This week I have been fortunate enough to have the entire week off from work for the first time in my working career. That in itself is something to be thankful for. While on hiatus from the daily grind of career life, I promised myself that I would take some downtime and just sit and watch tv for a change at least one of those days. In the world of satellite tv there is much to choose from but I resorted back to the days of watching daytime drama! (Okay...I admit it...I'm a CBS daytime drama junkie!!! BUT...watching the soaps now is few & far between.) And even with being away from the storylines & characters for awhile, it didn't take long for me to catch up on the million episodes I've missed since I last watched.But in watching I had forgotten that one of the things I loved about the soaps was the holiday season, especially around the time of Thanksgiving & Christmas because in the midst of the latest mid-life crisis, forbidden affairs, etc, for a few days during this time a year, the soaps really play up the holidays. This week I was privy to the 'special' monologues on each CBS daytime drama by the given designated daytime patriarch expressing with heartfelt gratitude for the many blessings in their lives and reminding all fellow castmates of how much they have to be thankful for.
As I watched, it occurred to me that never once in all these years had I actually taken the time on the very day designated for counting our blessings to do just that. I realized that the days leading up to the holiday are filled with preparation. The holiday itself is filled with the hustle bustleness from visiting one place and then another, eating, sharing with loved ones, eating some more, and then winding down too full & too tired to ponder much of anything.
But then something within me clicked! As Thanksgiving Day unfolds before our eyes each year, so do the many blessings that grace our lives not just on this day but every day.
- The blessings of family joined around a table.
- The blessings of watching our children in amazement at how much older they look this year than last.
- The blessings of eating a big meal that was prepared with love and the appreciation that there was a big meal to eat.
- The blessings of putting away the laptop, cell phones, text messaging, etc and spending real quality time with family if for only but one day every year.
- The blessings of receiving a phone call from loved ones who's presence is missed around the dinner table and yet knowing that they are with us in spirit.
- The blessings of sending greetings to close friends wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving and feeling so lucky to have people in our lives we can call friends
- The blessings of celebrating a birthday on this special holiday and feeling exceptionally twice blessed by having two reasons to celebrate on the same day!
- The blessings of health, live, love & happiness.
- The blessings of knowing that no matter how tough things may seem for our country that for one day we are given the opportunity to come together and celebrate despite it all.
- The blessings of being able to carry out continued traditions & being able to create new ones.
- The blessings of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Once I began really thinking about all the many blessings that have graced my life both past & present, it didn't take long to realize I have much to be thankful for. God has been so very good to me. I couldn't ask for better children, a better family, better friends, a better place to live, and the list goes on and on. I have been blessed far more richly than I deserve!
And so as this Thanksgiving Day winds down, I'm grateful for everything and above all, thankful for being given the wonderful life I've had the privledge of living to this point.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!
As I sit here on this gorgeous Fall day that holds multi-colored leaves against a bright, beautiful backdrop of our famous Carolina blue skies and a temperature of about 75 degrees, it is hard to believe that we are officially in the holiday season and Thanksgiving is just two short weeks away. It feels more like Spring than Fall no doubt! But I won't allow that to dampen my Christmas spirit! I have my Christmas music playing & I'm thinking about the Christmas gifts I am currently working on that will hopefully make friends & loved ones smile when opened on Christmas Day. (As I get them completed I'll be posting them here for all to see.) 
Legend would have it that a miserable man named Stingy Jack who was a drunk, and known for his love of playing tricks on people, ran into the Devil, himself one night while out and about. Stingy Jack decided he was going to play a trick on the Devil. He offered his soul to the Devil if he would have one last drink with him. The Devil, falling for Jack's antics, turned himself into a silver coin to pay the bartender. Stingy Jack snatched up the coin as quick as he could and deposited in his pocket next to a silver cross he was carrying. The Devil was unable to change himself back and Jack refused to allow the Devil to go free until the Devil promised not to claim Stingy Jack's soul for ten years.
The Devil agreed and ten years went by. One day Stingy Jack came across the Devil once more while walking down a country road. The Devil tried to claim Jack's soul. But before he could do so, Stingy Jack decided he would trick the Devil again. He asked the Devil to grab an apple for him from a nearby tree. The Devil obliged and jumped up into the tree to retrieve an apple for Jack. Before the Devil knew it, Jack had placed crosses all around the trunk of the tree, trapping the Devil so he could not get down. This time Stingy Jack made the Devil promise he would not take Jack's soul when he died. The Devil seeing no way out of his predicament made Jack a promise he would not take his soul.
The day finally came and Stingy Jack died. When he got to Heaven, he was not allowed to enter because he spent his life drinking, was stingy with his money and was constantly deceitful. So he went to the Devil's house but was refused entrance there too. The Devil would not allow him to enter in keeping his promise he'd made to Stingy Jack some years earlier. The Devil told Jack to go back to where he came from. Stingy Jack pleaded with the Devil to provide him a light so he could find his way in the darkness. The Devil tossed Stingy Jack an ember from his place of residence. Jack placed the light inside a hollowed out turnip that he carried around with him.
From that day forward, Stingy Jack has been resigned to a life of roaming the Earth carrying his hollowed out turnip with the light inside. 
**The idea of incorporating carved pumpkins originated when Irish immigrants brought with them a tradition of carving out turnips when they migrated to America in the early 1800's. They would place coals or a small candle inside and place them on their doorsteps on Halloween to ward off evil spirits. It didn't take long for the Irish immigrants to realize that jack-o-lanterns could be carved much easier out of pumpkins as they were rich and plentiful in the New World. Turnips and rutabegas tended to be more scare. It didn't take long and the practice spread all throughout America. The jack-o-lantern is the most well known symbol of Halloween today.
