Happy and Grateful Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving day in the United States. It's a day to give thanks for the things we have and the people we love. Sometimes it's difficult to give thanks when the world is crashing down around you. It's during difficult times that gratitude is most important because it's at those times when we find gratitude changes our attitude. Gratitude turns negative events into positive lessons.

No human being can get through life without experiencing bad or negative events. That doesn't mean we have to focus on them because focusing on the negative attracts it into our lives. The more one focuses on the negative the more negative events one encounters. Gratitude is a positive, a spiritual, emotion which attract positive events into our lives. When things get bad that is the time to sit down and write a gratitude list.

Thursday is normally the time people sit down to write their "Thankful Thursday" list, but a gratitude list can be composed any day of the week or any time of day. A gratitude list usually contains; however, you don't have to limit the list to ten any more then you have to list ten things or events. If you think you have only one or two things to be thankful for then put those items on your list. Once you begin focusing on gratitude you will find that the number of things increase as the days, weeks, months, and years pass.

This year we look at world events and tremble in our shoes thinking that we have nothing to be thankful for. That isn't true, no matter what is happening in the world we can always find something to be thankful for. As individuals we can't let world events sometimes overshadow our gratitude because it's at these times we need to find positive things to be grateful for. The reason is that gratitude helps us overcome depression.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Thanksgiving Week Writing

Writing goals for the Week of November 23 to November 27.

1. Write a Terza Rima Sonnet
2. Write a 300+ word short story
3. Review 4 to 6 items on writing.com
4. Enter a short story in a contest on writing.com
5. Enter a poem in a contest on writing.com
6. Mail holiday cards
7. Post to blogs

That's all I know I have planned to write this week. I am sure there are non-writing things I have to do, such as picking up my senior commodities and going to my doctor, but I can write between those errands.

NaNoWriMo Update: Day 24

I am caught up with my novel. Now I have to decide how much laundry to do on Tuesday, so that I do not get behind on the novel. I have to wash some blankets and my flannel nightgown because it gets cold at night. I do not turn the warm air on because I cannot sleep if the air is on. I have enough trouble sleeping as it is, but it almost impossible for me to sleep with the air running.

I suppose I could turn the warm air on and stay up all night writing; however, the only time I stay up all night is when I have insomnia. I do not have insomnia, I just have trouble sleeping. I eventually go to sleep if I keep the air off at night.

I have a little over 9,000 words to write on my novel before the end of November. I may end up staying up all night on Thanksgiving or Black Friday to finish the novel. I do not intend to go shopping on either day, if I need anything I will go to the grocery store either on Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I do not shop on Thanksgiving and I do not shop on Black Friday. I use those to days to write if I am not eating with friends or family.

Thanksgiving Week Begins

Thanksgiving week begins
a time for family,
a time for counting my blessings,
a time for remembering,
a time for crying,
a time for laughing,
and the time to set 2015 goals.

There are 38 day left in 2014. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating a New Year and a new beginning. On New Year's Day we set goals that we want to accomplish during the coming year. How many of those goals do we accomplish?

Thirty-eight days to review the past year and establish new goals for the New Year. Do we really want to establish new goals if we have not accomplished all of our 2014 goals? Why did some of our 2014 goals remain unaccomplished? These are questions that need to be ask before we set new goals or reset the unaccomplished goals.


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Happy Thanksgiving: A Poem

Have a thankful Thanksgiving
no matter where you are
and share the blessings
of gratitude
with all you encounter today.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving
and give to those in need
so that they will receive
gratitude's blessings.

NaNoWriMo Day 28: Happy NaNoWriMo Thanksgiving

NaNoWriMo Day 27 Chapter 28 Word Count = 1,606
Total Word Count To Date = 50,911
Percentage of 50,000 Word NaNoWriMo Word Count Goal Completed = 101%

It's a NaNoWriMo Thanksgiving
50,000 words done
and two more chapter to write
before I can call the novel complete.

Thanksgiving: Gratitude’s Holiday

This is gratitude’s holiday
a day to count our blessings
and give thanks for the joys we have received.

This is gratitude’s holiday
the day each year
we remember
the gifts that life has given us.

This is gratitude’s holiday
so give thanks
for the gift of life.

Monday of Thanksgiving Week

It’s Monday of Thanksgiving week and even though I did not make many blog entries, I did write. I worked on my NaNoWriMo novel. I also took care of Mom. On the weekend, I have no one to help me, so I have to do everything by myself. It is always tiring, but this last weekend was especially tiring.

On Saturday and Sunday, Mom wanted to get out of the wheelchair. I understand why she wants to get out, but if she gets out by herself, she will fall. I have to help her and Mom does not want anyone to help she wants to do it herself. On Sunday, Mom expected someone to come to the house and pick her up. I do not know where she planned to go, I am not sure Mom knew. She finally calmed down and went to bed.

This week Mom will be home Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I am not sure what we are going to eat for the Thanksgiving Feast, probably canned chicken and canned veggies with a gelatin desert or a cake, probably without frosting. I will know more about what we are having on Wednesday. Right now, I just tired and cannot focus on more then a few things at a time. Perhaps I will write a Thanksgiving poem or story and post it in this blog.

A Good Thanksgiving Day

Oak trees golden leaves
Reflecting the morning sun
Dancing in the breeze

There was no wind today, just a slight breeze. The sky was partly cloudy, so we had sunshine sometimes during the day. The neighbor’s oak has turned completely gold and I expect the leaves to fall any time.

It was a nice Thanksgiving Day, not too cold or too warm. Mom and I had a traditional Thanksgiving meal with some mashed potatoes and dressing left over. I took a small steak out of the freezer and plan to fix it with the leftover dressing on Black Friday.

I do not plan to go shopping tomorrow because Mom is home for the rest of the week. Besides, I do not shop on Black Friday or any other time there are crowded stores. I feel rushed in a crowd and I do not like to shop when I am rushed.

I will do a little laundry tomorrow. I will also do some writing and maybe watch television with my mother. Mom was in a good mood today and singing Jingle Bells. It was a good Thanksgiving Day. I am looking forward to a good Black Friday at home.

I hope Mom is in a good mood tomorrow, but with an Alzheimer’s patient, you never know. I take each day as it comes and hope that tomorrow will be better then today.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving
From a chilly Las Vegas
The wind is blowing

It got down to about 35 degress in Las Vegas today. I am looking forward to summer, which is my favorite season. I may change my mind if it warms up and the wind stops blowing.

Thanksgiving is Thursday I turned the heat on early

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 25, and I turned the heat on in our house today. The weather in Las Vegas is chilly bordering on cold with intermittent winds. The outside temperature this morning was 45 degrees and the inside (in my house) got down to 60 degrees; time to turn the heat on.

I set the heat at 63 degrees, which is still a bit chilly. I cannot set it any higher because the power bill gets outrageous and that is a nice way of putting it. I just got the last power bill completely paid. I do not know what the power bill is going to be like because the power company reads the meter November 29.

I had to turn the heat on this morning because I could not stand it any more. It gets cold sitting at a computer typing a story. When I cannot concentrate on the story or poem I am composing because of the cold, then it is time to turn the heat on.

The central air sings
A warm melody scatters
Autumn’s morning chill

November and Gratitude

Think of November
Thanksgiving gratitude’s month
Remember Grandpa

My grandfather always said the blessing at our Thanksgiving Feast. November and Thanksgiving always bring back memories of Grandpa’s blessings.

Wind in the Pine trees

Morning caresses
Chills the boughs of stone pine trees
Christmas is coming

The temperature in the house is about 68 degrees, which is cooler then an hour ago when it was 69. The wind is blowing and moving the limbs of the pine trees in my front yard. It is not even Thanksgiving yet, but the wind in the pine trees reminded me that Christmas and my birthday (Christmas Eve) is a little over a month away.

Welcome Autumn

At last, Autumn has arrived and the days are becoming cooler. It is too early in the season for the tree to change color. This is Las Vegas, while the days become shorter and cooler I doubt the first freeze with come before Thanksgiving.

I like the cooler days because it means our power bill will go down. I have decided to keep the thermostat up to 85 degrees until I turn the hot air on, which I hope is not before Halloween. After I turn the hot air on, then I will keep the air between 55 and 60 degrees. We can put on sweaters and long sleeves if it gets too chilly, but 55 degrees is not that cold.

Welcome cool autumn
The seasons change winter comes
Long sleeves and sweaters

You know it’s that time of year when

You know it's that time of year when ...

• the temperature drops twenty five degrees over night
• you have to defrost the morning paper to read it
• you get a dozen offers in your e-mail box to receive personalized letter from Santa
• the neighbors deck their houses with blinking red, green, white, and blue lights
• you can't face another day of leftover turkey
• the cat sleeps on your head all night and won't move in the morning
• you are thankful it didn't snow you in last night
• winter birds huddle in your garage waiting for sunrise
• you remember summer's 110 degrees fondly

Happy Cyber Monday

It's the first Monday after Thanksgiving, which is Cyber Monday. According to all the ads, everyone is shopping online today. All right, not everyone because I'm not shopping online. The extent of my holiday shopping is sending holiday cards to family and friends.

I'll send each of my brothers, sister, and friends a card commemorating the holiday they are celebrating. Most of the cards will be e-cards, except for my sister who doesn't have an e-mail address. I'll send her card snail mail.

In keeping with the season, I'm going to close by wishing everyone a Happy Holiday or a Happy Christmas. May you receive a special gift this season.

Thanksgiving is a Spiritual holiday

Many people think of Thanksgiving as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. However, for me Thanksgiving is a spiritual holiday. The older I get the more I realize this. The more tests I encounter in my life, the more I realize this.

This year, Thanksgiving is especially stressful. This Thanksgiving I am especially thankful. The doctory diagnosed my mother with Alzheimer's last Friday. She began taking a new medication on Monday (the pharmacy was out of the tablets when the doctor faxed prescription on Friday). It takes four to six weeks for the medication to show an effect.

Mom is still capable of taking care of herself under most conditions. I do have to remind her about certain things. I have to help her find items that she "lost" because she can't remember where she put them.

Mom enjoys going out, so tomorrow we will go out. I think we'll do laundry or perhaps just drive around. I don't know for sure what we will do yet, but we will do something that Mom enjoys. I know one thing I am going to do, that is ask Mom to recount her memories about my grandparents and growing up on a farm. I have a chance to write down some of her memories and I'm going to write them down.

Thanksgiving is next week

Thanksgiving prayers
said before dinner began
Grandpa remembered

Grandpa Newland always said the blessing before Thanksgiving dinner. Grandma cooked the turkey and Grandpa said the blessing. I miss the family dinners of my childhood, with everyone gathered around the table waiting for Grandpa to say blessing and then carve the turkey.

The First Thanksgiving Feast

The first thanksgiving feast didn't have turkey or pie. The Plymouth colonist and the Wampanoag Indians ate venison and wild fowl (all right, maybe one of those wild birds was a turkey, but not as big as those we eat today). Another thing they didn't have was forks, instead they ate with knives, spoons, their hands and cloth napkins (which they used to pick up the food and to wipe their mouths).

Thanksgiving is a harvest festival and the reason for harvest festivals is to express gratitude and give thanks. The participants in harvest festivals give thanks for the abundance of the Earth, for the crop and the abundance of wild life, which provides food all year around.

In our modern society, we sometimes forget to express our thanks for the abundance of the ground. In cities, we go to the store and buy our produce and meat. However, we need to remember that these things come from farmers who plant crops and raise animals for us to eat. Even if we don't eat meat, we need to express our thanks to the farmers who grow the vegetables.

Today is a day to express our gratitude to everyone who has helped us survive the past 12 months. So say "Thank You" to someone who has helped you survive in this modern society. For information about Thanksgiving, see The History of Thanksgiving.

Writing on a Cloudy Autumn Day

It finally feels like autumn in Las Vegas. The sky was cloudy all day and the temperature cool. The oak trees are starting to turn yellow all though I don't think we've had a freeze yet. Autumn has arrive in Las Vegas and it's almost winter.

Thanksgiving is Thursday, which makes this weather welcome. It hasn't been so cold that the central air is running all the time. I like this type of weather around Thanksgiving because it isn't so cold that we need to bundle up. All that is need is just a light sweater or jacket to keep warm, so when we go out on Thursday I'm going to wear a long sleeved blouse and carry a light jacket.

The autumn clouds are beautiful even if it doesn't rain. I'm not sure, but I think there might be a light dusting of snow on Mount Charleston. That would be nice, it doesn't seem like autumn in Las Vegas without a little bit of snow on Mount Charleston. I'll have to take a look tomorrow while I'm waiting for the bus to bring me home and double check on the snow. Even if there isn't snow on the Mountain, the air feels like autumn, which means there will be snow up there soon.