Stuffed

I woke up yesterday morning feeling tired, rushed and overwhelmed. I have had a rough couple of weeks and surely we just celebrated Thanksgiving Day a few weeks ago, right? At least that is what it feels like. So as surprised as I was, I couldn't help but be upset with myself for not being better prepared for the holiday.  I mean, it's not like my life is calendar free (2 mac's, an iphone, work deadlines).  I totally should have seen this coming, but I didn't.  So Thanksgiving was here and my brownies were not baked yet, I didn't buy/make any hostess gifts AND I had no idea what I was going to wear (this last one is huge)!  Right at that moment, the feeling of dread set in.  It was 6am, Turkey Day, and I was wishing for a time machine.  If my wish had come true, my week prior would have looked a little something like this:

Friday - Finish Holiday Runner that I haven't even started for my momma
Saturday - Hit Marshalls for 2 frames
Sunday - Needlepoint and a 5x7piece of fabric with a statement of why I am thankful for the hostesses of the dinners I was attending.
Monday - Place fabric in frame and wrap them up
Wednesday - Bake Brownies

But it didn't.  It looked more like, work, work, work and more work.  And obviously, I didn't spend my time when I wasn't working very wisely either.  That looked more like The Good Wife, Two Broke Girls, Parenthood, etc.  I really didn't have much to do.  I think since I normally host dinner at my house and have a million things to do in order to prepare for it, I figured I could knock out the tiny list I had in a second.  I just didn't plan on being mentally exhausted from work and other things going on in my life.  So what to do when overwhelmed?  N.O.T.H.I.N.G!  :)  And boy, that is what I did.

So back to 6am on Turkey Day.  I'm starting to panic, frantically thinking about what I can do to make the plans I had a reality.  That's when it hit me.  I'm focusing on the wrong things.  I am lucky enough to have family and friends that would be happy if I just showed up.  So I decided I would take a chill pill and still bake my brownies as planned and buy a couple of bottles of wine as hostess gifts before hitting their houses.  Have you noticed that a bottle of wine is the answer more times than not?  heeheehee

So once over that minor set back, this is how my day for giving thanks went.
 
We started the day meeting up with our cub scout pack at Riviera Church for breakfast. They host a yearly breakfast for their church members and community. After the boys filled their tummies they went to work setting the tables, organizing the kitchen and then serving the guests a yummy breakfast. They also washed dishes and cleaned up the dining room as needed. I am so proud of those boys!  My boog did serving duty, dish duty and greeter duty.  He was happiest serving and washing dishes.  Greeting duty was a challenge but good practice for him since he is very shy around strangers.

We headed home about 11am.  Our next stop wasn't until 1:30 so that gave me plenty of time to baked the brownies and find something to wear.  The latter being more difficult than it should have been.  But finally Boog and I were dressed, brownies packed and ready to head to our next stop - grandma and grandpa's!  Still kind of weirded out that I have so little to do on what is normally such a busy, crazy holiday for me, I drove to my parents house chatting with cookie about how we plan to spend our Christmas break.

At my parents house, dinner was not ready but my father and sister had everything under control.  Again, I had nothing to do so I hung out with my nephews and caught up with their lives.  I'm thinking I can totally get used to this way of celebrating a holiday.  No work - all eat and socialize.  I'm afraid I may never go back to hosting a dinner at my house again.  :)  We finally ate and everything was delicious.  Went for a walk around the block with the nephew and then it was time to say our goodbyes and head out to our next stop...Silvia's.

At my parents house

my seat at Silvia's

Silvia's house looked as good as it smelled.  She worked hard on her table decor for weeks prior to the big day and it paid off.  It was absolutely beautiful.  A lot of finishing touches came together at the last minute and couldn't have looked better if she had planned it that way.  Oh and the food tasted as good as it smelled.  We ate, the kids played, adults had great conversation, cleaned up and then it was time to head home.

On the drive home, my boog fell asleep so I spent that time thinking about how silly I was to allow myself to feel so badly earlier that morning.  It was a great day spent with family and friends that loved us with or without extravagant brownies and handmade gifts.  Did I still feel bad about not doing what I set out to do?  YES!  But something I really need to work on getting through my thick skull is that things don't always go as planned.  And that is okay.  It's not the end of the world.  At least that is what I'm trying to convince myself of.  :)

Hope you all had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I had.

Maddy =)