chock full of nuts...

i saw a great movie, the bucket list, on sunday night. katherine and her friend, jason, had already seen it. "great" was the word they used to describe it. they were right. of course, it had to be... it had my favorite two actors of all time in it. nicholson and freeman!  i just couldn't believe katherine would think it was very good (she haaaaaaaaatttteeesss sad movies).  

from the previews and the title, i assumed i would see both jack nicholson's and morgan freeman's characters', "edward" and "carter", lives come to an end but not before seeing them do the things they'd always wanted to do but hadn't. the movie was an emotional roller-coaster... for me, anyway. i hadn't cried like that at the end of a movie since jenny died at the end of forest gump. however, i cried buckets (no pun intended) at the end of this one, 

which, by they way, did not end exactly the way i had expected!!!

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

thanksgiving consciousness...

thanksgiving:

i can jubilate when i find a lone, diet coke in the back of the refrigerator and thank GOD it is there hidden behind the last two nights' left-overs. other times i can be so thankful when at just the right time i remember to go pay my utilities, and, again, i thank GOD for reminding me. i'm one that pays close attention to the small things HE does in my life. it's weird and complacent, but the big things often pass by basically unnoticed.
katherine, oj, and i decided we were boycotting thanksgiving...  well, kind of,  is that sac-religious?  never mind,  DON'T ANSWER THAT!
i had no desire to cook; kat doesn't like the traditional food, and oj, kat, and i didn't feel like being social!!!  john was going to his aunt's where all his family had gathered since his dad died. most of mine is gone or no longer live in henderson:( 
"what will we three do?" was the question i asked myself. 
so, katherine came up with a plan: my brother would come over, we would go get thanksgiving buffet to go, come home, put on our pajamas, and eat in the family room while watching Christmas movies all afternoon. i thought it would be okay. i was actually hoping for better than just "okay".
i'm one of those people who if i cannot have it the way i want it, the way it used to be... i say scrap it; and do it differently. oj and katherine are the same. we 3? are bad, i know... "the way i like it, the way it used to be..." you may want to know? so, here goes:
i used to awake to the smells of mom baking pecan and pumpkin pies, and cherry cobbler.
i watched the macy's thanksgiving day parade,
donned a sweatshirt, jeans, and my favorite sneakers,
and (when mom was finished baking) went to my mamaw's house.
there, i helped mamaw toast the bread, break up the cornbread, chop the celery and onions for the stuffing, and taste it along the way until it was perfect, which it ALWAYS was!
further,  as mamaw rolled the dough for the dumplings,  i cut cut it, and i helped her debone the chicken for the dumplings and giblet gravy.
all while i took in the aromas of the baking turkey and candied yams and the fresh corn and green beans simmering on her stove-top. then when all was taken care of in the kitchen, i curled up on the couch next to mamaw and watched old movies  until everyone began arriving. mary ann, steve, neel, aunt shirley, uncle harry, and dad...
when everyone was finally there, we ate. we ate, and ate, and ate, and ate... until we were the stuffed turkeys.
then i went outside and played nerf football with steve and neel.  thanksgiving was a time for food, contentment,  tradition, and, most importantly, love.
this year was definitely different from the tradition i enjoyed.  i just hoped katherine would remember it as a gift for her as she was the one really wanting to stay home this year. she wanted rolls with honey butter and pecan pie while not having to get out of her pj's, movies, and cuddle time... that's exactly what she got! 
oj, on the other hand, ended up with stomach flu. so, it was just katherine and me... our weighed-out buffet thanksgiving dinner, pajamas, and it's a wonderful life.  i was thankful for the day, the company and the food...  oh, yeah and the last diet coke left in the frige;)

love and God's blessings, dani xxx