SimplyLife

Groan...leftovers...the refrigerator is stuffed with an assortment of containers filled with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole...and turkey. Then there are the laundry leftovers. Piles of sheets and towels lie on the floor awaiting their turn in the washer. I've already Windexed the fingerprints and nose print evidence from the patio door.  The floors have been vacuumed,  dispatching the crumb and dirt evidence. Order has been restored to the empty nest. You'd never know that three days ago the house was crammed with adults, kids, and dogs. There isn't much evidence that anything out of the ordinary happened if you look around or is there? The CSI characters reconstruct the crime from the leftovers-blood, ammo, tire tracks, etc. I'm reconstructing the holiday with the leftovers.  The mashed potatoes mean our oldest daughter was here peeling, mashing, and adding secret ingredients for silky smooth and delicious potatoes. The sweet potato cas

Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 106:1 It's Thanksgiving week! Visions of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole,  pies, and carb overload are dancing through my head along with sleeping arrangements, linen supplies, and bathroom logistics. Our home will be full of family - three generations this year and a very special longtime friend will join us too. We'll resume our family tradition of watching A Christmas Story after dinner-something we haven't been able to do as an extended family for several years. Of course there'll be football throughout the day and napping, although I'm not sure you can do that with two 3-year olds running around. Maybe I can talk my husband into building a cozy fire in the fireplace and our girls will entertain us with some piano duets. I imagine you're now running through your schedule of events for Thursday. It's probably similar to mine.

A trail of birdseed meandered across the work bench and then stopped.Upon examination, there was a cleverly chewed hole in the bottom of the seed bag. Not too big and not too small. Something was helping themselves to a feast. Looking further to the table saw that sat next to the bench, seed was neatly arranged in piles according to the type of seed. Millet in one, sunflower in another, corn in yet another. The marauder was at least organized. An assortment of traps were then set to catch the criminal critter, but alas to no avail. The mousetrap with its peanut butter and cracker were left untouched and more seed disappeared. Suspicions arose that the critter was too big for the the regular sized mousetrap, so the larger "Have-a-Heart" trap was dusted off and placed on the workbench with tidbits of juicy apple and peanut butter displayed temptingly inside. Nothing! The creature was far too clever to be taken in by these crude methods. Seed continued to disappear and frustr