andy first emailed me. It seems like yesterday and yet it's hard for me to imagine him not having always been a part of our family. It's just a given that of course Andy is part of my family. It's funny how that works.

I'll leave with pictures of random stuff. Andy eating the mudpie I made him one day recently. I love making mudpies. It's too bad we tend to give that up as adults. You can see Andy's hesitation at first. He obviously got over that though as you see he ate the whole thing. (Yes, he actually took a bite of my mudpie - that's love) Stinky Cat hanging around doing what he does best. My NOEL figurines. These were my mother's originally. They are about a bazillion years old. They've been on my dresser at Christmas for over three decades now. They are pretty beat-up and ragged looking but I couldn't love them anymore. They are Christmas. I used to always have them spelling LEON when I was a younger girl. Some shots of the house. A seriously ugly puppy at the shelter. (I keep checking to see if they have our dog yet - the dog that says, "Oh hi! I was waiting for you to come bring me home) A clay turtle that I bought for a dollar at a local art school/studio. It was made by some young child and was sitting in this studio/gallery with all these beautiful sophisticated expensive pieces of pottery. He was just sitting there, so sad because he knew no one would ever want to take him home. He felt so different and ugly next to all the pieces that everyone ooohed and aaaahed over. I saw him immediately and said, "Hi! I knew you would be here waiting for me. It's time for you to come home." I bought him immediately. I would have bought the turtle table we saw at an auction. I told Andy I was going to buy it for five dollars. Because damn was it atrocious! I didn't buy it. Someone else bought it. For over $45. Unbelievable. It's okay though because now my little turtle is home where he belongs and living with George, the fabulous turtle that my friend Juli has let me borrow and hang on my wall for now. I love love love him. He wants to hug Andy's head with his mouth. Life is good here on Robin Road.

Merry Christmas!

Love on!