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Thanksgiving 2008
Nov. 30th, 2008 11:26 pmHeading to lunch on Wednesday, I asked MaryAlice if Laura was coming. She said she was on the phone with her family, had been for most of the morning. I am so grateful that my family's so low-stress (about holidays, and about most everything really). My grandma's very "This is how 'we' do things" and kind of passive-aggressive and whatever, but that's always been at a manageable level (though holidays will be so much less stressful after she's gone) and she's the only one who's like that.
Listening to MaryAlice talk about Laura, I was just like: holidays aren't worth the stress. I mean, they're supposed to be about celebrating and family, right? not about putting together somebody's idea of a perfect dinner extravaganza.
I really like TLGN's post on Thanksgiving -- excerpt:
Yes, I think one should be grateful more than once a year (see also my discomfort with Catholic Confession -- I was always like, "But you just confess to God directly when you're sorry;" I had problems with both the intercessor and the delay) but we're often not good at doing things like that on a regular basis (I'm always a little weirded out by Confessional prayer in church -- a practice I didn't grow up with -- in part because I have serious difficulty recalling stuff from the past week in that context unless there are things particularly still nagging at me, though I do appreciate the formal reminder that we should confess and that, as the Rest & Bread service says, "We are a forgiven people"), so I do like institutional structures to ensure that we do it at least sometimes. (See also: Days of Awe.)
***
HBS has a "getting pies and giving thanks" tradition -- free pies and notecards provided to say thank you to coworkers, other staff members, etc. I, unsurprisingly, wrote ones for two of the people I like best in my department, but I was pleasantly surprised to get two myself.
25Nov2008
Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you for all the work you do to keep NOM functioning smoothly! Walking in + sharing a smile + hello with you is such a great way to start my day in the office.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Kathleen
Elizabeth-
Thanks for showing me the ropes this summer/fall :)
Have a great Thanksgiving!
-Sara :)
I was going to do Affirmations/gratitude for a subset of flisters like I did 2 years ago, but I just didn't get my act together. I am v. v. grateful for the Internet, however. By which I mostly mean "fandom on LiveJournal" -- though I adore things like IMDb and Wikipedia and Google for quick researching, and blogs which expose me to so many ideas and topics I wouldn't get otherwise, and online versions of newspapers and magazines.
CallunaV posted:
Listening to MaryAlice talk about Laura, I was just like: holidays aren't worth the stress. I mean, they're supposed to be about celebrating and family, right? not about putting together somebody's idea of a perfect dinner extravaganza.
I really like TLGN's post on Thanksgiving -- excerpt:
I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that is totally, completely, entirely about food; no one is pretending it's about anything else. (Except for football. Thanksgiving is also about football.)I had 3 Thanksgiving dinners this week and am still not excited about Thanksgiving food, and I have never cared about food, but I really like the idea of focusing on what one is grateful for and explicitly articulating one's gratitude.
And I love Thanksgiving because it's about giving thanks and speaking your gratitude to others.
[...]
I'm thankful that I'm here, celebrating. I'm thankful that you are somewhere, celebrating something (if not Thanksgiving, then Thursday. I like Thursdays; they are usually worth celebrating).
Yes, I think one should be grateful more than once a year (see also my discomfort with Catholic Confession -- I was always like, "But you just confess to God directly when you're sorry;" I had problems with both the intercessor and the delay) but we're often not good at doing things like that on a regular basis (I'm always a little weirded out by Confessional prayer in church -- a practice I didn't grow up with -- in part because I have serious difficulty recalling stuff from the past week in that context unless there are things particularly still nagging at me, though I do appreciate the formal reminder that we should confess and that, as the Rest & Bread service says, "We are a forgiven people"), so I do like institutional structures to ensure that we do it at least sometimes. (See also: Days of Awe.)
***
HBS has a "getting pies and giving thanks" tradition -- free pies and notecards provided to say thank you to coworkers, other staff members, etc. I, unsurprisingly, wrote ones for two of the people I like best in my department, but I was pleasantly surprised to get two myself.
25Nov2008
Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you for all the work you do to keep NOM functioning smoothly! Walking in + sharing a smile + hello with you is such a great way to start my day in the office.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Kathleen
Elizabeth-
Thanks for showing me the ropes this summer/fall :)
Have a great Thanksgiving!
-Sara :)
I was going to do Affirmations/gratitude for a subset of flisters like I did 2 years ago, but I just didn't get my act together. I am v. v. grateful for the Internet, however. By which I mostly mean "fandom on LiveJournal" -- though I adore things like IMDb and Wikipedia and Google for quick researching, and blogs which expose me to so many ideas and topics I wouldn't get otherwise, and online versions of newspapers and magazines.
CallunaV posted:
We did it.
A couple days ago, I posted a link to someone trying to raise money for her friends not to be foreclosed on. The family needed $10,000.00. The writer was asking people to donate $1.
They made it over $10,000.00 today.
We did it.
We can do this.
My life is surreal sometimes.
Nov. 30th, 2008 11:24 pmThough hey, I hear Cartoon Network RickRolled the entire country during the Macy's parade [link via nikitangel]. [Speaking of references not everyone gets, LEM-Jeff was asking me about "fail" and I remembered this article jennyo had linked to a while back.]
I was making breakfast Thursday morning, and my phone rang. I assumed it was Laurel, but it was actually Omar -- the guy I went on one really bad date with back in January and then ignored his calls afterward. I was totally unprepared for any conversation with him, so I just didn't answer it.
About 4:40pm (we were finishing dinner), my phone rang. Again I assumed it was Laurel, but no, it was Terry.
Terry: "Where are you?"
me: "At my parents' house."
Terry: "Okay. I'll give you two minutes."
me: "What?"
Terry: "For hi and goodbye."
I went outside and he was in my driveway (with his son in the passenger seat -- he was like, "You've met my son," and I was like, "No," and he was like, "Really? I thought you'd met before," and I said, "I've met some of your nephews, but I just meet whomever happens to be visiting the library when I happen to be there").
Laurel stayed over Thursday night, and my mom was getting out sheets for the other couch and I was like, "Those are my sheets!" I was confused when I still hadn't found the sheets I had in college when I moved out of my old apartment, but the fact that they were living at my parents' house explains that. (So when we headed back to the city, I took them back with me.)
We ended up staying through Saturday afternoon. Ever since I moved out I've only been home for at most an overnight visit, so I think this is the only time I've been back for a visit that surpassed 24 hours (my visits usually don't even hit that, since Singspiration for example I'm back for dinner and then gone after lunch). It felt really comfortable and easy, which I appreciated.
I often say, "I was raised by wolves" (usually in the context of not standing on ceremony) so my mom emailed me after I'd gotten back to my apartment: "Did laurel enjoy her time at the wolf den?" When I told Laurel this, she said, "I really appreciate your parents and brother putting up with me. It was nice to pretend to be part of a family for a little bit." That kind of killed me. (Her parents are back in L.A. I don't know what it's like to only see my parents twice a year, so for all that I say I feel plenty connected to my parents with minimal meatspace contact, I can't say how much that's aided by the fact that I do see them -- albeit briefly -- with some frequency and I do know that anytime I wanted to I could go see them easily.)
I was making breakfast Thursday morning, and my phone rang. I assumed it was Laurel, but it was actually Omar -- the guy I went on one really bad date with back in January and then ignored his calls afterward. I was totally unprepared for any conversation with him, so I just didn't answer it.
About 4:40pm (we were finishing dinner), my phone rang. Again I assumed it was Laurel, but no, it was Terry.
Terry: "Where are you?"
me: "At my parents' house."
Terry: "Okay. I'll give you two minutes."
me: "What?"
Terry: "For hi and goodbye."
I went outside and he was in my driveway (with his son in the passenger seat -- he was like, "You've met my son," and I was like, "No," and he was like, "Really? I thought you'd met before," and I said, "I've met some of your nephews, but I just meet whomever happens to be visiting the library when I happen to be there").
Laurel stayed over Thursday night, and my mom was getting out sheets for the other couch and I was like, "Those are my sheets!" I was confused when I still hadn't found the sheets I had in college when I moved out of my old apartment, but the fact that they were living at my parents' house explains that. (So when we headed back to the city, I took them back with me.)
We ended up staying through Saturday afternoon. Ever since I moved out I've only been home for at most an overnight visit, so I think this is the only time I've been back for a visit that surpassed 24 hours (my visits usually don't even hit that, since Singspiration for example I'm back for dinner and then gone after lunch). It felt really comfortable and easy, which I appreciated.
I often say, "I was raised by wolves" (usually in the context of not standing on ceremony) so my mom emailed me after I'd gotten back to my apartment: "Did laurel enjoy her time at the wolf den?" When I told Laurel this, she said, "I really appreciate your parents and brother putting up with me. It was nice to pretend to be part of a family for a little bit." That kind of killed me. (Her parents are back in L.A. I don't know what it's like to only see my parents twice a year, so for all that I say I feel plenty connected to my parents with minimal meatspace contact, I can't say how much that's aided by the fact that I do see them -- albeit briefly -- with some frequency and I do know that anytime I wanted to I could go see them easily.)
"thank you for letting me stay here"
Nov. 22nd, 2007 11:55 pmBeth was very glad to join my family for Thanksgiving. Apparently the past four years she hasn't had anyone to spend Thanksgiving with. (It's not physically/financially feasible for her to travel to her family.) She says everyone thinks of Thanksgiving as a big family holiday so they don't think to invite people, which is sad.
There was traffic on 95 on the way to my house, so we took the "scenic" route back. I learned a tiny bit more about how places are connected to each other.
I think of the Green Line branches as being far apart from each other*, but driving on Chestnut Hill Ave. we hit Chestnut Hill at Comm. Ave. [B Line] and Cleveland Circle [C Line] and Reservoir [D Line] in rapid succession.
*Okay, an actual map disabuses me of that notion. Clearly I've gotta learn my geography better.
Beth brought "fruit casserole" (pineapple, whole cranberries, apples, with grated almonds on top -- I had some, and it wasn't excessively pineappley, which I was grateful for).
My brother had the plate of beige (mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, etc. -- he was gonna get salad etc. second round) while I had color (mashed potatoes, green beans with almonds, baby carrots, black olives, fruit casserole, sample portions of squash and cranberry goop). We took photos to prove it. (I've really gotta bring my digital camera around more places.)
And I had Riesling with dinner (my mom knows me) and non-alcoholic eggnog with nutmeg with dessert (crustless pumpkin pie, with whipped cream).
***
I see people on the flist being all, "Okay, Thanksgiving's over, can it be Christmas now?" which is not so much where I'm at. I regret that we're almost at the end of the day and I haven't done a proper gratitude list (though duh, I know I can post one anytime, the fourth Thursday of November is not the only date I'm allowed to give thanks), and Advent begins the Sunday after this one and I still haven't figured out how I want to observe it this year.
Last year I think I spent one Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas in my own apartment, was constantly back in Norwood/with my mother doing hoilday stuff. I seem to be repeating that this year.
( list cut because you probably don't care )
I was watching CSI tonight -- yeah, I know I'm behind in writeups -- and JCPenney (and Kohl's) opens early for Black Friday -- at 4am! No lie. (I am however apparently jaded as to the fact that many places open at 6am on Black Friday.)
***
My mom has a copy of The Measure of Life: Virginia Woolf's Last Years by Herbert Marder which she was underwhelmed by but perhaps someone more into Virginia Woolf would enjoy it more. Any takers?
There was traffic on 95 on the way to my house, so we took the "scenic" route back. I learned a tiny bit more about how places are connected to each other.
I think of the Green Line branches as being far apart from each other*, but driving on Chestnut Hill Ave. we hit Chestnut Hill at Comm. Ave. [B Line] and Cleveland Circle [C Line] and Reservoir [D Line] in rapid succession.
*Okay, an actual map disabuses me of that notion. Clearly I've gotta learn my geography better.
Beth brought "fruit casserole" (pineapple, whole cranberries, apples, with grated almonds on top -- I had some, and it wasn't excessively pineappley, which I was grateful for).
My brother had the plate of beige (mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, etc. -- he was gonna get salad etc. second round) while I had color (mashed potatoes, green beans with almonds, baby carrots, black olives, fruit casserole, sample portions of squash and cranberry goop). We took photos to prove it. (I've really gotta bring my digital camera around more places.)
And I had Riesling with dinner (my mom knows me) and non-alcoholic eggnog with nutmeg with dessert (crustless pumpkin pie, with whipped cream).
***
I see people on the flist being all, "Okay, Thanksgiving's over, can it be Christmas now?" which is not so much where I'm at. I regret that we're almost at the end of the day and I haven't done a proper gratitude list (though duh, I know I can post one anytime, the fourth Thursday of November is not the only date I'm allowed to give thanks), and Advent begins the Sunday after this one and I still haven't figured out how I want to observe it this year.
Last year I think I spent one Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas in my own apartment, was constantly back in Norwood/with my mother doing hoilday stuff. I seem to be repeating that this year.
( list cut because you probably don't care )I was watching CSI tonight -- yeah, I know I'm behind in writeups -- and JCPenney (and Kohl's) opens early for Black Friday -- at 4am! No lie. (I am however apparently jaded as to the fact that many places open at 6am on Black Friday.)
***
My mom has a copy of The Measure of Life: Virginia Woolf's Last Years by Herbert Marder which she was underwhelmed by but perhaps someone more into Virginia Woolf would enjoy it more. Any takers?
Thanksgiving, LJ Affirmations
Nov. 24th, 2006 10:52 pm( in which Elizabeth is blah about the whole Thanksgiving thing )***
Last week I mentioned doing LJ Affirmations for Thanksgiving.
I have not included my entire flist here, and if you're not included it doesn't mean that I don't like you. I mean, dude, I have 100+ people friended (even when we take out duplicate journals).
( Affirmations of 25 flisters. )