Gobble ‘Til You Wobble -Thanksgiving 2011

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." - Epictetus

I love Thanksgiving. I love holidays in general but Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. First off I love that it is about food. Who can knock a holiday that is about delicious food? Secondly I love the conversations about gratitude. There is a lot of data that says that an attitude of gratitude helps with depression and anxiety and an over all sense of well being. I can’t help but to be overwhelmed with thankfulness when I sit down to a table over flowing with food, with people I love, in a warm dry house, in a quiet little town where neighbors are kind. I have shelves of books and the ability to read them. I have a comfortable bed, a reliable van that carts around the people I care about, access to to good health care when I need it. I have a hard working husband who loves me selflessly, smart, healthy, children with endless possibilities in front of them, a career I love that lets me build relationships with amazing people while using my brain. On top of all of that I have 2 cuddly cats, and almost every kitchen appliance known to human kind. Can it possibly get any better? Every year at Thanksgiving I roll the inventory and ask that same question and unbelievably every year it does get better. Every year the list of amazing people and things that have entered my life grows.  To say I am grateful beyond measure doesn’t even begin to cover it. For all of this I certainly need a holiday to celebrate.

 

Caelun made this at school #1- yep he is his parents child.

Thanksgiving dinner at my parents new house. Dad still does most of the cooking. I make the turkey with stuffing since it is heavy for him to lift and I did a corn casserole per- request of my husband but at 85- almost 86 dad did the rest.

My mother at the table

Grandpa Bob getting the wild man seated.

Grandpa Bob and Cae Cae working off some of their dinner.

The cottage next door.

My friends and family that are on facebook have been following this adventure but much of my family and lots of my friends don’t use facebook so I feel a need to detail this here on the blog as well. We -meaning my parents and myself- bought a house 2 doors away from Clint and I. My folks currently reside at our family farm but the farm house isn’t really equipped for older folks and it is really out in the country. It is on 40 acres which already makes their neighbors quite distant and then several of the “near by” folks have moved and left their houses vacant really leaving my folks quite isolated. My dad just turned 85 at the end of December and my mother will be 75 in February and has some health issues. My dear husband got this idea when he saw several foreclosed houses in our neighborhood. I should probably preface this idea with a statement of good fortune for the amazing neighbors we have that make this seem like a good idea. We have the most FABULOUS neighbors. Clint calls it the “Fifth Street commune” but these folks are really like a second family. At any rate we saw this house 2 doors down come on the market and after some negotiating we bought it.  The house needed plumbing work and came with no appliances but we got it for less than the cost of 1 year of assisted living. We aren’t selling the family farm- we don’t intend to ever sell it. I make this statement to alleviate any concerns some folks may have. A friend’s 9 year old son was very concerned when he heard my folks were moving here- “But if Grandpa Bob moves to Cedar Springs who will take care of his tractor and where will we have our egg hunt at Easter?” No worries the farm is here to stay. Clint and I also hope to be able to more easily make improvements there when we and my folks have the ability to walk away and sleep in a non-work destructed house. Everyone who has done remodeling while trying to live in a house knows what I am talking about. I think my folks intend to go back and forth this is simply an alternative to assisted living as needed. At any rate let me give you a tour and let you know there will be LOTS of future posts as we make improvements and get it ready for them to move into. The house is a basic craftsman cottage from we believe the 1930’s but the deed is a bit fuzzy on the date. It has a mostly open floor plan with all of the required amenities- master bedroom, bathroom, laundry facilities on the main floor. The door ways are relatively wide and there is a garage. These were requirements when we were looking for a house. As a bonus we got 2 upstairs bedrooms, a good sized yard- for being in town- and a pole barn. Yes a pole barn- Clint can hardly contain himself. He has visions of he and my dad out there with lots of power tools all around them.The best part of this house is it’s proximity to ours. We can see each other out our windows. You will see what I mean when you take the virtual tour. Come on along- I would offer you some coffee or a snack but we don’t have a coffee maker yet- or a fridge for that mater.

The kitchen

  

 

The dining room.

 

A view from the dining room  to the living room and up the stairs.

A place for a stove in the dining room. Dad is thinking a wood stove.

From the dining room  out the kitchen.

The first bathroom. These pictures are from the day we signed the purchase agreement and the heat had just been turned on- which is why my helper is all bundled.

The second bathroom/laundry room that isn’t finished but we intend to finish it.

Laundry facility hook up.

Living room

Master bedroom

      

Heading up the stairs.

The front bedroom upstairs with cute eyebrow windows.

 

Knee walls with lots of storage.

The back bedroom upstairs with a knee wall and a great play nook. Caelun has it all planned out you can tell.

   

Back downstairs

 

The dining room again

 

Back to the kitchen.

The best part… look through the dinning room window… the red house..

  

…the red house is our house. The neighbors with the play place are friends and we have a gate between my folks and their yard.

 

Here here for the cottage next door!