The Day Before Thanksgiving Hodgepodge

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1. Talking turkey...are you cooking the turkey this year? Does ham belong on a Thanksgiving day menu? When it comes to gravy do you pour it over your whole plate, skip it altogether, or land somewhere in between? Cranberries-homemade or jelled right out of the can? Do you look forward more to the main course, the savory sides, or the desserts? 

I’m cooking this year. 

I love good homemade turkey gravy - however, no giblet gravy for me. 

I’m somewhere in between regarding gravy placement. 

I always used to make two different kinds of cranberries—homemade and one can of the jelled stuff because that is what my boys liked best.  Now I've given up—my sons still prefer the jelled stuff, and I don’t eat it that much anymore. I failed as a mother! LOL  😏

I used to enjoy it all - but now my favorites are simple. Mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. 

2. Holiday movies...tell us your favorite and what it is about the film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs? 

Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. 

I have fond memories of my mom introducing me to the movies she loved as a child. She couldn't wait for us to see "It's a Wonderful Life," which was made in 1946 when she was just 12 years old. She was also 11 when "Miracle on 34th Street" came out. 

By the time I watched "Miracle on 34th Street" for the first time—probably around the same age she was when she first saw it—I recognized Natalie Wood. At that point, I was star-struck kid and knew all about the older Natalie Wood. 

3. A favorite way to give back and help others? 

I often feel that I don't do enough to genuinely help others during the holidays, and it makes me feel ashamed. While we participate in the Samaritan's Purse Christmas Box through the church, donate to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots, and contribute to the local Stuff the Bus campaign by bringing canned goods, these efforts feel too indirect. They don’t fulfill my desire to actively serve those who are less fortunate. I would love to volunteer at the local shelter, but when I checked, they already have their volunteers in place, and it’s nearly too late for Christmas.

Every year, I make Latkes using the recipe my friend Margie gave me (we used to fry them side by side at my stove for years), and I bring her a plate of latkes at the Care facility where she lives now. The smile she gives me is worth everything! 

4. Name a place or setting you encountered this month that made you feel grateful. 

I’m grateful for my church, the Bible studies I attend. I’m grateful I still live in a country where I can read and study the Bible and worship freely. 

5. Knowing what you know today, if you could redo yesterday what would you do differently? 

I'm sure I wasted my time on something insignificant yesterday - just can't remember what it was. 

6. Spill your own random thought here. 

I find myself a bit weepy during Thanksgiving, as I am sure many of you are, too. That missing chair at the table - gets me every year.