Thanksgiving Catch-Up

Hey, y'all. I'm just emerging from the haze that was Thanksgiving 2009, as I'm sure everyone else is experiencing this Monday morning. We actually spent the entire week in Michigan, where we were able to celebrate and relax with The Professor's folks and his sister and her husband. The weird thing about this Thanksgiving was that it included some mourning: The Professor's grandma, his dad's mom, passed away early last week, meaning we had a visitation and funeral to attend over this past weekend.

Grandma had been ill for a long, long time, so, as my mother-in-law put it, everyone had had a chance to say goodbye a while ago. It was still difficult, but I appreciated how everyone seemed determined to really celebrate her life and her impact, as well as her strong Christian faith, instead of wallowing in self-pity and grief. After all, she is in heaven! We can rejoice in that promise. However, I know my husband's grandpa will have the hardest time adjusting to life without her; they were married for 65 years.

We saw everyone (nearly) from both sides of my husband's family, which means I had to relearn approximately 376 names, because seriously? Both families are large. I have five cousins. My husband has dozens. It's fairly fantastic. We also, because of the visitation and funeral, saw lots and lots of people that he grew up with in church, so the weekend turned into a mini-reunion of sorts. It was strange, the mingling of the sorrow and joy. I suppose that's how death and its recognition are. It just doesn't often happen over a holiday.

So we're back and in action. I'm still tackling my big house project; it's taking a lot more effort and time and painstaking patience than I had thought, and I have wanted to curse many, many profanities at the top of my lungs on several occasions. (Don't worry, I didn't give in to the temptation...much.) I hope to have it done by the end of this week. Actually, I kind of have to have it done as soon as possible, as our family is very inconvenienced by it. I can't wait to have it done, have a beautiful thing in my home, and be able to share it with you. I'm sure you've all been on the edges of your seats for a week.

And sorry, no pictures of the kids. I'm too lazy to search for the camera and its cord, so you'll just have to imagine their cuteness. I'll tell you this: we are supremely proud of the boys, who have BOTH mastered potty training (yay B!), so much so that neither of them had one accident on our eight-hour trip home yesterday, despite the fact that we, doubters that we are, had put them in diapers. I know, right? Really awesome.

Baby C's great, too, and she knows it, thank you.

And now I can officially wish you Merry Christmas, right?

Merry Christmas!!

ps: If you choose to leave a comment on a post from now on, I'm afraid you'll have to prove that you're not a spambot by typing in a nonsense word. I'm so sorry, I know it's not fun (really, I do), but I've gotten a slew of weird male enhancement advertisements on old blog posts in the last couple weeks, which really, I'm not all about that. If you are a real person who truly believes in the merits of male enhancement drugs, well then, please, by all means, share your opinions with us all. I dare say we all need a bit of enlightenment. You'll just have to prove your humanity first, okay? Thanks.