Hello and welcome to Small Business Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 30th, i.e. the LAST DAY OF NOVEMBER. You know what that means?
December.
Only one month left before we close out 2019 and look ahead to the new year full of (re)new(ed) promises and optimistic beginnings.
What do you want to make sure gets crossed off your 2019 bucket list before the year is done?
Earlier this week, Facebook reminded me that for Thanksgiving 2007, our family skipped out on the turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberries and headed to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan's U.P. It was a reconnaissance mission, spurred on by my husband who wanted to a) check out the downhill skiing outfits on Lake Superior's south shore and b) see some "mountains."
Unsurprisingly, we were the only folks on the slopes that weekend. With no snow and no customers, we were free to roam wherever we wished. The views were spectacular. We stayed at the Anderson Motel in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Our favorite Thanksgiving tradition is skipping out on Thanksgiving. Not because we're not thankful - giving thanks is the first thing I do in our daily nighttime prayers. My husband's annual observation of the holiday's, um...historical slant, may have been an influencing factor. But mostly, we skip out on Thanksgiving because we love having adventures. I'm a fan of spontaneity and one of the greatest thrills for this kind of junkie is skipping out on any regularly scheduled programming to go do something else. Bonus points if it's something fun in another state.
One year, we went to Chicago. We only had two kids at the time. We found a cheap hotel on Hotwire near the O'Hare airport (we drove from MN) and took the train into the city to explore. During that trip, we also visited our dear American friends, the Fultz family, who'd been missionaries in Czech Republic when we lived in Brno. Joe and I took Czech language classes together at Masarykova University and his wife, Donna, a nurse, spent December 28th with me, eating cookies and holding my hand as my body waxed and waned through the first contractions of labor with our first child until hubby came home from work and could take me to the hospital.
When Kid #5 was a wee babe carried around in the sling, kids and I decide to #optout and explore Franz Jevne Park.
Facebook reminded me of another Thanksgiving "skip day," this one to our friend's house in the Twin Cities. Marty knew that the greatest gift he could give me was pizza, movies and a free day from the kitchen. This trek south became its own tradition over the years. We miss him as we work through our series of "firsts" without our dear friend, who passed away unexpectedly in May.
So, what did this year's Thanksgiving look like?
With hubby off to the Czech Republic for the holiday, I visualized a Thanksgiving of pizza and binge-watching movies. Here's what happened:
Two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Kids #4 & #5 begged me to buy a pie pumpkin. I complied. With that baking pumpkin sitting on the counter, I thought, "Hmmm, wouldn't it be nice to bake a couple pumpkin pies before hubby leaves for CZ?"
Monday, I baked the pumpkin. Tuesday, I pureed the pumpkin and made two pies. Tuesday night we ate some pie. Wednesday morning, I packed some pie for the road.
Thursday morning, as I lingered in my bed, happy to not have to go anywhere, happy to sleep in, it occurred to me that, if I did nothing but binge watch movies all day, so would the children. The image of my children staring with zombies eyes at the television proved bothersome, so I roused myself from the bed and made a fabulous breakfast of brats and scrambled eggs with all kinds of vegetable goodness.
I made cider.
(Recipe: apple juice and water in a pot with some cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. No rocket science here.)
The kids made cider bubbles.
Then I suggested what is probably the single greatest activity a parent could offer to young children: to make cut-out cookies.
YES! The littles pulled out our cookie cutters. I declared a theme: gratitude.
Kids carefully selected shapes representing things they are thankful for, which, in no particular order, include: Family (F) and all of its members (7), airplanes (for getting tatinek to CZ safely), cats (we have 3), trees, flowers, and animals (nature), boots (clothing), our state (MN), our country (USA), bells, snowmen, canes (for helping people to walk), the sun, moon, and stars, dinosaurs, bells, and love.
I pulled out the pumpkin puree and made a batch of pumpkin cookies.
Lunch was cookies.
Afternoon was spent tinkering with some art projects.
Then the pizza, which didn't come delivered or from a box, but from scratch. The kids' favorite kind.
In a roundabout way, I spent the whole day, yes, in the kitchen, but with the kids. Maybe it wasn't turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries and pumpkin pie. But we feasted nevertheless, enjoying scrambled eggs, pumpkin pie (hey, we got one of them right!), two types of cookies and homemade pizza.
Movie-watching wasn't forgotten, just postponed to the evening. The WAKWIR gave me a short tutorial on the Marvel super hero movies and we watched Captain Marvel, followed by Friday night's The Avengers: Endgame (and more pizza). Tonight, we're looking forward to Spiderman: Far From Home (with spaghetti).
I have much to be thankful for.
1982 - Michael Jackson’s Thriller is released worldwide
Thought to be the best selling album of all time, the album, which had 9 tracks, won 8 Grammy Awards, including the award for Album of the Year in 1984.
1947 - Civil War in Palestine
Also known as the Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the conflict began the day after the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that provided a partition plan for Palestine. The war was wracked by violence which began on November 30 after two buses full of Israeli passengers were attacked by Arab gunmen and snipers shot pedestrians in Tel Aviv. On May 14, Israel declared itself an independent state and on May 15, the Civil War turned into a regional war after a coalition of Arab states that included Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, joined the conflict.
1940 - Stars of I Love Lucy marry
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz of the popular American comedy sitcoms, I Love Lucy and The Lucy and Desi Comedy Show married in real life. They were married for 20 years.
1939 - The Winter War begins
The 4-month long war between Finland and the Soviet Union began after the USSR invaded Finland and bombed Helsinki. The conflict ended on March 30, 1940, with the two countries signing the Moscow Peace Treaty. In retaliation for its actions, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations.
1872 - First international football (soccer) match
The match between England and Scotland was held at West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick, Scotland. The game ended with a 0-0 draw.
1990 - Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player
1978 - Clay Aiken, American singer, actor
1874 - Winston Churchill, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate
1835 - Mark Twain, American author
1813 - Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer
December.
Only one month left before we close out 2019 and look ahead to the new year full of (re)new(ed) promises and optimistic beginnings.
What do you want to make sure gets crossed off your 2019 bucket list before the year is done?
Earlier this week, Facebook reminded me that for Thanksgiving 2007, our family skipped out on the turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberries and headed to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan's U.P. It was a reconnaissance mission, spurred on by my husband who wanted to a) check out the downhill skiing outfits on Lake Superior's south shore and b) see some "mountains."
Unsurprisingly, we were the only folks on the slopes that weekend. With no snow and no customers, we were free to roam wherever we wished. The views were spectacular. We stayed at the Anderson Motel in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Our favorite Thanksgiving tradition is skipping out on Thanksgiving. Not because we're not thankful - giving thanks is the first thing I do in our daily nighttime prayers. My husband's annual observation of the holiday's, um...historical slant, may have been an influencing factor. But mostly, we skip out on Thanksgiving because we love having adventures. I'm a fan of spontaneity and one of the greatest thrills for this kind of junkie is skipping out on any regularly scheduled programming to go do something else. Bonus points if it's something fun in another state.
One year, we went to Chicago. We only had two kids at the time. We found a cheap hotel on Hotwire near the O'Hare airport (we drove from MN) and took the train into the city to explore. During that trip, we also visited our dear American friends, the Fultz family, who'd been missionaries in Czech Republic when we lived in Brno. Joe and I took Czech language classes together at Masarykova University and his wife, Donna, a nurse, spent December 28th with me, eating cookies and holding my hand as my body waxed and waned through the first contractions of labor with our first child until hubby came home from work and could take me to the hospital.
When Kid #5 was a wee babe carried around in the sling, kids and I decide to #optout and explore Franz Jevne Park.
Facebook reminded me of another Thanksgiving "skip day," this one to our friend's house in the Twin Cities. Marty knew that the greatest gift he could give me was pizza, movies and a free day from the kitchen. This trek south became its own tradition over the years. We miss him as we work through our series of "firsts" without our dear friend, who passed away unexpectedly in May.
So, what did this year's Thanksgiving look like?
With hubby off to the Czech Republic for the holiday, I visualized a Thanksgiving of pizza and binge-watching movies. Here's what happened:
Two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Kids #4 & #5 begged me to buy a pie pumpkin. I complied. With that baking pumpkin sitting on the counter, I thought, "Hmmm, wouldn't it be nice to bake a couple pumpkin pies before hubby leaves for CZ?"
Monday, I baked the pumpkin. Tuesday, I pureed the pumpkin and made two pies. Tuesday night we ate some pie. Wednesday morning, I packed some pie for the road.
Thursday morning, as I lingered in my bed, happy to not have to go anywhere, happy to sleep in, it occurred to me that, if I did nothing but binge watch movies all day, so would the children. The image of my children staring with zombies eyes at the television proved bothersome, so I roused myself from the bed and made a fabulous breakfast of brats and scrambled eggs with all kinds of vegetable goodness.
I made cider.
(Recipe: apple juice and water in a pot with some cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. No rocket science here.)
The kids made cider bubbles.
Then I suggested what is probably the single greatest activity a parent could offer to young children: to make cut-out cookies.
YES! The littles pulled out our cookie cutters. I declared a theme: gratitude.
Kids carefully selected shapes representing things they are thankful for, which, in no particular order, include: Family (F) and all of its members (7), airplanes (for getting tatinek to CZ safely), cats (we have 3), trees, flowers, and animals (nature), boots (clothing), our state (MN), our country (USA), bells, snowmen, canes (for helping people to walk), the sun, moon, and stars, dinosaurs, bells, and love.
 |
| Things we're grateful for in 2019 (Note: F7 represents our family!) |
I pulled out the pumpkin puree and made a batch of pumpkin cookies.
Lunch was cookies.
Afternoon was spent tinkering with some art projects.
Then the pizza, which didn't come delivered or from a box, but from scratch. The kids' favorite kind.
In a roundabout way, I spent the whole day, yes, in the kitchen, but with the kids. Maybe it wasn't turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries and pumpkin pie. But we feasted nevertheless, enjoying scrambled eggs, pumpkin pie (hey, we got one of them right!), two types of cookies and homemade pizza.
Movie-watching wasn't forgotten, just postponed to the evening. The WAKWIR gave me a short tutorial on the Marvel super hero movies and we watched Captain Marvel, followed by Friday night's The Avengers: Endgame (and more pizza). Tonight, we're looking forward to Spiderman: Far From Home (with spaghetti).
I have much to be thankful for.
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
1982 - Michael Jackson’s Thriller is released worldwide
Thought to be the best selling album of all time, the album, which had 9 tracks, won 8 Grammy Awards, including the award for Album of the Year in 1984.
1947 - Civil War in Palestine
Also known as the Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the conflict began the day after the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that provided a partition plan for Palestine. The war was wracked by violence which began on November 30 after two buses full of Israeli passengers were attacked by Arab gunmen and snipers shot pedestrians in Tel Aviv. On May 14, Israel declared itself an independent state and on May 15, the Civil War turned into a regional war after a coalition of Arab states that included Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, joined the conflict.
1940 - Stars of I Love Lucy marry
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz of the popular American comedy sitcoms, I Love Lucy and The Lucy and Desi Comedy Show married in real life. They were married for 20 years.
1939 - The Winter War begins
The 4-month long war between Finland and the Soviet Union began after the USSR invaded Finland and bombed Helsinki. The conflict ended on March 30, 1940, with the two countries signing the Moscow Peace Treaty. In retaliation for its actions, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations.
1872 - First international football (soccer) match
The match between England and Scotland was held at West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick, Scotland. The game ended with a 0-0 draw.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1978 - Clay Aiken, American singer, actor
1874 - Winston Churchill, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate
1835 - Mark Twain, American author
1813 - Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer
Remembering You
2018 - George H. W. Bush, American politician, 41st President of the United States
2007 - Evel Knievel, American motorcycle stuntman
1979 - Zeppo Marx, American actor, agent
1935 - Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet
1900 - Oscar Wilde, Irish author, poet, playwright
Gather your people, make your favorite foods and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
2007 - Evel Knievel, American motorcycle stuntman
1979 - Zeppo Marx, American actor, agent
1935 - Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet
1900 - Oscar Wilde, Irish author, poet, playwright
Gather your people, make your favorite foods and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
Quotes from those we’re remembering
ReplyDeleteGeorge HW Bush: Read my lips.
Evel Knievel: Chicks dig scars.
Zeppo Marx: Why am I always the straight man?
Fernando Pessoa: Could it think, the heart would stop beating.
Oscar Wilde: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Thanks, Joe! There were soany good ones on the list, it's hard to pick just one.
DeleteJerry Solom: "Steel is real." "Ennaways."
ReplyDeleteWow! A culinary feast - and over many meals. You go mommy! Sounds like the perfect antidote to the obligatory turkey.
ReplyDelete