Days of Blur

On my 23rd day of gratitude I was thankful for the busyness with my family. Boy am I tired! Now 5 days later and I am behind on my posting for each day…where does the time go…?
Day 24-27 I was busy counting my blessings and trying to shove a ton of things into a few hours. Did I fail at doing the 30 days of gratitude…?  No,  I just got caught up in life…with my family…so important too.

So to recap the last few days…it went something like this:

Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving~ we had my parents and niece over for a Low Country Shrimp Boil. For those of you who do not know what this is…It is awesome and involves some yummy shrimp! We had a sort-of Cajun Thanksgiving feast… outside on a beautiful day.

It’s a really simple shrimp boil with all the trimmings cooked in the same pot. Holly brought the shrimp fresh, straight from the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. Cooked along with the shrimp, were potatoes, sausage, corn on the cob, mushrooms, garlic, onions, lemons, spices and we even added raw peanuts. Once done we spread this whole concoction down the center of my picnic table…no plates, no forks…just lots of napkins. Yum~YuM~YumO! Clean up is easy and no dishes to wash….well almost. We also cooked some Portobello Mushroom Fries, hush puppies, and fried okra! That we had to clean up! Psst…the mushroom fries were to die for; thanks to the Neely’s recipe.
If you would like to try a Low Country Boil, visit Skip To My Lou for the step-by-step instructions.
Now do you believe we actually had dessert after that feast…yes we did! Let’s not even go there!

Richard and Holly

Thursday Thanksgiving Day~ the big bird was prepped Wednesday night, ready for the Big Easy* Thursday morning! Other items were readied to take to Nannie’s~ my husband’s mother. Most all of Jackie’s family was there, plus a lot of food! And yet again we pigged out and were stuffed…with more desserts too! The guys went hunting after a while and Holly and I made it home later that evening for a rest before hitting the shopping! Black Friday began at 12:01 am Friday! We set out at 11:30 pm Thursday…starting with Wal-Mart and Old Navy with only one purchase. We then waited for Kohl’s to open at 3:00am. Now this is where I found some good deals plus we had an additional percentage off the total purchase coupon! Love it! After the sun managed to come up through the light rain…we ate some breakfast at IHOP and boy was it hopping! I have never had to wait for a table at IHOP! Haha…so funny! After more shopping we finally made it back home at 10:30 Friday morning…no sleep since Wednesday night! Man-O-man! Can you say nap-time!!?? I don’t remember much after that………………except a big blur………

Friday-Black Friday~ see above, as these 2 days run together. More napping, Christmas movies, Oh and the much awaited famous football game between Alabama and Auburn, our state's two rivals, with undefeated Auburn taking the win 28-27! War Eagle and Roll Tide! I support them both.

Saturday~ we rose early for a trip to Panama City Florida to take Holly and Richard to the airport for their flight to Las Vegas to have an early Christmas with his sister and their whole family. Richard’s sister is in the Air Force and is being deployed the first part of December for Afghanistan with a medical team. We left home in time for them to be at the airport a good hour before flight time…only to arrive at the airport and it was closed down…yes closed-shut completely down. It looked like a ghost town! Not a soul in sight. It was the old airport…unbeknown to us, they had built another one on the other side of Panama City Beach… Have you ever done 80 mph in a 45 zone? Not a good idea! A reckless driving ticket kept coming to mind as we maneuvered through the traffic with Holly on the phone with her FIL as he tracked us all the way to the airport…mile by mile, road by road. We literally threw them out at the terminal door with their luggage and quick hugs with only 20 minutes until flight time… We left, but we did not go far. We pulled over on the exit and waited for the phone call and watched the plane taxi down the runway and take off with our children high in the sky! They made it! But their luggage was considered checked in late and they were told they may not get it until the next day! They connected in Houston TX and flew on to Las Vegas with no problems…luggage and all! Thank you Lord for being the pilot and using angel wings.

Jackie and I went for a ride to the beach, just a short distance down the road. It was a beautiful crisp cool day. We parked and took a walk on the beach…funny; I had never worn tennis shoes on the beach before!

After our walk we rode the “strip” as it has always been referred to, recalling many memories from high schools days and trips to the beach. Oh my! The motel where we always stayed was no longer there, a victim of a hurricane. But the old Goofy Golf and its animal structures were still in tact. It was a wonderful trip down that path through our memories. We had some lunch at Sharky’s, a blackened grouper sandwich and a shark attack platter!
Then home…Nap time again while attempting to watch another Christmas movie…another blurrrr.

Sunday~Today…all is well. I now know why God rested on the seventh day from all his work. Today is a day for praising, worshipping, and also for resting! Thank you! Now I just wish my Christmas decorations and tree would jump out and put themselves up! I also have to figure out how to keep some kitties from climbing that tree…hummmmmmmmm.

So for today this 28th day of 30 days of gratitude I am thankful for rest!

I hope every one of you had a beautiful and blessed

Thanksgiving with all the trimmings including lots of love.

*A Big Easy is an oil-less cooker that roasts with inferred heat.