The week has brought us back around to our Five Minute Friday time with Kate Motaung and the gang. This is when we all write on the same word prompt for 5 minutes and enjoy the variety in which we find ourselves writing. Today’s word prompt is: NOTICE
GO
This is my busiest time of year as I’m sure it is for you as well. We don’t really eliminate anything from our lists of to-do instead we just add holiday craziness to our schedules and shuffle through, hoping we come out on the other side not too unruffled.
So this holiday season I’m choosing something different. I’m choosing to notice the moments instead of getting lost in the momentum.
Even now, I notice the snow fall outside and I want to curl up with a warm cup of happiness and knit something cozy because isn’t that what we should do on a cold, blustery day?
It’s the week before Thanksgiving…the first event of the holiday shuffle…and I’m shopping, planning and getting things together.
In other years I’ve thought about the table settings, the dishes and the perfection of the day. Yet this year I’ve already settled in my heart that instead of fussing over details I’m going to enjoy the people of the day.
For the first time in my years of doing Thanksgiving, I’m investing in nice disposal dishes. I’m investing because in years past I fussed over table settings and all things matching too much. And yes it will all match because I’ll buy the matching set of all things disposal. And at the end of the meal I can look around and be pleased with the company sharing my table instead of the dishes still yet to be scraped, cleaned, washed and put away.
Sitting here typing this up, I’m watching snow cover up all that is dead and fallen from the season just past.
I can get lost in the season of tradition and the way in which it’s always been done but this year I’m setting a new tradition. A tradition of noticing moments instead of getting lost in the momentum.
Thanksgiving is a time of noticing. Noticing the blessings in our lives and all that is good.
So this season, I invite you to join me in choosing the moments instead of the mayhem. Choose to notice the people and the moments we have with them, instead of getting caught up in the momentum of the holiday shuffle.
And who knows maybe through these moments shared we’ll even knit something cozy and take in some warm cups of happiness together.
Happy Friday everyone and Happy Thanksgiving as well!
Tripping Over Typeset 
Visiting from FMF. This is perfect. Enjoy your moments, may they be many and blessed. Rosanne
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My mother-in-law, who is sole caretaker of my father-in-law with Alzheimers, just told me that “we’re going to eat whatever’s been in my freezer longest, and just be thankful to be together for one more holiday”. You have both arrived at the same place…..
God bless you and your family over this next 1-1/2 months Rachel.
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Aahh…that’s so true. It’s not about the fussing over all the trims and what is best on the table but who we are with and why we celebrating!
Thank you for sharing! God bless you and your family as well!
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Rachel reading your blog today gave me a wonderful memory of my family’s house during most holidays. My mom always had so many people over that the dishes would have been insurmountable. Living in Brooklyn, NY, she chose to find a place with very fancy paper products. I remember every holiday almost growing up having these white plates trimmed in maroon with gold filigree patterns on everything. I remember plastic sets of spoons in gold with a soup spoon, teaspoon, knife and two forks (salad and food). Cups that matched the plates and table cloths made of plastic on the bottom but the top was the same design as the plates. I always felt fancy and it was great because which ever holiday it was, we all got to just throw away the tableware put away left over food, we did have some dishes but we (my siblings and I) washed, dried and put away pretty quickly and then we had time for our favorite holiday activity: board games; monopoly, life, scrabble, risk. My personal favorite was scrabble and I so miss those days. I have carried on that tradition of no fuss dinnerware no matter where I go because just like my mom taught me, these are moments we need to NOTICE, we will never get them back. Thank you for bringing back an awesome memory.
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That’s a great memory, Stacey! Yea, I agree. You can make it look nice with disposal stuff and then it’s not so overwhelming for those who have to clean up. We have a lot people at our home usually over 20 so that’s a lot of plates and glasses….usually more than one can fit in one dishwasher load so you either have to wait for one load to finish before loading another or you have a lot of hand washing. And that is something I just really don’t want to mess with. All the teen cousins do the dishes but I still have to point them in the right direction of where they go and all that jazz so we are just starting the disposal and I’m looking forward to the no-hassle holiday! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story with us!
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Love moments over mayhem. Let’s make some signs and post them in the yard:). I truly hope, as a society, we begin to value family over work, life over achievement. We’re all far too stressed! Begins with us, eh?
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Yes, I agree! We tend to live in hyper-speed and miss the enjoyment of just relaxing and resting.
And yes, it does begin with us… me! 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Happy Thanksgiving!
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