Monkey Wrench

I had a post all planned out for you today about being thankful for the days when there doesn't seem to be anything to be thankful for.  It all started yesterday when James messaged me to wish me a happy birthday.  We chatted for a bit, and I asked him if he'd sold the house.  I knew he'd put it on the market a while back, but I was hoping he would change his mind and decide to keep it.  He didn't.  The house sold, and he's planning on moving to Tennessee in the spring to be closer to his granddaughters and some of the great grandkids.    

That just put me in a funk, because that house has been the gathering place since my aunt and uncle built it back in the 1980s.  Even though logically I knew I wouldn't be spending a whole heck of a lot of time there anymore anyway, I still hated to see it go.  I felt like I was losing a part of my youth.  So much of my childhood is gone...my grandparents' houses, my aunt's house in town, the schools I went to...

But there is always, always, always something to be thankful for, and your Thanksvember Twelfth was going to be a post about how the houses may be sold or even torn down, but the memories remain, and no one can take those away from me.   

Then, someone threw a monkey wrench into my plans.  I mean, Thanksvember Twelfth is still the same, but the post is going to be different because I got home this afternoon to find a card in my mailbox!  

It was a birthday card from my friend Kristine.  And accompanying the card was a package, and in that package was....

petit fours!  I have always wanted to try them ever since I was a kid and would see them in the Swiss Colony and Hickory Farms catalogues, but never have.  Several months ago, I mentioned it to Kristine in a casual conversation about how fascinated I'd been with them as a kid, and she remembered.  

Technically, I don't think these are actually petit fours, but I don't care.  They're close enough, and better yet, I HAVE BIRTHDAY CAKE!  

That brings us to Thanksvember Thirteenth:  Kristine told me that she'd intended to send them to me a while ago, but things went haywire with the sending.  Her words.  I don't think they went haywire at all.  I think God knew and arranged for them to arrive just when I would need them the most -- not the cakes, but the blessing of having a friend who not only remembered, but cared enough to send me a gift.  A friend like that is the best gift of all. 

In other, nonn -thanksvembery news -- my silver and blue wax beads arrived today, 

Now, I can finish making my wax seals and get my Christmas cards done.  But I'll talk more about that later. 

Two other things I ordered also arrived today.  My new Chosen calendar,

and my blended harmony of the Gospels book. 

The website description says:  Enter this new “harmony” of the gospel accounts: you’ll see the factual accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in one chronological story blended together. It will help you dig deeper to see how the different perspectives fit together into one amazing picture of Jesus.

And finally, for your bonus thanksvember, Cody had a tooth break this morning.  That's not something to be thankful for.  The thanksvember part is that he was able to find a dentist who could fit him in today.  He has now had his first root canal, and is sporting a temporary crown.  

That's about all I have for today.  I think I'm going to go take a quick shower, then knit for a bit. 

Laters.