Happy Thanksgiving!

 We always have SO much to be thankful for, and yet it's unfortunately all too easy for us to complain. I think the verse I quote the most frequently in our house is one that is short but can be challenging to follow - "Do everything without arguing or complaining." For the past 8 months life hasn't exactly gone smoothly. When I reflect on 2020 it's easy to focus on everything that was cancelled rather than the blessings. I'm grateful that we have a day set aside to focus on giving thanks, but truly every single day of the year should be a "thanksgiving" day, even when we are in the midst of a pandemic and might not be very happy with the outcome of an election. Probably some people got together with the same people they always do on Thanksgiving even if that meant what is currently defined as too large of a gathering, and other families chose to just celebrate Thanksgiving with their immediate family due to the pandemic. Last Easter I think far more people just celebrated with those who live in their house, but this time around it seems like people aren't quite as willing to jump on board with the "safer at home" mandates. In my opinion the "mandates" are contradictory because on the one hand it says on the governor's website we should stay at home and on the other hand it says whenever you are with people you don't live with - whether outside or inside your home -wear masks even if you are staying at least 6 feet apart from each other. If we're technically not "allowed' to go into anyone else's house, why is their a "rule" about wearing a mask inside a home? In our case there were eight people gathered around our dining room table as Paul's dad, brother, and sister-in-law joined us. We didn't wear masks, but we each wore a personal air purifier and also had three air purifiers running in the kitchen, dining room, and half bathroom. Years ago the guest list also would have included Shawn, Brandi, and Great Gram. Great Gram has gone to Glory, Brandi lives in Florida, and Shawn doesn't join us very often even though he still lives with Al and Millie. Grandma would have loved to join us, but she's still in the hospital. 

Pop Pop joined us around 12:00, and Al and Millie came a couple of hours later. Pop Pop played chess with Ian, Spot it with Oliver, and Suspend and Blokus with Nadia, Ian, and myself. Al and Millie played Suspend with Nadia and Ian and Jenga with Nadia. Pop Pop also played the Wii with the kids. Because it was a holiday I let the kids play the Wii longer than usual and didn't require them to earn the privilege of using the Wii or watching tv. We watched part of the movie Swiss Family Robinson as a family after Pop Pop, Al, and Millie left. The kids had never seen the movie (or listened to the book). It was nice to have Paul at home all day with us. We listened to part of the book Small Steps today, which is about how a woman overcame polio in 1949. Paul hung a collage picture frame that Fed Ex had delivered earlier this week. It has one 8x10 opening and four 5x7 openings. He hung the frame in Nadia's room so that she can display five piece of her artwork in it. The kids like to see their artwork on display in our home. 

Black Friday shopping is different this year for some people, but it's not different for me because I've never been tempted to join hordes or people shopping in the middle of the night. I went to CVS this morning and bought 18 items (boxes of cereal, toothpaste, nail polish, Doritos, etc.) for a grand total of 74 cents total. I also bought some Nintendo Switch games online from Walmart as they had some that Ian wanted marked down 50%. He has a lot of Lego sets on his wish lists, but I just can't bring myself to buy him any big Lego sets this year because we already own what feels like five zillion Legos. So this year he'll be getting several Switch games from us for his birthday and Christmas instead of lots of Legos. If I do any other Black Friday shopping over the next few days, it will be online shopping. The last time I saw Maurice in person was on Black Friday two years ago. I felt very prone to crying today on several occasions because I really miss him, but I'm very grateful he didn't have to deal with COVID-19. The isolation would have been hard for him emotionally, and wearing a mask would have been a nightmare for him physically as he already had trouble breathing. I know he's in a much better place, but I miss him very much.