Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving in Retrospect

A crazy whirlwind of activity. Chaos. Madness. The scent of turkey and stuffing wafting through the room, not to be outdone by the poopy diapers and pungent perfumes. Squeals, screams, laughing, giggling, yelling, talking, TV, mixers, squeaky floors, the clatter of plates and silverware. This was our Thanksgiving #1--a sensory overload! However, I did capture some adorable moments on camera and they make it all worth the craziness.

My little turkey actually weighed more than our edible version!

Burke loves his "Pa"

And his Ga-Ga

(Cousins) Give 'em a few months and they'll be best of friends and troublemakers for sure!

(Cousins) Paige was such a sweet little lover when she rocked Burke to sleep

She sang to him, and patted his hiney (never mind the fact that he weighs nearly half as much as she does!)

Oy! Cuteness!

(Cousins) Burke is very loved (tough/rough love, usually) by his twin cousins
 After lunch at Ben's parents' home, we escaped the chaos and sought the shelter and solace of our car for the 1.5 hour drive to my parents' house for Thanksgiving #2. The roar at my parents' home is much different, since Burke is the only baby. There are no other kiddie noisemakers, so it's the buzz of conversation and grown-up laughter that emanates from the rooms at their house. However, even that is chaotic and crazy at times too. So, we gorged ourselves with even more delicious Thanksgiving treats and enjoyed a few hours with my family before packing the boy up and heading home due to his ridiculously (though awesomely) early bedtime. But not before my mom's annual Thanksgiving Day family picture (which is sent out in every Christmas card she sends).


I am thankful every day for my husband, my son, my family and my friends. For the roof over my head and jobs. For health. For experiencing abundant love. And most of all for my Savior, who died that I may live freely and richly each day of my life.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

A Seemingly Slacker-Like Attitude Toward Blogging

Yes, I have been slacking on my bogging presence lately. Here are the reasons (not excuses) why:

1) I am working 2.5-3 days per week at my "real" job -- a.k.a. I get all dressed up and put on my intellectual thinking cap in order to draft briefs, counsel clients and assist the shareholders however they may require.



2) I have the most wonderful privilege of spending the evenings (on working days), weekends and 2 days per week with my son, who is a busy bundle of happiness and may or may not choose to take a nap(s) on each given day. Some days, he blesses me with a 2.5 hour morning nap and anther 45 minute to 1 hour nap in the afternoon. On those days, we might have a cleaner house and something tasty for dinner! Other days, it's more like a few little cat naps sprinkled throughout the day. On those days, we do chores that involve driving, go for walks outside, and have just some good old-fashioned quality play time. Mama and her baby boy!



3) Ben and I are working hard on turning a hobby into a business. We have been making candles for our own pleasure for a few years and have decided to turn it into a sort of cottage business for ourselves. No, we're not aiming to make millions in this modest venture. But we are hoping to earn enough to provide a steady supplemental income into our home (especially since I am now part-time at my "real" job). The company is called Smell This Candle Co. (because it's exactly what you say when you're shopping for candles with a buddy) and will feature eco-friendly soy candles of varying scents. I am so excited to get this business up and running, and have been spending much of my "extra" time working on building an inventory, experimenting with different scents, creating a website, and considering branding, marketing, and all of those little details. The most exciting piece of this business is the fact that 10% of the sale price from each sale will be donated to fund the fight against childhood cancer! (There is another post all in itself on the reasons behind this).


4) I enjoy spending the evenings (after the babe is sound asleep) with my mister. We need our own quality time in order to sustain a happy and healthy marriage. So I try to make sure that despite my urge to crank out another post, I am attentive to (and attended to) my hubby, whether it's talking, hanging out or (most likely) vegging because we are simply too exhausted for anything else.




So there you have it. A rather brief explanation behind my seemingly slacker-like attitude toward blogging. In reality, it's simply the one facet of my life that gets subordinated to the other, more robust aspects. It is an outlet that I enjoy, certainly. But it cannot giggle or coo, it cannot provide me with memories to dredge up in old age, it cannot cuddle me in bed or tell me that I am loved. So it is what it is--an outlet that I visit from time to time, always with good intentions of maintaining a presence, but realizing that it's okay if I don't because my "real" life (the physical one in which my senses are alive) is just so much more important.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Happy 30th Birthday to the Man of My Dreams!

Today is the day he's been dreading since I met him. Today he says goodbye to his 20's--the wild and unruly early 20's, his more settled, middle 20's (that's when he met ME!) and his youthfully mature late 20's (that's when he became a DAD!). I'm sure he'd tell you that this past decade was a great ride leaving him with many wonderful memories. And until today, he struggled with the thought of saying goodbye and embarking on the journeys a new decade would bring. To him, 30 represented gray hair, failing strength...O.L.D. But this morning, during breakfast, he said to me You know, I don't feel any different than I did yesterday. I think I'm okay with 30. Do you think I was worried? I knew he'd be okay. But it was nice to hear him reassure himself.









Ben--I wish you the very best decade of your life so far! Our 30's are going to be stellar. And I look forward to all the memories we'll make in the future!

Love,
Tabitha

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Snowtober

Who would have thought? A mini-blizzard in October? You bet that's what greeted us just two days before Halloween. It started coming down around 9 in the morning and continued to steadily fall and cover the ground until sometime during the night--long after I was sound asleep, I'm sure. (We do go to bed by 10 if we're lucky...sometimes 9:30)! All in all, maybe 4-6 inches of wet, white snow laying on top of still colorful fall flowers, green leaves and pumpkins.


While it was much to early for snow in my book, it did make quite a beautiful landscape that day. Fortunately, it was mostly melted by the warm sun the following day. And we are very thankful that we were not among the many who lost power due to the heavy snow. 


Is it strange that Burke's first experience with snow involves him wearing a jack-o-lantern sweatshirt rather than a warm snowsuit? Maybe. But it's all we had and we could not fail to document his first snowfall...however early it may have been.





Oh, and apparently the last time there was a Snowtober, there was also an earlier flood that year. The year of Hurricane Agnes--the flood that wiped out our home requiring extensive gutting and repair. Some 30 years later, we survived Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, although only by the matter of one street. Just a bit more rainfall would have caused the sewers to back up into our basement as well. This year's water elevation levels were only a mere 6 inches below the levels of Hurricane Agnes and what do you know. We had a snowy Halloween!