I love November. It’s the month when I met my husband, when we got married, and it has one of my favorite holidays.
The other side of the November-coin is it brings colder weather, more hours of darkness than light, the end of daylight saving time – which somehow feels like losing two hours of sleep instead of gaining an hour, now that I have children.
It also brings my yearly practice to be thankful for something from my day and express that gratitude in writing.
I’ll be updating this post all month. At the end of the month, I love getting to look back on an entire month of good things all in one place!
So without further ado:
Day 1
I am thankful for a long walk through my neighborhood, with my kids, this morning. We picked up trash and dropped candy from last nights truck-or-treaters and had a good time in the crisp morning air. I’m also enjoying the fact that, with Halloween over, the scary decorations will be coming down soon!
Day 2
I am thankful for cooking with my husband today. We made lasagna (and decided that for us it ends with an “a” and not an “e”) and enjoyed each other’s company. Jeff and the girls loved it and I made myself a me-compliant noodle bake with the remaining sauce. My little guy ate buttered noodles and we all had a peaceful yummy dinner. I want to remember that Italian comfort food makes Jeff happy.
Day 3
This morning while my girls were playing a version of “family” they called each other in their phones (their fingers). At the end of their conversation, my middle child, who was playing the “mom”, said “I love you!” and the “daughter”, my oldest, returned with “I love you, too!”
Even in this rough patch of my children being unkind toward each other, I am thankful that they really do love each other, even if they are playing characters in order to say it.
Special Interlude: Why I am not a recipe blogger.
I love a good recipe blog. I use them for nearly anything that needs a recipe.
But as I’ve gotten older and more comfortable experimenting with food, I’ve come to rely on instinct more and written recipes less.
Sometimes, this doesn’t turn out like when everything tasted the same amount of under-seasoned for a month, or when everything with beef tasted the same because I kept using bay leaves. Or when I made granola with all molasses and the milk turned a murky brown and every bowl was very sulfury.
Yup. That’s me.
But then other times it turns out great! Like my chicken soup that is so yummy, the bone broth I make, the frosting I use on cakes, or the muffins I made yesterday!
My mom always tells to me write down what I did in case it turns out delicious!
Well, here’s what I did, written down:
Preheat the oven to 375°F because that sounds right.
Spray 18 muffins worth of muffin tins. Because that’s all I like to use. Also, 2 ovenproof ramekins later because there’s extra batter.
Pour the remains of a can of pumpkin from the fridge and the last of the applesauce (even though it let off pressure when you opened it) into a large bowl. Add 4 glugs of almond milk and 3 glugs of oil. Put in two handfuls of flax meal and a not-too-much of apple cider vinegar. Whisk together and set aside.
For the dry ingredients, empty half of the opened bag of gluten-free flour and about half that of almond flour into another large bowl. (The key is to get as many dishes dirty as possible.) Using your hand, measure what looks right of baking powder, baking soda, and enough salt to add flavor, but not turn it savory. Squeeze in a generous amount of cinnamon from the plastic shaker from Costco and add enough granulated fake-sugar sweetener to make it not taste like sad bread. Mix it together with a fork because the whisk is already stuck into the wet ingredients.
Whisk the two parts together for 3 seconds before determining that a spatula would be a better tool choice. Mix it until there are no remaining dry ingredients. Decide to add walnuts, but not cranberries.
Find the bag of walnuts in the pantry and chop them all. Fold them into the batter with the dust at the bottom of the bag. Eat some batter. If you want to eat more, that means you’ve gotten the recipe right. Go ahead and eat some more batter.
Scoop the muffins and add them to the oven as you fill the tins. Add the rest of the batter to the ramekins noting that next time each muffin either needs more batter, or you could eat more batter next time.
Bake the muffins until they are no longer liquid. They won’t raise much, but you’ll still call it a success after your previous week’s gluten-free-vegan-yeast-bread-fail-that-you-ate-all-of-it-because-you-made-it-and-food-is-expensive-and-you’re-not-picky didn’t turn out as you had hoped.
Let the muffins cool for 83 seconds and then eat one with your mouth open because it burns but you just want to eat it now!
Now you have muffins. And because you love baked goods, these 20 muffiny things will last approximately 2 days before you need to bake another experiment to snack on again.
And that, my friends, is why I am not a recipe blogger!
Now back to your regular scheduled programming.
Day 4:
I am thankful for puddle walks with my kids when school is not going well, and that I didn’t eat all of my muffins so I still have more to eat tomorrow!
Day 5:
I ate the rest of the muffins.
I am thankful to have gotten to bake with my good friend, Hannah (who actually may be reading this right now: “Hannah, I think you’re an amazing mom and a good friend. I am privileged and blessed to get to share life with you!” ❤️). I haven’t baked with friends in a long time and I’m reminded that I love getting to share preparing food with people.
I am thankful that my kids were tired! The time change hasn’t rocked us so much this year as in previous ones. I believe that is due in part to looking at my kids and not my clocks. When their faces say “bedtime” it doesn’t matter what the clock says: it’s time to get them to bed. I’m thankful to listen to that instinct this time around.
Day 6:
I am thankful for choir. My previous post was written before the semester started, and while I do love the administration/facilitation side, I am so blessed by the moms that are brought together by choir.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to make any friends this semester. I have made 1-2 good friends in the two years since joining and thought that this pool of people was just not where my people were.
But I am so happy I was wrong!
I have made a number of acquaintances and started some good, sweet friendships, since the beginning of the semester. These women are encouraging, wise, and tough moms and I am privileged to know them. My children look forward to Thursdays because they get to see their newly made friends, too! One of the best parts is that their new friends are my new friend’s children! I just love it!
Day 7:
I am thankful that Jeff fixed my big vacuum. It was oh-so-very-clogged and I had no idea that you could take apart the pieces he took apart to fix it!
I got to spend my itched-for amount of time cleaning today and our house got reset in all of our living spaces. Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living, and dining rooms are all cleaned and calm.
I’m so thankful to have my house be tidy again and I’m amazed at what came out of my carpets when I vacuumed!
Day 8:
I saw my old boss today. I hadn’t seen her in 7+ years. She looks the same, and so does her daughter. We got to spend a few minutes chatting outside of Target while my kids played in the empty circle and on the red cement ball. It was actually really nice to see her and she had kind words and sentiments for me and my children.
I’m thankful for an awkward parking job that I tried to fix, for not shopping until the time of day when I am usually home by, and for getting to bump into an old friend who has also moved on from our common stomping ground in the bakery that I would have missed had we walked in a single minute earlier.
Day 9:
Today, and every day, I am thankful for my husband and our marriage.
Today marks 12 years of Jeff and I being married. While we have had a vast variety of life seasons over these years, I couldn’t have planned out a better life for us or our family.
I love you, Jeff!
I still feel giddy when I’m with him!
Day 10:
I am thankful for the small things today. Clean hair, another day home schooling my kids, short lines and good samples at Costco, and that sliced pork belly done in 4 hours turns out just as good as a whole slab with overnight prep, when it is put into a bowl of ramen.
Today was nothing spectacular, but it still had beauty.
Day 11:
I am thankful that my kids have neighborhood friends and they don’t miss me when they go over to play! I had a meeting today and my kids basically left me in a could of dust when I told them they could finally go be watched by our neighbor. They have a 2-year-strong playing vibe that I really love and am so thankful for.
I am also so thankful that my sister let me have her last family invitation to Microsoft Word! I know it sounds silly and nerdy, but I am seriously so happy to get to use Word again since my own subscription lapsed a few years ago. I love using so many functions that drive other people crazy, especially Show/Hide – it’s my favorite! It looks so cluttered, but keeps my mind so organized when I can see every space, tab, and break. It is soothing for me. (Yes, I know, you don’t have to say it: I am a nerd and I love that about me!)
Day 12:
I am thankful for my kids’ imaginations. We went to the park and the playground was empty. It was a firehouse and engine, a restaurant, a gym, and they played by themselves for over an hour.
Another kid showed up as my kids were starting to wilt and whine, so they got reenergized and didn’t want to leave. they played from sunny afternoon time to the sun heading down behind the mountains. All without toys, snacks, or swings, and they had a great time being creative kids together.
Day 13:
Today was long and somehow emotionally very heavy. Holding expectations and fears, joy and tiredness, unintentional miscommunications and new, hard information as well as getting the nerve to start what could be a confrontational conversation really has made for a heavy day.
But here’s what I’m thankful for: I’m thankful that my kids are old enough to not get in danger while I take a shower. I’m thankful for deepening friendships and new connections. I’m thankful that fresh banana bread smells so good, even when I can’t eat it. And I’m thankful for tacos and stretchy pants at the end of this long, lots-of-feelings day.
Sometimes, a day is the shadows on the painting. Without these darker heavier days, the light ones wouldn’t feel as good as they do!
Days 14:
I am thankful for time with my family. We’ve gotten to get out on family dates a couple of times, and we all really needed to just spend the time together.
Day 15:
I am thankful for a Sabbath. I know we are called to have a weekly day of rest. I also know that the devil tries to get us to forget this commandment. I am thankful for a today to remind me that it’s important and restful for my soul to have a day to slow down and have a day without producing all day long.
Day 16:
I am thankful for lots of groceries AND a plan for them! I’m hopeful to cook and eat with my family this week and get back into a good family food flow.
Day 17:
I’m thankful that my little boy loves to dance with me! I threw on some favorite kids music – DannyGo! in case you’re curious – and we had a great dance party in the living room while the girls played with magna-tiles. Not much beats a Monday morning dance party!!
Day 18:
I am thankful that my mom was my choir administrator, growing up. It has made my job much easier knowing all of the work that goes into a well-run choir because I learned it in the same breath as learning to cook, read music, and drive. It is a natural thing for me because it was nurtured into my roots 20 years ago, it just took until now to get to grow!
Day 19:
I am thankful for stillness and prayer. I know meditation is a buzzy topic these days. When it comes from a worldly source, I cringe. But when it comes from God it brings me peace.
I’m reminded of Psalm 1, where the man meditates on God’s law, day and night. Meditating and having stillness to hear God’s voice. In the morning. In the late night hours. I’ve gotten to do both and it has opened my heart to my next steps and where I need to walk in faith, without a human plan, trusting that God knows what He’s doing. It is my job to sit with Him and take those steps when He says “go”.
~
I am thankful for staying home today. I got to give my house attention, make a yummy dinner, do some choir concert planning, and I had no deadlines or schedules to keep but my own. It was nice to not be on any timeline but my own.
Day 20:
I am thankful for kid’s story podcasts. We had a long day with lots of choir stuff (6 hours, including a morning meeting and subsequent office work, then extra time at rehearsal from auditioning special pieces) and it was a bit heavy of a load of abnormal scheduling.
When we got home, tensions were high from being on our best behavior for so long. So instead of yelling at the kids as they fight out their pent-up feelings, I turned on a story podcast.
The kids stopped escalating and pulled out coloring pages to do while the story played. I ate a bowl of soup because my brain and body needed food. My little guy ate leftover chocolate chip pancakes from this morning, got himself water, and played with Christmas blow-up decorations in the living room to unwind.
I am thankful for the simplicity of unwinding after a long day away from home.
Day 21:
I am thankful for prayer. I’ve been using my prayer journal every day this last month and it’s amazing to look back and see answered prayers even in this short amount of time. I am so thankful for my God who hears me!
Day 22:
I am thankful for a beautiful day to watch my first football game!! Record numbers of people in the stadium and quite the load of sound. Even though we lost, it was a good game to go to and fun to be in the stands!
Day 23:
I am thankful to do the laundry today.
Life has been busy with schooling the kids, managing choir, and swimming lessons in 3 slots each week. I’ve been treading water in regard to housework and it’s been tough not having anything finished, ever.
But today, because my kids woke up with a mild cold, we stayed home from everything. I watched church on the couch and let the kids watch cartoons this afternoon, so I know our screen time was quite high for the day, but sometimes sick days warrant that.
I got to listen to a neglected podcast for a very long time and I got the laundry completely under control. This morning my laundry baskets were full of last week’s clean clothes, while needing to be filled with this week’s dirty ones. Now they’re all empty and it feels so good heading into a different kind of busy week!
Day 24:
I am thankful for the wonder on my kid’s faces from when snowflakes fell today. They LOVE snow and especially enjoy eating it. Since there wasn’t any accumulation, they walked around with their mouths open to the sky. It was a perfect picture of childhood and I’m glad I got to witness it.
Day 25:
I am thankful for spaces for the kids to run around. Even when it’s the empty space in the Costco atrium.
Day 26:
I am thankful for the first real snow! We woke up to 2” of snow on the ground. It was perfect for making snowballs. Abigail made a snowman. Emma filled a bowl 18” above its rim and sculpted it into a unicorn horn. Andrew went out and kicked it into the street in his crocs. And they all brought in bowls of it to have our favorite tradition: snow(cone)-lemonade.
The morning was filled with food and travel preparations, but my kids morning had magic and fun from such lovely snow.
Day 27:
I am thankful for my kids sleeping in until 6:15 while in an earlier time zone.
Day 28:
I am that I got to bake with my sister! Even though we can’t eat any of what we made, it was fun to bake French macarons for the first (successful) time!
Day 29:
I am happy to be home. We had a great trip to see my sister and brother-in-law, but even the dog woke up cranky this morning, so I’m glad we came home. (It would have been the fourth day out of routine anyway, which is always the worst day of being out of routine and makes me question whether doing new things is even worth it or not! But I digress!)
I am thankful that I’ve laid down the expectations for school and screen time. I’m glad that my kids played with blankets and chairs to make a settlement and be hunter-gatherers in their joint imagination. I’m thankful that they play so well together without a single toy involved and it gives me hope for their lives to be creative and different than anyone else because God made them each a whole unique human being.
I am thankful that the suitcases are unpacked and the kitchen is clean.
I am thankful to be home.
Day 30:
In a perfect world, the last day would be the most thankful day! But this is my real world and today is hard. Hormones and sugar withdrawal are wreaking havoc on my mood and behavior. And I’m having a hard time.
I am thankful for new mercies each day. I’m thankful that tomorrow is allowed to be better than today and that I don’t have to continue on in my poor mood any longer.