Once again, I am a day late to the party, but hopefully you will all understand as my celebration continued through yesterday evening, and this is the first opportunity I have had to sit down and process anything since returning home from NCTE late last Sunday evening.
I have been immersed in the celebration of family since right after school on Tuesday evening, when I picked up our oldest daughter at the airport. Then, on Wednesday, the daughter who actually lives in the same town as us, came to the house with a huge duffle bag, prepared to stay for the rest of the weekend. What a celebration to have all four of us in the same "home" for a few days!!
Our time together was spent in both traditional and non-traditional events.
The girls and I put up holiday decorations together on Wednesday, followed by our annual pre-Thanksgiving movie. We saw "Catching Fire" at our local AMC theater, which is now sporting these amazing tilt-back chairs. Great chairs, great movie, great company!! Life was good.
On the actual day of Thanksgiving, it was just the four of us enjoying the turkey with all its fixings. Because we knew this would be a tough Thanksgiving as we lost my father-in-law last February, we decided to throw in the very non-traditional excursion to the casino. The trip served its purpose perfectly -- after reflecting on stories about Dad T at dinner, the trip to the casino provided us with much hilarity.
Friday, my extended family got together at my brother's home. Another wonderful turkey dinner surrounded by people I love. Then, one last holiday tradition remained when we returned home -- putting up the Christmas tree. I think it's one of my favorite traditions because the ornaments I buy each year for both of the girls or for our family have some type of significance for that particular calendar year. It is fun to reminisce about each of those events.
Saturday, was a mixed blessing day. We love to watch football together and three of us did that (the other was actually at the OSU/Michigan game). Then, it came time to take our oldest, Kate, to the airport so she could wing her way back to her "other" home - DC. Knowing that I would see her again in about 3 weeks, made these good-byes a bit easier.
I hope these past days were full of time with friends and/or family for all of you as well. For all the Celebrations, head to Ruth's blog to see this week's line-up.
Your post makes me smile! We had the same weekend with movies, food, and decorations! I love seeing all the decorations the kids made in elementary, love that the teachers added a photo to each ornament! We have a new tradition now. Each year we draw names and go to PM Gallery in the Short North and buy an ornament for our person! The tree is full of gallery and child made ornaments! PERFECT!
ReplyDeleteI am so stealing that idea! Love it, especially since both girls shared that they might want their own ornaments when they get around to doing their own trees. Starting a gallery made ornament tree is perfect!
DeleteSo glad you had a great time with your family. Can't wait to see CATCHING FIRE, I thought it might happen this week, but it didn't. I'm just back from taking my boys to the airport- like you, it will only be a couple of weeks until they come back, but the house still feels way too quiet right now.
ReplyDeleteIt is very quiet here as well. The only good news is this allows me to be a writer; I need that quiet. Trying to get a few blog posts done and then think about what my students need this week. But still missing my girls...
DeleteI separated the ornaments a few years ago-sad to see them go, but now I see them on their trees. Love that you had such a nice weekend, Karen. I did too, but not the movie-so looking forward to that! Yes, just a few more weeks till the Christmas holidays! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI guess I never thought about separating the ornaments until they said that on Friday. Loving Deb's idea about adding more now but in a different way.
DeleteCan't wait to hear what you think about the movie. I could go back and see it several more times!!