Much to be Thankful For

Alright, I know you've all been waiting with baited breath to hear how my weekend was. To be very honest, nothing happened that was all that earth-shattering; nothing that shot me over the moon with excitement. However, while I will always have my pie-in-the-sky dreams, I'm teaching myself to enjoy the little things, and with it being Thanksgiving and all, I can tell you I have much to be thankful for.

We'll begin with Friday night: Lindsay and Jason were home from Guelph, so the three of us dined at Kelsey's in Kanata. As many of you know, Kelsey's is my favourite place to eat, and as usual, the Four Cheese Spinach Dip was to die for. It was nice to catch up with Lindsay, and of course she and Jason had lots of stories to tell me. Once we returned back home, we met up again at Gavan's, where the Quyon Ball Banquet was being held. Stacy, Ricky, Sara and Graham were all there, and so we sat around chatting & listening to the Rivals play (ah, the last great band to take the stage at Gavan's, it seems). We all got some good chuckles out of watching the drunks dancing. (My own unfortunate twirl on the dancefloor with one particular drunken boy will not go down in the books as the best dance ever.) With Lindsay's birthday approaching this week, Sara had picked up a cake and we brought it into Gavan's. Everyone sang happy birthday and we got to eat cake...Mmmm, it was good! (Thankfully, Jason was unsuccessful in his attempts to smash Lindsay's face in it, so we all got to enjoy it!)

Saturday morning, Stacy and I ventured into Ottawa to Michael's craft store. I spent $44.83 on stickers. That's almost $50. On stickers. Then we bounced all over Aylmer looking for turkeys that were allegedly on sale. Not only did we never find any turkeys that were on sale, we also barely found any turkeys at all. Then Stacy washed her car a few times - literally - before we came home. Saturday night, I watched the Sens/Sabres game with Mom and Dad - a bit better than the blowout to the Leafs, but still a 4-3 loss nevertheless. I put that behind me quickly, and again joined Lindsay and Jason at Gavan's, where I spilled Lindsay's drink all over the place. It was a much quieter evening chez Gav's, but we had a good time talking and laughing.

Sunday was my family's Thanksgiving celebration. We went to church in the morning, had breakfast at Mohrs', and then I spent the afternoon playing with Caden. Mom and I taught him to say "Yuck". Very cute. However, then I made the mistake of trying to teach him how to say "Wade." It didn't work so well.

Jill: Caden, say "Wade".

Caden: "Yuck!"

Thanksgiving dinner was a bit chaotic, what with Dad and Chris jumping up and running into the living room to watch the last laps of the NASCAR race every few minutes. By the time the girls were on to pie, the boys were just digging into turkey. Except for Caden, who apparently did not like turkey, or carrots, or potatoes, because his ended up all over the floor. He did, however, enjoy the tastes of pumpkin pie Grandma was giving him. That's what he had for supper - 2 Heinz baby cookies and bites of pumpkin pie. Lucky kid.

That evening, I joined the Beers for a bonfire at Sara's. It was absolutely the most perfect night for it - cool, but no wind. Unfortunately, Sara's Aunt Loretta used the sticks Matthew had picked out for roasting marshmallows to start the fire, which sort of put Matthew in a foul mood. He did tell me, though, that he really likes his teacher and she never shouts. ;o) Sara must really have a magic touch, because she even played with a skunk that evening, and it didn't even spray her. As usual, it's always fun sitting around with the Beers, and Sara's mom told us ghost stories - needless to say, I practically had to close my eyes while driving by the cemetary on my way home!

On Monday, I took two little girls to see "Open Season". (One of them, Katie, had won the trip in the chuch Talent Auction last year, and she brought her cousin, Delaney). Stacy came along, too, and we had a great time. The movie was one of the best kid's movies I've seen in awhile. Ashton Kutcher did the voice of the deer, Elliot, and Martin Lawrence was the voice of the bear, Boog. It was quite funny, and I might even buy it on DVD when it comes out. I especially enjoyed the part early on in the movie when Elliot breaks Boog out of his "home", and then the two of them sneak into a candy store, where they eat lots of junk. The sugar has the same effect on Boog that too much rye has on me - the scene where he arrives home "drunk on junk" is absolutely priceless! I highly recommend the movie!

So as you can tell, there was nothing overly exciting to report, but it was a fun weekend filled with good times, good food, beautiful weather, family and friends. And for all that, I am truly thankful. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and that you all spent time reflecting on what you are most grateful for.

Cheers!