Thanksgiving Already?

The year has just flown by for me. Hubby and I were talking on the way to church last night and I told him it becomes increasingly hard each year for me to get excited about the holidays. I'm not sure why that is. Have any of you experienced this? Maybe it's because our children are all so far away. I'm happy Mandy, Brad and Piper will be with us this Thanksgiving, but I'm missing my boys too. I miss our big family holidays. My goodness, I'm maudlin this morning! Anyway, it is what it is and I miss my family all being together. I know life is all about change and I wouldn't want to make any of them feel guilty for the choices they have to make. So I'm putting on my "happy face" and trying to be thankful for the MANY blessings that God has given to me. I've been busy making hats for a charity called "Blessings Under the Bridge". It's a group that feeds and clothes the homeless here in Spokane. They have asked for warm clothing, so last week I knitted five hats for them.

oops! One is missing! I took them to church last night so I can't retake the photo. The other hat was like the orange one only a dark green color. I hope they'll warm some heads this winter. I also finished crocheting 22 dishcloths for my basket by the door. I'll still need to make a few more, but it's good to have a good start on them. Now I'm working on ornaments to give everyone at our Bible study as a small gift. We'll have our Christmas party on December 20th so I still have more time. I've made five so far, (another one late last night after this picture was taken.) I think they still need something so I'm planning to add some colorful buttons after I get to Michaels or Hobby Lobby today. I got the pattern from Lucy at Attic 24 and I love how it's using us my little bits of scrap yarn. The points on them aren't eactly even, but I kind of like that. What do you think?

I'm dithering about what to make after I've finished the ornaments. I bought some yarn to make a granny patchword blanket but I'm not finding any enthusiasm for it and the last thing I need is another knitted/crocheted blanket. The postage to mail a completed blanket to a charity is rather prohibitive too. I'm thinking of making some child size blankets to take to the crisis nursery. Do you all have any suggestions? I'm feeling majorly "burnt out" and just want to curl up in front of the fireplace with a good book these days. I have my 20 lb. turkey thawing in the refrigerator and I'm trying to plan a menu for Thursday. Because Mandy still can't have any dairy or soy products I'm tring to adapt some of the normal Thanksgiving foods so she can eat with us. Instead of mashed potatoes I think I'll make white rice. A jello salad should be fine. Plain green beans instead of the normal casserole. Any other suggestions? She can't have rolls, pie, sweet potatoes etc. I would also like to ask for prayers for my blog friend Henya, her family and all of the people of Israel right now. I just can't imagine having to worry about bombs and missiles flying at my home and my children. I wish people would just realize that deep down, we're all the same. We want a better life for our children and safety and happiness for them. We truly need to count our blessings here in the United States. If you do live here I hope you have a wonderful holiday this weekend and enjoy your family and friends. I know I'm blessed by many wonderful friends both here and all around the world. Many, many blessings to you and yours, Betsy P.S. I write my blog posts with paragraphs, etc. but when it publishes it everything runs together. Any advice? :-)