Thankful.
This is my favorite time of the year.
Thanksgiving for me is too many people squeezed into too little space.
Wall to wall palettes of children sleeping shoulder to shoulder.
Speed (the card game) marathons.
Lots of yummy food. Lots.
Hiding a slice of Granny's chocolate pie, because you cannot possible squeeze it in but if you don't take it now there will not be any left for later.
The Turkey Trot downtown Dallas with the whole family.
Dominos (not the pizza)
Afternoon naps.
Everyone together and loving it, even when a bit of dysfunction rears it's ugly head I still love it. Because what IS family without a touch of dysfunction anyway?
Last year was the Barf-O-Rama year. And it was still great.
This year because of the unusually high cost of airline tickets we will not be traveling to be with the whole gang.
It will be a quiet weekend just the three of us at our lil' cabin in the woods upstate. Thankfully we will have video chat (from inside the car stealing, um, borrowing, someone's wifi) so we will still get to "see" everyone. But the chaos will be missed as much as the chocolate pie and fried turkey, yeah I said fried, don't knock it 'til you try it.
Tonight we'll have just a taste of my traditional Thanksgiving as my best friend of 32+ plus years will arrive with her family.
Count 'em :: two adults, four kids ages 2-10, three nieces ages 12-16, all crammed into our lil' 1,000 sq ft. 2bdrm. Woohoo! I can't wait.
Tomorrow we will then leave them in our pad to enjoy NYC while we escape it.
I've been making a list of all the things I'm thankful for and it's incredibly long. Which that itself, is another thing on the list.
I was so inspired by Barack Obama's acceptance speech, especially this part:
“America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves: If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”
Barack Obama, November 4th, 2008
I sent out an email to friends and family and co-workers and collected t-shirt to make into baby hats. While I'm counting my blessing this Thanksgiving, I will also be sewing up some hats! I have enough t-shirts so far to make 100+ hats.
The Caps to Cap-Haitien Project: A Partnership with Konbit Sante, will initially provide newborn jersey caps to be distributed in Safe Birthing Kits in northern Haiti.
Our life circumstances may be so very different from one another, but as women and mothers, we share so very much in common - the most basic being our desire to keep our children safe and healthy from the moment of birth onward. Please read on to find out how you can contribute to this project in a simple but meaningful way.
In northern Haiti:
Just 1 in 5 women receives skilled medical care during childbirth.
Haiti has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the Western Hemisphere.
1 in 40 women will die as a result of pregnancy complications, unsafe abortion, or obstetrical emergency.
Twelve percent of children die before the age of 5.
About Konbit Sante:
Konbit Sante is a Maine-based volunteer partnership working to save lives and improve health care in northern Haiti. In Haitian Creole, a konbit is a traditional method of working together to till your friends' and neighbors fields as well as your own - a cooperative effort. Sante means health. The name defines their commitment to address the staggering health problems in northern Haiti where most lack basic care and live without running water.
One aspect of their work involves OB/GYN care. Konbit Sante is working to assemble Safe Birthing Kits to be distributed by traditional birth attendants in the desperately poor Fort St. Michel area of Cap-Haitien. These kits - consisting of plastic sheeting, hand sanitizer, a sterile piece of string and razor blade, and these newborn baby caps - have the potential to reduce infant and maternal mortality, and give babies a safer, healthier start.
For more details check out mamatomama.org
Thanksgiving for me is too many people squeezed into too little space.
Wall to wall palettes of children sleeping shoulder to shoulder.
Speed (the card game) marathons.
Lots of yummy food. Lots.
Hiding a slice of Granny's chocolate pie, because you cannot possible squeeze it in but if you don't take it now there will not be any left for later.
The Turkey Trot downtown Dallas with the whole family.
Dominos (not the pizza)
Afternoon naps.
Everyone together and loving it, even when a bit of dysfunction rears it's ugly head I still love it. Because what IS family without a touch of dysfunction anyway?
Last year was the Barf-O-Rama year. And it was still great.
This year because of the unusually high cost of airline tickets we will not be traveling to be with the whole gang.
It will be a quiet weekend just the three of us at our lil' cabin in the woods upstate. Thankfully we will have video chat (from inside the car stealing, um, borrowing, someone's wifi) so we will still get to "see" everyone. But the chaos will be missed as much as the chocolate pie and fried turkey, yeah I said fried, don't knock it 'til you try it.
Tonight we'll have just a taste of my traditional Thanksgiving as my best friend of 32+ plus years will arrive with her family.
Count 'em :: two adults, four kids ages 2-10, three nieces ages 12-16, all crammed into our lil' 1,000 sq ft. 2bdrm. Woohoo! I can't wait.
Tomorrow we will then leave them in our pad to enjoy NYC while we escape it.
I've been making a list of all the things I'm thankful for and it's incredibly long. Which that itself, is another thing on the list.
I was so inspired by Barack Obama's acceptance speech, especially this part:
“America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves: If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”
Barack Obama, November 4th, 2008
I sent out an email to friends and family and co-workers and collected t-shirt to make into baby hats. While I'm counting my blessing this Thanksgiving, I will also be sewing up some hats! I have enough t-shirts so far to make 100+ hats.
The Caps to Cap-Haitien Project: A Partnership with Konbit Sante, will initially provide newborn jersey caps to be distributed in Safe Birthing Kits in northern Haiti.
Our life circumstances may be so very different from one another, but as women and mothers, we share so very much in common - the most basic being our desire to keep our children safe and healthy from the moment of birth onward. Please read on to find out how you can contribute to this project in a simple but meaningful way.
In northern Haiti:
Just 1 in 5 women receives skilled medical care during childbirth.
Haiti has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the Western Hemisphere.
1 in 40 women will die as a result of pregnancy complications, unsafe abortion, or obstetrical emergency.
Twelve percent of children die before the age of 5.
About Konbit Sante:
Konbit Sante is a Maine-based volunteer partnership working to save lives and improve health care in northern Haiti. In Haitian Creole, a konbit is a traditional method of working together to till your friends' and neighbors fields as well as your own - a cooperative effort. Sante means health. The name defines their commitment to address the staggering health problems in northern Haiti where most lack basic care and live without running water.
One aspect of their work involves OB/GYN care. Konbit Sante is working to assemble Safe Birthing Kits to be distributed by traditional birth attendants in the desperately poor Fort St. Michel area of Cap-Haitien. These kits - consisting of plastic sheeting, hand sanitizer, a sterile piece of string and razor blade, and these newborn baby caps - have the potential to reduce infant and maternal mortality, and give babies a safer, healthier start.
For more details check out mamatomama.org
posted by girlh at
12:39 PM
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