Today is the last day of the penultimate month of 2014. I’ve always liked the word penultimate. I learned it back in junior high school from an English teacher who loved odd words and I try to use it whenever I can. The last week of November was good. Most of it was spent at home with family. Hannah came home on Monday evening for her Thanksgiving break. The high school only had two and half days of school. It was nice to have so much uninterrupted time together.
At the beginning of the week we were snow-less, but that changed. The big Thanksgiving snow storm that blew up the East Coast only brought us a few inches of snow. The snow actually made our Thanksgiving seem a little cozier. Now we’re in the middle of a thaw and most of the snow is gone again.
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| The Thanksgiving storm moving in. |
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| Thanksgiving morning. |
Wednesday was Hannah’s birthday. She turned 19. We had a small celebration for her. Miriam baked her a cake. Kurt and Julie came to dinner bearing gifts. Hannah’s birthday always falls right around Thanksgiving and kind of gets incorporated into it.
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| Hannah's birthday. |
Thanksgiving day was a laid back affair for us. Stacey had to work until 4:00. We spent the day preparing food for our feast. Miriam did most of the baking. She made apple and pumpkin pies, pumpkin cake balls, and sweet potato casserole. I made baked zesty carrots. I was supposed to make cranberry sauce, but when we went shopping on Wednesday the market was out of fresh cranberries, so we had to opt for canned sauce. We had dinner at 4:30 over at the Shillig’s house. Kurt and Julie prepared a fabulous meal – turkey cooked to perfection, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, braised Brussels sprouts, baked squash, and Julie’s wonderful dinner rolls. We ate and then took a break and watched a sappy and predictable Hallmark Thanksgiving movie and then had dessert. After dessert we played Rage. We had a nice time together.
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| The Shillig's making last minute feast preparations. |
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| Our Thanksgiving feast. |
Friday was our traditional day for putting up Christmas decorations, but it didn’t happen. Miriam flew back west that day. Daniel drove her to the airport in Buffalo and Hannah and Josiah went along for the ride. They were gone until evening. Stacey was at work all day. I was home alone most of the day and I didn’t feel like decorating by myself. So we waited until Saturday.
Christmas decorating at our house was the usual happy ritual. We always put up the same garlands and wreaths, the Nativity sets, and knick-knacks. Everyone knows exactly what goes where. We listened to Christmas music while we decorated and reminisced about Christmases past and the provenances of the various decorations. We won’t get our tree until later in the month.
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| Christmas knick-knacks. |
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| One of our many Nativity sets. |
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| Another Nativity set. |
I’m reading a very good book right now, In the Kingdom of Ice: the Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeanette, by Hampton Sides. I usually read “warm” books during the cold days, books set in warm places and warm seasons. This is not a warm book, but it is fascinating. The captain and crew of the USS Jeanette set out to reach the North Pole via the Bering Strait in 1879. Almost as soon as they entered Arctic waters, the ship became ice bound and remained that way for years. The story of how the crew survived is amazing and harrowing. I have to sit in front of a fire or tucked under warm blankets when I read this book. My next book will have to be extra warm.
With Miriam gone back to Utah and Hannah back at school, the house seems sad. Daniel and Josiah are here, but even so, the house feels empty. Hannah has just two weeks of school and then will be home for a long Christmas break. Miriam won’t be coming home for Christmas. I miss her.
So, December arrives tomorrow. This year the 1st of December is also the opening day of deer season, so the month will come in with a bang – lots of banging. December is a busy month. There’s a lot going on for Christmas. This week we’ll go to two of Hannah’s Christmas concerts. The week after, we’ll go to Josiah’s concert. There’s also a church Christmas dinner sometime soon. I’m in charge of the program on Christmas Sunday and I’ll have to start preparing that. And we’ll have to find time to watch all our favorite Christmas movies, bake our favorite Christmas goodies, and do all the other things we do at Christmas. It’s all good. ‘Tis the season.
