Exhaustion Anyone???

Hey! :)

Today has definitely NOT been the day of rest that I needed. I feel like we've been going and going ALL day long, but didn't really get a ton of things done. How does that work exactly?

Anyway, a quick overview of the afternoon...

Got some house work done, but not the laundry. That's going to have to wait until tomorrow. A friend and former coworker of Jason's came by for a little bit this afternoon. We had a nice visit and then she was on her way. I got Regan down for a nap and then Jason, Linsey and I had a little lunch. Mine was some of my favorite bread (Rudy's Organic 7 grain with flax) lightly toasted then topped with a thin layer of almond butter, super fruit spread and a sliced banana. I drizzled a little bit of honey over the whole thing and it was super good!

Linsey layed down in our bed for an afternoon 'rest' and Jason & I curled up together on the couch long enough to watch the last half of Gone in 60 Seconds - such a good movie. I seriously could've taken a nap myself, but for some reason I never get sleepy until right before I know Regan will be waking up so it's NEVER worth it. Oh well - sleep in the afternoon is over rated unless you're under the age of 5...right?

Like I said earlier, we're going out of town for Thanksgiving. We'll be leaving Wednesday afternoon and coming home some time on Sunday. We can't take the dogs with us and boarding them is so expensive - SOLUTION: pay someone to stay at our house while we're gone. All I have to do is make him a big pot of chili, homemade cornbread and a tray of brownies and he's set. Thanks Luke! So he came over to get aquainted with the dogs before we leave them with him for five days and I made him dinner too. I made veggie chicken tacos...

They are so good and so easy! All you need is a bag of Morningstar Farms Chik Strips, a can of black beans, a can of cuban style black beans, 1/2 can whole kernal corn and a taco seasoning packet. Pan brown the chik strips for a few minutes, remove them from the pan and chop into bite size pieces. Then add the chick pieces, both cans of black beans, the corn and taco seasoning back into the pan and heat through. Add the mixture to your favorite tortilla and top with whatever you like. We used salsa, chopped romaine, shredded cheese and light sour cream.

Luke liked dinner and he made a new friend with Gabe. We also had a few Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe Joe's that snuck past the camera (bad blogger) but they were so good.

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Sunday Segment - What Thanksgiving Means to Me

     All this month myself and many other people have been posting on Facebook once a day something that we are thankful for. Supposedly the longer you do it the harder it becomes, but for me that's not the case. Thankfully I can easily come up with something that I am thankful for every day of my life. Not because my life is perfect (far from it actually) but because I have become one of those people that really looks at the nitty gritty as a way of analyzing my life.

     My life isn't made up of amazing moments everyday. Sure - I've had huge, amazing moments, but they are few and far between. My life (like many others I think) is made up of millions of little moments that happen every day. Linsey asked me tonight to name something I was thankful for and it couldn't be a person. It only took me about 10 seconds to respond with, "My Life Is Good socks because they keep my feet warm." That sums up the way I look at my life most of the time.

     While at the grocery store today I saw so many people filling their carts with items I could tell were for Thursday. (I hate when people call it 'Turkey Day' for reasons besides just being a vegetarian) They seemed to be more concerned with getting the right pumpkin tart or the perfect sweet potato, and less concerned with being thankful that they were ABLE to be at Trader Joe's purchasing that food for Thursday. I saw many rude looks, heard sarcastic comments made towards strangers and felt a general aire of rudeness throughout the store.

     To me Thanksgiving has never been about the food. Sure - my Grandmother makes the BEST pumpkin pie and no matter who tries to recreate it they never get it quite right. I love my Aunt's green bean casserole, but never enjoy it nearly as much other times of the year as I do when eating it crowded around the dinner table at my Grandmother's house. Homemade rolls taste the best when I eat them while sitting next to my Grandfather.

     To me the food always plays second fiddle to the people I'm with. Eating my Grandmother's pumpkin pie always happened at Thanksgiving and Christmas and was always known to be MY favorite. It just tastes better when I eat it while being surrounded by my family. Food has the ability to take me back to a time or a situation and certain foods make me think of certain people or a certain point in my life, but in the end it's the people I am remembering. - not the meal itself.

     Thanksgiving has ALWAYS been about who I spend it with more so than what we're eating. I know walking into my Grandmother's house that she will have her dressing waiting in a pan instead of being stuffed inside a turkey and I love her for that,  but I love more that I get to eat while being in her company. To me, Thanksgiving means spending time with the people who mean the most to me and if we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I would love it just as much...as long as my Grandmother had my favorite pumpkin pie for dessert. :)

     I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving and truely enjoy the people you spend the day with. The food is yummy and the dessert's might be even better, but at the end of the day the people you love make it taste that way...