Thankful For Blogging...

I’ve always been a creative soul.  When I was growing up my dad tried to get a family music troupe going. Needless to say we didn’t go far.  As I got older writing was required for school (anyone know about FCATs? Yeah Floridian here.  If you’re unaware you must past the FCATs in order to graduate from middle and high school.  And the FCATs are Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.)

And then, once I’d passed my FCAT I got into fan fiction (and at one point I had a “lyric” fight with one of my best friends in high school.  And someone actually wanted to pay for my lyrics. Didn’t do it, but I should have. I could’ve been the next Taylor Swift, or the first Taylor Swift since I’m older than her. Oh except that whole singing thing, as previously mentioned, not so great at that. Anyhow!)

During the rest of my high school career I wrote.  And I had a blog here and a blog there, but nothing wonderful and great.

But now, as I’m really starting my life (with 2 kids and no man) I’ve found that blogging, and the unique friendships and connections that I make through it really help me get through the rough patches.  Not to mention that I get a little scared having to admit that I had 7 Redbull and Vodkas too many the last time I went to Thong Thursday.  Blogging keeps me from going to Thong Thursday (and this is a great thing, I got BB thanks to a Thong Thursday, but that’s a whole other story).  Blogging helps me get through to the sunny side of whatever I might be going through.

And that’s why I’m thankful for Blogging.

This post inspired by Bloggy Mom's Writer Workshop.




PS:: HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL!!!!!!

Shrimp Tree Memories

Thanksgiving is full of memories around my house. My mom has memories of the last Thanksgiving before her mom died. I have memories of the last Thanksgiving before my Pa died, not to mention some of the Thanksgivings since then. There are lots of memories associated with Thanksgiving in my family. But more than Thanksgiving day, we remember Thanksgiving Eve.

When my Grandma was still alive she would spend the day before Thanksgiving prepping a lot of the food for Thanksgiving. You have to remember that she had 8 children, plus their spouses or girlfriends and they’re kids (and most of them had little to no problem with fertility). So there were always a TON of people over for Turkey day. And she would go a little bit elaborate on some things. (My mom, to this very day still brings up my Grandma’s love of a shrimp cocktail Christmas tree. Which is a Styrofoam cone covered in some green leaf and then covered with cocktail shrimp stuck on with toothpicks, just in case you were unsure.)

We don’t get that fancy. But we have (and probably always will) make a plan for the night before Thanksgiving as much as Thanksgiving day. We fix dips, and little appetizers to munch on while we do a lot of the prep for Thanksgiving. We’ll drink a little eggnog (and if I’m a good girl some kind of liquor) and end up staying up WAY too late, and laughing about some of the stupidest things. And through all our differences we’ll make memories that will last, and traditions that we’ll pass on to our kids one day.

That’s my favorite Thanksgiving memory. That along with looking over to my sister while we do something mundane (read: peeling sweet potatoes) when my mom starts to tell us about the last Thanksgiving before Grandma passed away, and the infamous Shrimp Cocktail Christmas tree.

These memories were inspired & brought to you by Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop