Pre-Thanksgiving Thoughts!

 

Today, we dropped off a few items at the Armory where they are collecting for the Afghan refugees. You may remember that I committed to #projectlaundrybasket and some essentials for these families. I hope to complete 200 baskets when I’m done. My donations have slowed down so I am supplementing some in anticipation of getting another 24 to them prior to Christmas.

The donation site was different from the previous one, for a variety of reasons, but we felt really good leaving coats, toys and school supplies there. They were most grateful for our donations and we have more carloads to take to them. It is managed by the National Guard and they could not have been more kind to us.

In December, I will be collecting school supplies at a party and I still have lots of toys ready to go! At this point, I’m doing my best to keep eyes and ears open for things that might be needed but my first commitment is to #projectlaundrybasket. I strayed from the Amazon list with an order from Dollar Tree since some items are out of stock.

If you want to purchase anything, you can do the Amazon Wish List at this link:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2IN40BNTDBJ72

OR you can purchase at your favorite dollar store and let me know so we can meet up. You can get ideas of the needs on the list above. As you will see, some items are out of stock so finding something similar is perfectly fine. I am happy to meet up with you to pick items up.

Each November, on Facebook I see so many people doing 30 days of gratitude. I always say, “I’m going to do that this year.” I think of things to put, but I never get around to it. Today, I realized how grateful I am to the friends and family who have thoughtfully donated and I am grateful for the ability to commit to this project.

I have lots to be grateful for and I try to remember that every day. I’m especially grateful for getting out a little more, although very carefully as I try to continue to protect those in my bubble. This week, I am especially grateful that after exposure to covid, we are all negative and well, and past our quarantine period. Vaccines work!

My room looks so festive with my bar-themed tree and lots of wrapped gifts. I’m so close to being finished with shopping. Since I have no place to really “hide” gifts, I am working hard to wrap them as soon as I get them so any snoopers will not be able to find anything! Super grateful!!

Perhaps the thing I am most grateful for is that next week at this time, I will be with my little family in Pittsburgh! I’ll be hugging on my little family…especially those two little guys that call me “CeCe!” (Well, Adrian hasn’t mastered it yet, but Gabriel makes up for it!) To say I’m excited is definitely an understatement. It hasn’t been that long ago when I got to spend a couple of nights with them but it seems like an eternity!

I can’t wait to see how baby Adrian has changed…hoping to see a few smiles while I’m there! My buddy Gabriel will have a few goodies in my bag…things we can do together and some of his favorite treats to use as a bribe to try and get a few good photos with both of my grandsons and me! No judging! It’s been a challenge so I have to resort to a bribe! I also got a tip today from my BFF that if you act like you want a picture of a silly or scary face, he’ll start laughing and hopefully the camera will catch a happy face! Trust me, I’ll be pulling out the stops!

My final thought for today is being grateful can be a habit! You don’t have to write it down but it probably helps! I’m taking next Wednesday off from my blog so I can truly enjoy my family in Pittsburgh. I’ll be counting all of you as my life’s blessings and reminding myself how grateful I am to have so many people from different parts of my life who are always watching out for me!

Happy Thanksgiving! Eat a lot and enjoy your families…stay safe and healthy and I’ll see you December 1!!!