Sunday Salon: The Thanks Without the Cooking

Hi there!  Have you come out the other side of this holiday unscathed?  I have for sure.  I do see all the posts about the family gathering to cook meals together and such, and worry that I have deprived my kids of this tradition this year.  But I'm not sure they care.  My daughter cringes at anything that was once breathing and is now on our plate.  My son will not allow any form of a potato pass his lips.  So we used a gift certificate for the Marriott World, escaped to a place that felt like vacation, and ate our big dinner out at a restaurant.  See my Un-Thanksgiving post here.

I'm not sure what happened before we got to the resort though.  A run or two?  Some Andre time?  Oh yeah, I took the kids to a corn maze!  Whatever.  Our eyes were on the goal, and that goal was escaping reality for several days.  The way we did this, beyond going to a hotel and eating out every meal, was to see movies.  Holy cow, the movies out these days!  So many to choose from.  So I picked my top three, convinced my family that they needed to see them too, and we went for it.  On Wednesday night, we all saw "Skyfall", being the Bond lovers that we are.  On Thursday, after our Thanksgiving meal, my hubby and I saw "Life of Pi" and the kids saw the last "Twilight".  (My son wasn't pleased, but has to do these things to keep the peace with his sister.)  On Friday, we were determined to see "Lincoln".  We actually had to go to three theaters to find one NOT SOLD OUT.  At 3:00pm in the afternoon.  But we did find one.  All three movies are worthy of the effort.  I have labored to write all three of them up for you over the next three Mondays.

We are drawing near the end of kids' sports for a little while.  My daughter is going to run a Half Marathon next Saturday with her track coach, and should have no trouble.  Oh, to be 14.  She ran 10 yesterday and wasn't even tired.  My son has one more track meet next Saturday, and has been doing much better than last year, thanks to Andre.  After that, we will have some time to get back to basics with Andre-training before my daughter's track season and my son's volleyball season.  Oy.  But I've learned that keeping them active is the key to many issues.

After months of whining about my lack of time for reading and writing reviews, I've come up with a plan.  I'm going to take Friday's off in December, as well as Christmas week.  This should give me time to catch up.  I'm always nutty-busy in December and so is everyone else, so I don't think it should matter.

So, reading.  I've been really dragging my way through "The Light Between Oceans" in print for my book club, which meets next Wednesday.  I doubt I will have it finished in time, but am enjoying it nevertheless.  On audio, I've been listening to Linda Castillo's "Gone Missing" (the Kate Burkholder Amish crime series) and should be through it soon.  Did you know that Neve Campbell will be playing Kate Burkholder in a two-hour TV special production of "Sworn to Silence", the first in the series?  

I've been so taken with the movie trailers of "Les Miserables".  I get all emotional and weepy every time I see it.  I've seen the stage play in London, which blew me away, but have never read the book.  Should I?  I know some of my blogging buddies have.  Please weigh in.  I realize this would be a project of sorts.  I'm just so tempted.  

So today I have committed to taking my daughter holiday shopping AGAIN (we dabbled yesterday and it was chaotic and awful) but whatever makes her happy.  I will go for a run this morning once it gets out of the 40's.  And I will get my head around another busy week, in which starts with some repairs to my car, continues with a banquet for my daughters Cross Country season, a haircut, and ending with a few days in NYC.

Before I sign off (I know this is a long one, I SO apologize, really), I just want to pay homage to a woman who has been a part of my family since the mid-1980's.  A woman who has been a stand-in grandmother to me and a great-grandmother to my kids.  She died the day before Thanksgiving at the age of 97.  She was a fighter, a cancer-survivor, and someone who never let any moss grow under her feet.  Honestly?  We all thought she would live forever.  Up until just a year or so ago, she lived on her own, drove a smoking-hot red Cadillac sports car, and loved to pull in a Big Mouth Bass now and again.  While I am at peace with the idea that her body just ran out of steam the last few months, her presence in our lives will be missed.  May she rest peacefully today in God's loving arms.