1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?
As I live on the opposite side of the world to the rest of my family I always feel torn at Christmas time as we can't all be together. One of my Christmas traditions now is that I ring mum on Christmas Eve here as it's Christmas morning in Australia, and mum rings me on Christmas morning, Christmas evening there.
Another tradition is that I always make mum's Christmas pudding which is boiled in a cloth for four hours - the kitchen ends up feeling like a sauna. Ken does the main course and I'm in charge of puddings. Now that we're living in Scotland we spend Christmas with Ken's sister and family and Ken's brother - it's lovely.
Our Christmas tree is full of tradition and I wrote about it in a previous post, Christmas is coming very soon.
2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?
I hate admitting that I need help but as I've grown older I've gotten better at asking for help. I regularly tell people I'm supporting that they need to accept help when it's offered so I really should take my own advice.
3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?
Lots of our beach combing treasures which we keep adding too - they're all over the house but this is the feature in the kitchen.
4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?
The smallest........
Our beautiful Princess Cookie Cat who is 13 years old (14 on Feb 1st). We got Cookie and her sister Muffin Monster as eight week old kittens and since Muffin died Cookie has become even more precious to me. She's very vocal when she wants something, if she has a furball she can't just throw up once, she throws up three times, and she barely tolerates her canine sister Bramble.
The biggest......
My wonderful life with this man. In December we will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary and I still have to pinch myself regularly because I feel so blessed and so lucky to have my beloved by my side every day.
5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?
The key to a more grateful life is to practice gratitude on a daily basis. Whether you write it down or just make sure you sit down and reflect on what you have to be grateful for, it really does make a difference to your life.
6. State your own random thought here.
I wish everyone in North America a very happy and thankful Thanksgiving tomorrow, November 23rd. For the rest of the world, I hope you all have lots of things to be thankful for in the coming days.
Until next time, be good, stay safe, and practice lots of gratitude this week.
Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Princess Cookie Cat is a beautiful girl.
ReplyDeleteYou have a husband like I do. We are both very lucky girls.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving. ☺
Thank you. We really are lucky to have wonderful husbands.
DeleteBeautiful wedding photo. Nice to learn more about you.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteA lovely post and thanks for the well wishes. Our family had a wonderful and very fulfilling day, i.e. We ate too much! LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise, I'm glad you had a good thanksgiving.
DeleteHello Pamela, I enjoyed reading your Hodgepodge. That's sweet how you exchange greetings with your mom across the time zones. How good to keep certain traditions going to make Christmas special. It really is a blessing to have a good husband. Congratulations on 18 years!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellen, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for your well wishes.
DeleteI like your Christmas phone call traditions. It is hard to be away from family at the holidays especially. My oldest daughter is on the west coast and we're on the east coast which makes me so grateful for technology!
ReplyDelete