Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday but it has become very complicated with family matters and also my sister just basically won't eat turkey now. I mean, is turkey wonderful? Not really. But it's a tradition. You put it with some dressing, gravy, and mashed potatoes & you're good. But we're having Thanksgiving at my house and I'm doing ham to please them (despite the blasphemy). Holidays just aren't like they were when I was younger.
I most definitely give Thanksgiving a season. To me, thanksgiving has all the things I love about Christmas (food, family, games, downtime) without the thing I despise (gifts-how do I even know what to buy these kids?!?).
I would just like to say that I love Thanksgiving SO much but I view it as a holiday that is a part of the Christmas SEASON. So it gets its own day! Just not it’s own season 🤷🏻♀️
Here's the thing about skipping Thanksgiving. What it really represents is skipping fully half of fall. I live in South Texas where we barely get any fall as it is, and you're going to roll in here with Christmas commercials before Halloween? Absolutely not. Also, I'm the weirdo that kind of prefers the Hallmark fall movies to the Christmas ones, and they are shown for approximately two weeks out of the year if you're lucky.
I deeply appreciate the Dr. Wright taking y'alls shenanigans completely in stride. This episode helped to slightly make up for the time when I got to go to one of his lectures in London, but when the day came I was horribly jet-lagged from an emergency trip home and back a few days prior. I also ended up sitting pretty close to the front, so instead of taking in all of the brilliant things I'm sure he was saying, the vast majority of my mental and physical energy was occupied with not falling asleep directly in front of NT Wright.
I have decided I will be adopting your “no move November” policy as much as I can! Halloween season wiped me out this year, and I just want to hibernate.
Oh, my goodness, you all. It has been a week. Long story short, my grandpa is at home for in-home hospice after a brief stay at a nursing home. The same week that he got home, my grandma (his wife of over 70 years) got COVID. I would appreciate your prayers for me and my family as we walk this unknown path. After that huge turd, here are some of my treasures:
-I painted my nails for the first time in decades and enjoyed it so much! I used Olive and June for the first time (I think the color was Rink) and ordered a second pink shade.
Adding my vote to Christmas after Halloween, but just as an experiment for this year. I’m feeling all kinds of nostalgia after not having a true Thanksgiving last year (being in the rehab hospital) and then not being able to put out Christmas decor at all (thanks, COVID for stealing all December joy 🤨). And what I’ve realized is that I missed the holiday decor more than I missed the Thanksgiving food. And with sister relationships fractured for years, there’s no gathering. So this year I’m going to have my niece decorate the house for Christmas in the next couple weeks and celebrate Thanksgiving on the day only. (We’ll be following the @loswhit schedule: Christmas season = Nov 1-21 + Black Friday – Dec 31; Thanksgiving = Nov 22-24) Because I’m not able to cook, we’ll be getting food from a restaurant and just enjoying a meal then returning to Xmas.
This year being all about recovery has really made me evaluate what matters and what truly doesn’t. And through the lens of what I can physically accomplish. I’m just celebrating the fact that my mom and I have been able to function on our own together, without needing much outside help on a daily basis. This year has been about finding the joy in this difficult season of life, and I get the most joy from Christmas. So it was an easy choice! I’ll let you know at the end of the year if eight weeks of Christmas decor became tiresome. 😬
It won’t 🤣ask me how I know… I don’t decorate super early but I leave it up super late. Like my tree sometimes stays up until March. I undecorate it and my daughter puts hearts on it for Valentine’s Day. 🥰 enjoy every minute of the sparkle!! 💖
🍂 it finally feels like fall here (at least for today) and I'm trying to soak up every bit of it
🍪 I made cookies with our Halloween candy (literally just replaced the chocolate chips in a regular recipe with chopped candy bars) and they were so freaking delicious
📚 I finally have a whole day with no commitments so I'm planning to stay on my couch and catch up on all the books I keep checking out and piling up!
Oh my goshhhhhhhh those Halloween candy cookies sound amazing. If you ever get a chance to go to Salt & Straw ice cream at Disney Springs next October, they make an ice cream with very similar vibes and it’s sooooooo good. Enjoy your low commitment today! That will most certainly be me on Sunday. 🥰
I'm super grateful for this newsletter. Good reminders from the week that's past and helps me re-center after hearing hard news.
Does anyone love the Joyspun line from Walmart like me? Their pajamas, panties, etc. are so comfy and they have a waffle long sleeve pajama shirt as well that's way cheaper but still super nice!
I seriously don't understand Thanksgiving. I mean I understand the holiday but I'd prefer to just skip it because why should I cook all day to be forced to sit with people I'd prefer not to, to then have to do all that clean up after and continue socializing with family I'd prefer to not literally deal with? Yes, holidays are fraught for me and I haven't spoken to my mom since November 2020 but she still expects me to cook and invite her for Thanksgiving? Yeah, that's a big no from me. Even before all this stuff, I still didn't get why we had a holiday that forced people to get together with people they'd prefer not to because "they're family" and forced to buy all that food and cook all that food. No thanks. I don't get it. I could skip it and be fine. I know, I totally sound like a Grinch but I've never understood why we do this thing generally still
Im so sorry this holiday is hard. I come from a really dysfunctional family, and the holidays were mostly painful for me. Back in college, I started hosting Friendsgivings - or as I called them Thanksgiving Detox, because the term Friendsgiving hadn't been invented yet - because my actual family event was so awful. Those were much more fun and way less work. I hope you can plan something delightful that is just for you as a way to do your own detox. Something good to look forward to that will give you some joy.
I was a big jump straight into Christmas after Halloween pre-kids, but post kids, I need that train to slow waaaayyy down. We eat Thanksgiving dinner and then go right to Christmas while doing the dishes.
i just had a memory of my college boyfriend breaking both of his elbows after tripping after trying to jump over a chain at a hiking trail. It was awful! I'm so happy that your broken wrists are behind you!
Welcome back! I also really love Thanksgiving. 🍂🥰🍁 In my favorite years I have a Friendsgiving too, so I can really live it up. That was a great tiktok about the 5&15 emotional disconnect. I'm a human development nerd, and wish I'd known it was a study discipline before I spent all my money on an English Degree. And Nate Bargatze killed!
🎃 Halloween was a blast! We saw the best costumes this year! My faves were: two little Dorothy's from the Wizard of Oz with sparkly shoes, three tiny Wednesday Adam's, lots of dinosaurs - including a kid riding one! A rocket ship+astronaut, a backhoe, and a hilarious Mike Wazowski. 😍 Two hours of joyful respite from The World Burning. We got lots of compliments on our homemade Uno Card costumes, and several kids told us our station was their favorite (because it had a game). So now I want to bring two cars next year. My poor husband.
Looking forward to catching up in the comments. Very excited that I only have two meetings today!
Welcome back and hurray for NO CASTS! So happy that you are back to excellent wrist health. Thanks for inviting such fun friends to substitute teach for you, too. It's so good to have you back.
Loved the womanhood portal article! I'm well past the midlife point, but I enjoy generating an existential crisis now and then to keep me on my toes. She's right that you care less about others' opinions but the trade off is the increased load of parents needing care plus adult children who can slide into dangerous territory, and the pressure of feeling responsible for keeping everyone alive and relatively happy. (And yes, I get that I'm the only one putting that pressure on me, but here we are.)
I give thanks to God every day, every day is Thanksgiving ... https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/painting-ya-peeling-me-like-a-tapestry
Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday but it has become very complicated with family matters and also my sister just basically won't eat turkey now. I mean, is turkey wonderful? Not really. But it's a tradition. You put it with some dressing, gravy, and mashed potatoes & you're good. But we're having Thanksgiving at my house and I'm doing ham to please them (despite the blasphemy). Holidays just aren't like they were when I was younger.
I most definitely give Thanksgiving a season. To me, thanksgiving has all the things I love about Christmas (food, family, games, downtime) without the thing I despise (gifts-how do I even know what to buy these kids?!?).
I would just like to say that I love Thanksgiving SO much but I view it as a holiday that is a part of the Christmas SEASON. So it gets its own day! Just not it’s own season 🤷🏻♀️
Here's the thing about skipping Thanksgiving. What it really represents is skipping fully half of fall. I live in South Texas where we barely get any fall as it is, and you're going to roll in here with Christmas commercials before Halloween? Absolutely not. Also, I'm the weirdo that kind of prefers the Hallmark fall movies to the Christmas ones, and they are shown for approximately two weeks out of the year if you're lucky.
I deeply appreciate the Dr. Wright taking y'alls shenanigans completely in stride. This episode helped to slightly make up for the time when I got to go to one of his lectures in London, but when the day came I was horribly jet-lagged from an emergency trip home and back a few days prior. I also ended up sitting pretty close to the front, so instead of taking in all of the brilliant things I'm sure he was saying, the vast majority of my mental and physical energy was occupied with not falling asleep directly in front of NT Wright.
I have decided I will be adopting your “no move November” policy as much as I can! Halloween season wiped me out this year, and I just want to hibernate.
Oh, my goodness, you all. It has been a week. Long story short, my grandpa is at home for in-home hospice after a brief stay at a nursing home. The same week that he got home, my grandma (his wife of over 70 years) got COVID. I would appreciate your prayers for me and my family as we walk this unknown path. After that huge turd, here are some of my treasures:
-I painted my nails for the first time in decades and enjoyed it so much! I used Olive and June for the first time (I think the color was Rink) and ordered a second pink shade.
-This video from @mrwilliamsprek https://www.instagram.com/p/CyjhOJrOiAw/ had me belly laughing and he is now one of my new favorite follows on social media.
-This reel from @_spicymoustache_ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy6A6hutkDR/ makes me want to save all of my veggie scraps for focaccia.
-Yoga with Adriene's Yoga for Forgiveness was such a lovely practice.
Have the best weekend available to you, friends.
We all need a PreK Pause! 😆
REMINDER: there’s a spreadsheet of mailing addresses for those who like receiving/sending cards or gifts. Add your name if you want!
https://bit.ly/lil-swipes-birthdays
Adding my vote to Christmas after Halloween, but just as an experiment for this year. I’m feeling all kinds of nostalgia after not having a true Thanksgiving last year (being in the rehab hospital) and then not being able to put out Christmas decor at all (thanks, COVID for stealing all December joy 🤨). And what I’ve realized is that I missed the holiday decor more than I missed the Thanksgiving food. And with sister relationships fractured for years, there’s no gathering. So this year I’m going to have my niece decorate the house for Christmas in the next couple weeks and celebrate Thanksgiving on the day only. (We’ll be following the @loswhit schedule: Christmas season = Nov 1-21 + Black Friday – Dec 31; Thanksgiving = Nov 22-24) Because I’m not able to cook, we’ll be getting food from a restaurant and just enjoying a meal then returning to Xmas.
This year being all about recovery has really made me evaluate what matters and what truly doesn’t. And through the lens of what I can physically accomplish. I’m just celebrating the fact that my mom and I have been able to function on our own together, without needing much outside help on a daily basis. This year has been about finding the joy in this difficult season of life, and I get the most joy from Christmas. So it was an easy choice! I’ll let you know at the end of the year if eight weeks of Christmas decor became tiresome. 😬
It won’t 🤣ask me how I know… I don’t decorate super early but I leave it up super late. Like my tree sometimes stays up until March. I undecorate it and my daughter puts hearts on it for Valentine’s Day. 🥰 enjoy every minute of the sparkle!! 💖
Good for you for figuring out the things that matter to you and finding things to try. I hope your season is full of Sparkle and delight!
Sparkle. That’s what I need! 😊
🍂 it finally feels like fall here (at least for today) and I'm trying to soak up every bit of it
🍪 I made cookies with our Halloween candy (literally just replaced the chocolate chips in a regular recipe with chopped candy bars) and they were so freaking delicious
📚 I finally have a whole day with no commitments so I'm planning to stay on my couch and catch up on all the books I keep checking out and piling up!
The perfect autumn day. 😊
Oh my goshhhhhhhh those Halloween candy cookies sound amazing. If you ever get a chance to go to Salt & Straw ice cream at Disney Springs next October, they make an ice cream with very similar vibes and it’s sooooooo good. Enjoy your low commitment today! That will most certainly be me on Sunday. 🥰
Ooh, that sounds like the perfect ice cream flavor!
It’s called The Great Candycopia!
I'm super grateful for this newsletter. Good reminders from the week that's past and helps me re-center after hearing hard news.
Does anyone love the Joyspun line from Walmart like me? Their pajamas, panties, etc. are so comfy and they have a waffle long sleeve pajama shirt as well that's way cheaper but still super nice!
I seriously don't understand Thanksgiving. I mean I understand the holiday but I'd prefer to just skip it because why should I cook all day to be forced to sit with people I'd prefer not to, to then have to do all that clean up after and continue socializing with family I'd prefer to not literally deal with? Yes, holidays are fraught for me and I haven't spoken to my mom since November 2020 but she still expects me to cook and invite her for Thanksgiving? Yeah, that's a big no from me. Even before all this stuff, I still didn't get why we had a holiday that forced people to get together with people they'd prefer not to because "they're family" and forced to buy all that food and cook all that food. No thanks. I don't get it. I could skip it and be fine. I know, I totally sound like a Grinch but I've never understood why we do this thing generally still
Im so sorry this holiday is hard. I come from a really dysfunctional family, and the holidays were mostly painful for me. Back in college, I started hosting Friendsgivings - or as I called them Thanksgiving Detox, because the term Friendsgiving hadn't been invented yet - because my actual family event was so awful. Those were much more fun and way less work. I hope you can plan something delightful that is just for you as a way to do your own detox. Something good to look forward to that will give you some joy.
I was a big jump straight into Christmas after Halloween pre-kids, but post kids, I need that train to slow waaaayyy down. We eat Thanksgiving dinner and then go right to Christmas while doing the dishes.
i just had a memory of my college boyfriend breaking both of his elbows after tripping after trying to jump over a chain at a hiking trail. It was awful! I'm so happy that your broken wrists are behind you!
Welcome back! I also really love Thanksgiving. 🍂🥰🍁 In my favorite years I have a Friendsgiving too, so I can really live it up. That was a great tiktok about the 5&15 emotional disconnect. I'm a human development nerd, and wish I'd known it was a study discipline before I spent all my money on an English Degree. And Nate Bargatze killed!
🎃 Halloween was a blast! We saw the best costumes this year! My faves were: two little Dorothy's from the Wizard of Oz with sparkly shoes, three tiny Wednesday Adam's, lots of dinosaurs - including a kid riding one! A rocket ship+astronaut, a backhoe, and a hilarious Mike Wazowski. 😍 Two hours of joyful respite from The World Burning. We got lots of compliments on our homemade Uno Card costumes, and several kids told us our station was their favorite (because it had a game). So now I want to bring two cars next year. My poor husband.
Looking forward to catching up in the comments. Very excited that I only have two meetings today!
A backhoe! 😂
Tiny little guy, and he was so proud to be "a digger".
😂
Erin,
Welcome back and hurray for NO CASTS! So happy that you are back to excellent wrist health. Thanks for inviting such fun friends to substitute teach for you, too. It's so good to have you back.
Loved the womanhood portal article! I'm well past the midlife point, but I enjoy generating an existential crisis now and then to keep me on my toes. She's right that you care less about others' opinions but the trade off is the increased load of parents needing care plus adult children who can slide into dangerous territory, and the pressure of feeling responsible for keeping everyone alive and relatively happy. (And yes, I get that I'm the only one putting that pressure on me, but here we are.)
Happy weekend to all!