Why I Don't Like November

There are times in one's life that just seem a bit too crazy. I am having one of those times.

A week ago, I had to hold my son's hand while he went through minor surgery. Ugh!! My nurse husband is usually the one to do this but since it was on a weekend, Todd was unavailable. My poor son was in quite a bit of pain which is so hard to deal with but God got us both through it. Alec is doing fine, now, and we are glad it's behind us. It's one of those things that I look back and think, "How did I ever get through that?" but I guess Moms are strong when they need to be ... or at least we hope we can be! Later that day, I was sitting with Alec and holding his hands. He had taken a pain pill and was feeling a whole lot better. I looked him in the eye and said, "You know, I would have taken that pain for you." He said, "No, Mom! But you know what? I was thinking how Jesus went through a lot more pain than I was and if He could do that, I could handle my pain." Wow! It's amazing to hear something like that from your 12 year old son! I was praying for Alec during the surgery and told him to pray, plus I was talking to him to try and distract him. I didn't know what was going through his mind but how sweet to hear these precious words. God is good.

Prior to this surgery, I was talking to my Mom and right before we said good-bye, she chimes in, "Oh, your sister is in Portland now. She's living in an apartment with her daughter and granddaughter." I was so stunned I couldn't speak. There is a lot more here than I want to write about but let's just say that I don't want my niece anywhere near my family. It took days for me not to be depressed about this. But, there's nothing I can do about it and she is 2 hours away. So, it's not a problem unless it becomes one - don't worry, right? Two days after Alec's surgery, I get an email from my sister saying that her son (still in Texas, where she moved from) is getting married Nov. 20. There was more in the email and then there was an ecard invitation to the wedding. It said not to reply unless we were attending. Call me old-fashioned but this was pretty tacky, in my opinion. And weird.

But here was a good thing that happened: Two weeks ago, I remarked that "Wouldn't it be nice if we got money in the mail?" Since then, I have received about $225.00 in the form of refunds, rebates, credits and store rewards. Hot dog!! Be careful what you wish for, I say!

And last Sunday, my mother-in-law came to borrow our camping cooler. She had told me she needed it to store food in for Thanksgiving (she's hosting quite a crowd) and, of course, she was welcome to it. Turns out she's going to brine the turkey in our cooler. Hmmm... Stay tuned on this one. We are thinking that the cooler will probably always smell like turkey. It sure doesn't make me look forward to the turkey feast. Somehow a brined turkey just sounds, well, like olives in a jar. Perhaps I'm not being adventurous enough.

So, whether you are hosting the family for Thanksgiving or lucky enough not to have so much work to do, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Please drive safely ... it's been lightly snowing on and off here so anything is possible.