I just can't believe that the holidays are here. Next week is Thanksgiving...OMG! My oldest shared that scary truth with me last night. I broke out in a cold sweat with heart palpitations and all.
I have gotten stressed just thinking about it all in the past. And I still do especially when the in-laws come to stay. I adore them but you know how it is, you dust in areas that you haven't dusted in since last Thanksgiving, the pillows have to be just right, the fridge needs to be stocked with their favorite things to eat and drink. Now, I know they don't come to give me the eye, but at least until they've settled down for a few minutes, I want them to see the house neat and orderly. Then after that, "Who cares?!" LOL, break out the Egg Nog (non-alcoholic version, of course).
My parents will be here and my sister and her family, my brothers and their children, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, friends and Speedy, our Beta Fish. It's going to be a great weekend. It is also our oldest 13th Birthday...Can you believe it?! I can't. It's crazy. Time has gone by so fast.
So my menu is extensive since we have to have Puerto Rican, Italian, and All-American fare. We will have pies and eggplant parm, pasteles and turkey, arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce and gravy...I'm getting hungry and salivating at the same time just thinking about it. And of course, I have to make it all from scratch.
I have decided to call in the reinforcements and have my sister and mom bake some stuff and have my grandmother make the arroz con gandules (she is a master at Puerto Rican food). My husband will carve the turkey and all will be well with the world. I refuse to be stressed. Except that I want the table to look magnificent with candles and greenery and linens and such. Okay, I'm excited now...hehehe.
I would love to hear from you...what are your family favorites? What do you like to cook up? Is it traditional or exotic? Do you do paper plates (how I love those things) or do you do linens and crystal? Share with me some destressers and share with me some family traditions.
I almost forgot that we do have one family tradition that has lasted since Jack Black decided to say, "Nachooooooooooooo." Yes, folks, we do sit down and watch "Nacho Libre" it is one of our favorite movies and we love to hear my husband, Joe and my brother-in-law, Nik, laugh so hard they cry. They mouth the words and everything...something about the baptizing part that gets them everytime. I don't think it has anything to do with them being pastors. Yea, right.
Whatever you do make some great memories, even if you have lost something or someone this year. Love and laugh and eat (calories don't count till you're counting them after the New Year). And first and foremost, remember to be thankful to our amazing God for His goodness to us. Even though my life is not near perfect He has provided for me and mine, taken care of us and loved us enough to give up His own Son so that I may live. So as you sit around your table with your family and friends or you may be sitting alone, take time to find something to be thankful for, I know there is something. We go around the room during Thanksgiving and we all share one or two things we are thankful for, yes, we all end up crying but wow, it does feel good to be sharing that with those closest to us, those we are thankful for.
I am thankful for you. And I pray that this holiday season will be filled with good things and that the new year would be filled with new beginnings and dreams being fulfilled.
I have gotten stressed just thinking about it all in the past. And I still do especially when the in-laws come to stay. I adore them but you know how it is, you dust in areas that you haven't dusted in since last Thanksgiving, the pillows have to be just right, the fridge needs to be stocked with their favorite things to eat and drink. Now, I know they don't come to give me the eye, but at least until they've settled down for a few minutes, I want them to see the house neat and orderly. Then after that, "Who cares?!" LOL, break out the Egg Nog (non-alcoholic version, of course).My parents will be here and my sister and her family, my brothers and their children, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, friends and Speedy, our Beta Fish. It's going to be a great weekend. It is also our oldest 13th Birthday...Can you believe it?! I can't. It's crazy. Time has gone by so fast.
So my menu is extensive since we have to have Puerto Rican, Italian, and All-American fare. We will have pies and eggplant parm, pasteles and turkey, arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce and gravy...I'm getting hungry and salivating at the same time just thinking about it. And of course, I have to make it all from scratch.
I have decided to call in the reinforcements and have my sister and mom bake some stuff and have my grandmother make the arroz con gandules (she is a master at Puerto Rican food). My husband will carve the turkey and all will be well with the world. I refuse to be stressed. Except that I want the table to look magnificent with candles and greenery and linens and such. Okay, I'm excited now...hehehe.
I would love to hear from you...what are your family favorites? What do you like to cook up? Is it traditional or exotic? Do you do paper plates (how I love those things) or do you do linens and crystal? Share with me some destressers and share with me some family traditions.
I almost forgot that we do have one family tradition that has lasted since Jack Black decided to say, "Nachooooooooooooo." Yes, folks, we do sit down and watch "Nacho Libre" it is one of our favorite movies and we love to hear my husband, Joe and my brother-in-law, Nik, laugh so hard they cry. They mouth the words and everything...something about the baptizing part that gets them everytime. I don't think it has anything to do with them being pastors. Yea, right.
Whatever you do make some great memories, even if you have lost something or someone this year. Love and laugh and eat (calories don't count till you're counting them after the New Year). And first and foremost, remember to be thankful to our amazing God for His goodness to us. Even though my life is not near perfect He has provided for me and mine, taken care of us and loved us enough to give up His own Son so that I may live. So as you sit around your table with your family and friends or you may be sitting alone, take time to find something to be thankful for, I know there is something. We go around the room during Thanksgiving and we all share one or two things we are thankful for, yes, we all end up crying but wow, it does feel good to be sharing that with those closest to us, those we are thankful for.
I am thankful for you. And I pray that this holiday season will be filled with good things and that the new year would be filled with new beginnings and dreams being fulfilled.
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