Monthly Archives: November 2016

Thanksliving

thanksliving-2I just spent the Thanksgiving weekend with my daughter, her three children, and my son’s four children (and my son and his wife part of the time but they didn’t spend their nights here). There was much soda drank, microwave popcorn consumed, cookies baked, and dinners made and eaten.

One of our family traditions is Grandma Cookie Day. With my daughter and her kids living in New Mexico, it is sometimes a real struggle to coordinate time to do it, but the tradition started when my oldest granddaughter was three was carried on this year (and she is 16). While the new cookie recipes didn’t turn out as nicely as I thought they might, they had fun decorating them. We also tried making taffy candy canes, which was an interesting experience and ended up a big pink blob of taffy, but one of them took it all home.

The object of this information is that I’m thankful–thankful that my grandchildren are growing into responsible, loving, and kind young adults; thankful that they continue to all get along together; thankful that my children get along and obviously love each other; thankful that my dad had a very short hospital stay and that my daughter and her kids got to see him while they were here; thankful that family fills my heart.

Traditions are important. As I’m sure I’ve posted before, traditions are much more important than gifts or money. The adults all remind me that once the kids start thinking about Christmas, they start asking about Cookie Day. While the whole Cookie Day experience was completely exhausting, watching the kids get excited about it and spending time decorating all of those cookies was worth it and it will definitely continue as long as they want to do it (and probably even after that!).

I’m going to try to celebrate Thanksliving every day all year long. I’m going to live each day with something to be thankful for. Right now, I’m kind of thankful for quiet. While I love having a houseful, it was definitely a houseful. PLUS I have regained control of my TV remote and I’m very thankful for that!

Be The Change

Now that the elections are over, they’re not really over. The results seem to have put a huge divide in America. From both sides! This isn’t a political be-the-change-youpost . . . and I won’t allow comments on politics. My point here is that if you are happy with the results, you should volunteer with the groups that support what makes you happy. If you’re not happy with the results, volunteer with the groups that support what you wish had happened or what you think will make a difference.

In other words, BE. THE. CHANGE. You cannot sit on your ass and complain about the way things are or how you wish they were. Get off your butt and BE. THE. CHANGE. Join a group with what matters most to you as their focus. You don’t have to live there, you just need to spend enough time to make a difference. BE. THE. CHANGE.

Just do something. Activism is what has made this country great. If our forefathers had just sat back and complained, we wouldn’t have the freedoms we have now. As I’ve said before, the high you get from volunteering is totally worth the time you take away from Facebook stalking or Netflix bingewatching.

Do you care most about women’s rights? There are hundreds of organizations dedicated to human rights. Are you interested in gay rights? Again there are all kinds of organizations dedicated to gay rights. Are you worried about the homeless or the hungry? There are food banks or shelters or food lines all looking for volunteers. Are you interested in a specific political party? They all need help too. Find the issue that really touches your heart and BE. THE. CHANGE. Anything you can do will make a difference. It may not be something that changes the world right now, but it will have a ripple effect. The difference that you make will entice others to make a difference which will entice others which will entice others. Just like the old shampoo commercial (I am 60 so I remember this!) where they tell two people and they tell two people and so on and so on. It just takes one ripple to make a difference. BE. THE. CHANGE.