My Favorite Holiday

Mike and I sit in Ohare waiting to board a plane.  The plane will land in Detroit and we will board another which will deliver us to Rochester.  Using our GPS, we will navigate the hour drive to Brother Scott and Stephanie's house in Naples, NY.

Thanksgiving is a holiday to reflect on oh, so many blessings!  I am thankful to be sitting next to my partner, my husband.  A man who can fix anything, helps others, understands how to put up with me, and so many other really great traits.  I am thankful to have good health. I am thankful to have such a great family.  I am thankful to live in a country where you can drive down an interstate, drop off your rental car, check into an airport, and feel safe.  I am thankful to have enough money to be able to travel and visit with family and friends.

Take time to reflect on your blessings this Thanksgiving.  Take at least one day of the year to pause; you have much to be thankful for.

We arrived Monday in time to enjoy a delicious dinner - complete with farm sweet corn! - with Dad and Linda.  The next day, a fine lunch at Soft Tails in Ladd.

Gary and Diana were wonderful hosts and set us up with a fantastic bed for sleeping.  We woke up at 9:30am - in disbelief!- the first morning!!  Mom arrived later that afternoon, safe and sound, from Mattoon and settled in to her "salt cave" bedroom upstairs.  A fine dinner was prepared by the Carlson's and savored by all!! 

The next day Mom, Mike, and myself traveled to ooh and ahhh over the lovely fabric at the quilt shop in Morris.  There are a couple of new projects on the horizon!!  The Morris Fire Department has a beautiful fire truck with a great story. 

This lovely brass truck was purchased in the late 1800s for over $7000.  That's a pile of money back then.  When the town decided to sell the truck to a scrap metal shop, the truck suddenly disappeared.  It would spend the next ten years in hiding.  Thank goodness some firefighters had the sense to do the right thing.  If you ever get to Morris, it's worth a look.

We enjoyed lunch and a beer at the new brew pub in Ottawa, Brew Pub in Ottawa  Good beer, not too great of a ceasar salad. 

The pretzel and wings looked really good.  I love what they did to the old store.  Very neat inside.

Dinner on Wednesday night with the Carlson's and Mom at the Pink Chihuahua check out the menu at Pink Yippie Dog!, Raynette's restaurant in Ottawa.  Drinks and orders and soon the table was filled with food.  My favorite, the blackened duck breast!  MMMMMmmmm!!  All dishes were really delicious.  We left full and satisfied, but without a photo - I regret that.

Diana's business, Salt Tree Yoga, continues to prosper.  I admire Diana's commitment to grow her business, adding new treatments and filling the store with the beautiful salt lamps for the holiday shopping season.  What a beautiful space she has created!  A great gift (or two), consider adding a salt lamp to your gift list.  The lamps glow a beautiful golden color and emit negative ions into the air space - good for you in so many ways! 

I finish this posting sitting in Scott and Stephanie's kitchen in Naples, NY.  We got in safe and sound, had a wonderful farm-egg breakfast, and treated ourselves to a brisk day-after-Thanksgiving walk down the water front of a finger lake side - complete with a heart-pounding hill.  After that - mimosas in the new hot tub, of course!!  This is what vacation is all about.  Turkey #2 is in the oven, brother Steven is headed north, and a giant magnum of Schug Pinot Noir 2009 is in our very near future!  So many things to be thankful for!!