Thankful November

 There is so much to be thankful for this month. We are blessed with a strong family, our health, three adorable cats, plenty of food, good income and a warm home. That is such a wonderful list and there are so many more blessings. I could go on for pages. 

We were treated to three special events this month. The first was a tour of one of the oldest graveyards in our area. It is an African-American graveyard and harks back to slavery times. The last burial was in 1943. There are only 93 graves that are still marked, but it is the final resting place of two thousand souls. It was a very peaceful wooded lot. My Mother and I spent a wonderful hour wandering around it. 

 

Rebekah and I went to the National Gingerbread Competition at the Grove Park Inn.  We discovered last year that the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving is the least crowded time to go. We had a lovely time. It is always so cozy and nice to sit by one of the huge fireplaces after our walk through all the gingerbread. In perusing these photos, remember that every single item in the display has to be edible!

Our last big event was the Winter Lights at the Arboretum. We took Grandma with us, and she rode in her new wheelchair, which helped her back a lot. The lights were spectacular.  I am so glad we were able to go this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince Elijah to go with us this time. 

My nanny job is going well. My little guy is growing all the time and developing new interests. This month his parents let me take him to Build-a-Bear for the first time. They said we could get whatever we wanted. My little guy picked Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. He has never seen the movie but has the book.  He was so pleased and I was honored to be able to share it with him. I also introduced him to Candyland this month. He loves the game and wants everyone to play with him. 

Elijah got a job at a small clothing retail store. However, he decided that he should quit after just one week and we agreed with him. I won't go into too much detail here because this is a family blog, but the derogatory things the employees were saying about women and the websites they were looking at on the job were outrageous. Unfortunately, the bosses were looking at the sites and cracking jokes, too. Elijah has always had very strong morals, and he was extremely distressed with the unethical and unprofessional nature of the store. We decided that he needed to let that job go. Now we are back on the hunt and he is even more anxious than before. I don't have lots of hope that he is going to find a job in December, but I am proud of him for having concrete morals. He paid his November rent by removing the fence that separated our front yard from our side yard. Now it is one big yard and easier to mow and maintain. 

Finals and the first week of Nutcracker is upon Rebekah next week. It is going to be a crazy week. We are looking forward to her college semester being over and having a bit of downtime. I look forward to embracing Christmas with lots of joy and good tidings. 

Blessings, Dawn