What I'm Thankful For

I just love this time of year, which leads to my favortie favorite time of year, Christmas. But lets not go there yet. That is for another day. Today I am just going to be thankful and celebrate what I have. I am thankful for my family, my friends, my sweet Kyle, and of course my furry ones! I love Thanksgiving. Gathering with the family and grubbing on the most delish food. It's the one time of year where being a glutten is almost mandatory. Be blame it on the tryptophan in the Turkey, but we all know we ate way too much. How can we not though. It's a tradition and some traditions are meant to last forever. Which brings me to another reason I love Thanksgiving. The tradition to putting on the apron and being in the kitchen all day with my Mom really gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. While I have started to take a gourmet approach to some of our traditional dishes, I still feel so happy and feel close to our Grandmas that are no longer with us. I am thankful for the memories shared with them in the Kitchen and am thankful I have my Mom here to create new memories with each Thanksgiving.

halloween

As a young girl I always remember Halloween being so much fun. For me it is not a celebration of anything. It is merely a time to dress up, hang out with friends, and bring out the inner kid in you. I’m notorious for being a cat, so to no surprise I was a kitty cat again! Kyle was Brian Griffen from family guy! Kind of appropriate. A Doggie and and Kitty. The best part of Halloween this year was by far answering the door to all the cute kids in the neighborhood! Reminds me of my youth and how much fun it was to dress up and fill up a bag full of candy. Of course there came a point where we just left the candy outside and yep, within 10 minutes the bowl was empty! Some things never change!

Daddy's Retirement

I haven't been on here in a while. So much has been going on to keep me busy. I'm in school and I bought my first home! so happy and so busy. I do have a big milestone our family is celebrating this weekend. My Daddy is retiring after all these years of dedication to his career at GSK. He started at Burroughs Wellcome and is finishing up at Glaxo Smith Kline. I am hosting his retirement party at my new house on Friday. When thinking about what I will say for a toast I thought about famous quotes and I came across this poem written for Lou Gehrig's retirement. I just love the words and there is so much connection to it. My Dad has been a leader throughout his career and anyone that knows us knows we are huge Yankee fans. I remember in 2008 when our family went to NYC to see a Yankee game. The billboard read... 11 games left in the old Yankee stadium. Our family was there to see Jeter and all the Yanks play ball for their last year in the house that Ruth built. Of course we were walking up the streets by the stadium looking for souvenirs to buy and while I am the typical Jeter fan my Dad bought a Gehrig shirt. My Dad has such a respect and love for the history of the game and those that made it what it is today. So with our family memories of Yankee Stadium and the words of leadership in this poem, I just knew this was perfect for me to share at my Dad's retirement party. My Daddy is a leader and while he is retiring from being a leader at Glaxo, he will remain a leader to me in my life!

Yankees had asked Times writer John Kieran to pen a tribute:
"We've been to the wars together,
We took our foes as they came;
And always you were the leader,
And ever you played the game.
Idol of cheering millions;
Records are yours by sheaves;
Iron of frame they hailed you,
Decked you with laurel leaves.
But higher than that we hold you,
We who have known you best;
Knowing the way you came through
Every human test.
Let this be a silent token
Of lasting friendship's gleam
And all that we've left unspoken.
- Your Pals on the Yankee Team"