In continuing my Thankful posts… today I’m thankful for Rainbows. My Nana passed away on August 8, 2008. 8-8-8… wasn’t a good day for me. My Nana was someone in my life who I loved so deeply and so very much, that even now… 3 years later, it still really hurts.  My heart actually aches as I write this. I [...]

This morning, I began thumbing through my recipe books for my Thanksgiving feast ideas… and taking inventory of my Thanksgiving feast table and cooking stuff. I have beautiful gold table runners, all kinds of large serving bowls, platters and serving utensils, gravy boats, special holiday flatware and S & P shakers, humungous pots & pans, a roasting pan… And my [...]

Of all the words strung together in one magnificent sentence… breathing life into a memory… it is this gift of words:  “The heat of the stove felt warm on my skin.” These words are part of a little essay assignment that my granddaughter Taylor wrote about last Thanksgiving.  Taylor gave me the essay as she came into our kitchen this [...]

I shopped all day yesterday. I mean… ALL. DAY. I was one of those people at Toys R Us at 9PM on Thanksgiving night waiting for the store to open at 10PM for their doorbusters and I love every single second of it!  I tweeted that I was there and everyone kept replying back, “What can be that good?”  LOL… [...]

Every Thanksgiving we head to Pittsburgh to visit my in-laws.  It’s our family tradition and the kids love it! The only tough thing about going to Pittsburgh is getting there.  It’s a 10-hour drive from Rhode Island.  We drive every year because with 4 boys during the Holiday, we do not want to even attempt busy airports.  That would not [...]

How to Dress for Thanksgiving… oh, yes… there’s a technique (at least for me). I spend Thanksgiving every year at my in-laws house in Pittsburgh, PA. My mother-in-law spends weeks preparing for this feast. Yes… weeks. She plans her menu. She plans her shopping trips to the grocery store. She makes sure every single person at the table has something [...]

Today, as I was organizing and straightening and cleaning for my Thanksgiving company, I was thinking of my mother-in-law, Flo. Flo LOVED the holidays. She LOVED to entertain. She LOVED to cook and bake and plan a special treat for each person… my Thanksgiving treat was always homemade mince pie. Flo always remembered if someone enjoyed a special menu item. [...]

Ford Motor Company let me take a brand spanking new Ford FLEX on a round-trip Thanksgiving vacation Road Trip from Rhode Island to Pittsburgh.  10 hours.  550 miles.  And 4 boys.  Oh… and let me throw into the mix head colds for all of us.  Oh, yes. And you want to know something?  The FLEX handled it all.  A 6’2″ [...]

This is how we spent Thanksgiving night… Benjamin cried for 12 hours straight. We brought him to the ER near my in-laws – to be told he has (and I quote) “Two double flaming ear infections!” Two ear infections. Poor little guy. So we spent Thanksgiving night trying to amuse our little Benjamin while he was so sad… 12 hours [...]

This is a Thanksgiving post. Can’t you tell from its title? It is. And I write it with great love for all women with crappy fingernails. You have finished cleaning your home. Laundered your tablecloths and napkins. Dug out your roasting pan and rack and baster. Your nails have taken a beating. You have been to the market. Picked up [...]