November 24

10 comments

It’s a Typical Thanksgiving Day but it’s Okay



Thanksgiving pottery
We spent about 5 hours painting our pottery!

Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday. There’s no particular reason why. I always found it depressing even though we had plenty of family around. For a few years, we would invite friends over who didn’t have any place else to go. That was fun and everything but it was a lot of work because each year there was more and more stuff jammed in the house. Then to top it off, we were always sick on Thanksgiving.  It got to be too much.  I didn’t want to cook or clean for Thanksgiving anymore and I was sick of being home while everyone was throwing up or in bed with fevers.

So I broke tradition and upset everyone except my very immediate family.  Now, we take a vacation.  We eat Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant, and there’s no cleaning up to do! We paint pottery, swim at the waterparks, and play miniature golf.  Lazer tag and sitting around by the wave pool are both great too!  It’s a short little vacation but by the third day, we’re all ready to come home anyways.  If anyone is sick, at least we’re not at home.  We give them lots of ibuprofen and Tyler and tell them to rest if they need to.  They’re old enough now that they pretty much do that on their own anyways.

It’s been a typical Thanksgiving so far this year.  There’s one kiddo with diarrhea, one with a migraine headache, the one with the bruises on her legs, one with a bad case of eczema, one with a cold starting, and lastly – the pregnant daughter-in-law.  I was going to mention it in an upcoming post because I’m throwing a baby shower for them on Saturday!  Yay!! I can’t wait!!

Can you believe it?  I went from dreading Thanksgiving cleaning to having a not so bad main floor, planning a short vacation, and throwing a baby shower all at the same time!  This decluttering thing is really working for me.  I know I keep saying that but I can’t believe how much less stressful it has all been since I got rid of all that stuff.  I can hardly imagine what it will be like when the rest of the house looks as good as the three rooms that I have finished.  I think that our whole world is going to change.   Maybe I will finally get out of the rut that I’ve been in for the last couple of years.

It’s getting noticable!!

My oldest daughter went to our house today to check on the pets and sent me a wonderful text.  It said, “I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH THE HOUSE!!  Does the turtle need to be fed?”  After answering her about the turtle, I got a huge smile on my face from the part about the house.  That made me feel really good.  And the other day, one of the twins walked through the living room and said, “It’s finally starting to look pretty nice in here.”  Our house is finally looking like a home again.

With the comments from the family and the encouragement from everyone here, I don’t think it will take too long to finish.  It might take another year but that’s okay.  I’m enjoying the journey even though I complain about it sometimes.  It’s hard!!!  But oh so worth it!

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  • BINGO!!! You have really reaped the rewards of all of your hard work! Now you have that extra oomph to keep going! Congrats!!!
    It really is more than clearing your physical space, it’s the S P A C E that opens up in your mind and heart:)
    I’m so excited for you!!!
    Keep on keepin’ on and Keep It Simple!
    ~Karen

  • That’s so wonderful that you get to take a Thanksgiving vacation. I’m definitely enjoying a few extra days off, and getting away would surely only make it better.

  • Oh Jen!! Those comments are the best ever! I’m so happy for you and the family!
    Sorry to hear everyone’s sick tho. 🙁 I’ll pray for health!
    A vacay sounds great! the pottery is so cute!
    Congrats to the parents! and you, the grandma!!
    And throwing a party too?? WOO HOO!! You are well on the way to a wonderful new house, and life!!
    So proud of you my friend!

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