An answer for a post.

            I have been agonizing over what to write on today and have had no luck in coming up with a subject.  The fact is that I am a slightly out of it today.  The sad thing is, I really don't know why.  I slept decently last night and am fairly alert, but I just can't seem to concentrate.  I guess that is why I am not doing to well today on this.  That being said, I will simply paste in an excerpt from the answers to my sons.
           These answers are in response to the book "Questions for My Father" by Vincent Staniforth.  My boys have been choosing questions they want answers to and I have been writing those answers.  The questions vary widely so I have chosen to share the answer to What happened on your favorite holiday?  Please read below

I guess the first thing I have to answer here is, what is my favorite holiday?  The answer to that would be thanksgiving.    This leads us to ask, why?  This is what I think this question is really asking.  What happened on your favorite holiday to make it your favorite holiday?  I can’t name a single event, more like a series of events.

In order for you to fully understand my answer, I am going to have to give you a bit of background.  The first thing you need to know is that, while I grew up in Iowa, my mother was from Wyoming.  Add to that, the fact that my mother’s side was from all over, but mainly Nebraska.  The first meant that my mom didn’t get to see her mom all that often and the second meant that she got to see her cousins even less.  My dad, on the other hand, had nearly all of his relatives within a radius of about 75 miles.  This meant that we saw my dad’s side of the family quite often and spent every Sunday at my Grandma’s house.

Sure, my mom’s family had a reunion every other year and so we got to see our relatives then, but what did we do in between?  This is where Thanksgiving comes in.  In the years that we didn’t have a family reunion, we spent Thanksgiving week with my mom’s mom.  We got to see our aunts and uncles and spend a holiday with grandma.  Grandma Skinner was a very good cook and we always ate well.  But it was the fact that we got to see her and our cousins that made it worth it.

That is really only part of the answer.  What about the years we didn’t go and see Grandma Skinner?  We went to see Grandma Ibbotson.  We would get together with dad’s sister and our cousin and have a Thanksgiving meal that I envy to this day.  My cousin and I would end up fighting over the last piece of lemon meringue pie.  We would decorate Grandma’s house for Christmas.  Then I would watch football with grandpa and we would nibble on pies and snacks and turkey and nearly everything the rest of the day.  My dad and Uncle Larry would end up snoring in the living room driving everyone to the dining room or kitchen.  Sometimes I would go out and play football with the neighbors.  In all, I have really fond memories of it all. 

While Christmas is always fun with the gifts and of course getting together with my cousins at Grandma’s house, Thanksgiving was the holiday I most looked forward to.  I knew I was going to get to spend it with at least one of my grandmothers.  But if I had to choose a single Thanksgiving to remember it would be the Thanksgiving the year after my mom died.  I was only 14 at the time and my Grandpa had died that spring.  In all it had been a rough year.  To make it worse, it was also the year for us to go and see Grandma Skinner.  Normally I looked forward to that trip.  Between losing mom and Grandpa Ibbotson, I really wasn’t in much of a celebrating mood.  I was also old enough to realize that Grandma really didn’t need to have her son somewhere else for Thanksgiving that year.  I was prepared for the worst as I expected dad to tell us that we weren’t going to Wyoming that year.  Instead, dad invited Grandma Ibbotson to join us.  So we all went to Wyoming for Thanksgiving.  Instead of having one grandma cooking Thanksgiving dinner, we had two.  They got along so well, that we ended up doing it again 2 years later and Grandma Ibbotson got adopted by my mom’s family and was permanently invited to their family reunion.  And the best part of that Thanksgiving?  I got a lemon meringue pie all to myself. 

So, when I think of Thanksgiving, I think of family coming together in good times and in bad and making things better.  I think of good food and better friendships.  I think of laughter and joy in dark times and sighs of stuffed contentment in lean times.  It is said that Christmas brings out the best in everyone, but Thanksgiving brings out the strongest desire for family and, to me, family is one of the most important things in the world.

What event led to Thanksgiving being my favorite holiday?  The gathering of my family.  Thanksgiving wasn’t about the turkey and the food, but about a sharing of time and cares with family.  That is what Thanksgiving is.  That is what is supposed to happen on thanksgiving.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day

Thanksgiving: The turkey isn't just what you eat, it's what you're left with.

           Wow, what a weekend.  As much as I love thanksgiving, I am glad it is over.  As I may have mentioned last week we had a bug going through the house.  All four of my boys had it at one point in the week, but all were over it before the holiday.  Thanksgiving went off pretty well, the turkey turned out all right and the boys ate decently.  As of today, we have exactly 2 pieces of cherry pie left out of 4 total pies (2 pumpkin, 1 apple, and 1 cherry).  In all honesty though, we had to throw one of the pumpkin pies away due to mold (I forgot to put it in the fridge).  My wife got sick Friday and was down all day.  She was mostly over it on Saturday, which was a good thing, because the kids had gone insane by that time and needed to get out of the house. 
            With the sickness going around and the holiday, we realized they had only left the house 1 day the entire week.  This meant that by Friday, they had had enough of each other and were bound and determined to kill each other one way or another.  So Saturday morning, we took them to Toys-R-Us, gave them each notebooks (I took notes for the toddler), and told them they could write down whatever they wanted for Christmas.  They took a couple of hours going through the aisles writing down toys they wanted and now mom and dad have a long list to go shopping with.
             After that, we took them to eat at McDonald's, mainly because they have a playground there and it is cheap.  We let them go wild for about an hour then took them home.  Apparently, that wasn't enough because within 5 minutes, they were at each other again.  It didn't stop until late Sunday night, when we finally sent them to bed.  By then, both mom and dad were worn out.  So as I said, what a weekend.
            Thankfully today was a school day and they all felt well enough to go to school.  I got to make sugar cookies with my youngest and made about 7 dozen so all in all it was a good thing. 
           Well that's about it for today.  Have a great day and remember kids, the day is only cloudy if you look at the sky.  OK, that didn't make any sense to me either, but it is what it is.

Thanksgiving Week: Thank God you guys read this stuff.

             What are you reading this for?!  It's Thanksgiving!  Go spend some time with your family stuffing your face, watching TV and maybe playing a few games.  Sheesh.
              Since you are here, I may as well finish what I started with my final Thank you for this Thanksgiving week.  But I think instead of saying thank you or telling you something I am thankful for, I am going to instead issue a challenge.  As you go through this day, I want you to dig deep and think of a single defining event that you are thankful for.  I could be good or bad, it just has to be something that is a defining moment.  One of those moments that you look at and realize that without that event, nothing you have today could be. 
                Something you maybe needed to happen to set you up for today.  Maybe it taught you an important lesson that lingers with you and shapes nearly every decision you make.  Maybe it brought a person into your life that changed how you lived it and is still bringing about these changes.  Maybe it is an event so simple that you are astounded in just how much it has influenced who and where you are.  Maybe it was a moment of stupidity, or maybe a moment of genius.  Just dwell on it and you may be surprised what your mind brings up. 
                  I am not asking you to share it, although you may if you so choose.  This is just something I think can be a real help to you in finding who you are.  This shouldn't be easy.  It shouldn't be something that is on the top of your head.  This is something so deep in you that you have nearly forgotten it.  Granted it may be something you think of often, but you probably won't recognize it as the life changer it became.  I only say this because as I was typing this I had a dozen thoughts go through my head.  I discarded each one as I found an event before it that led to that event. 
                  First I jumped to my marriage, but I realized that without my early entrance to the military it would never have happened.  Then I realized that my entrance into the military would never have happened had I not been where I was.  As I traced back this thread, I found my defining moment to be something that occurred before I started school.  Back to something I had little recollection of.  You see, when I was born, my father was a dairy farmer in southern Iowa.  I see the surprise in some of your eyes, since most of you only know him as a plumber and electrician.  It's true.  He owned a dairy farm in Ringgold county Iowa.  He had a sawmill on this farm as well.  My memories of the farm are very vague.  I only really remember a white house and a big bulldozer.  The defining moment came when I was about 3.  That year, dad went bankrupt.  As I said, this is all something I pieced together from conversations with dad and other things I have read.  The bankruptcy lead dad to move to Nevinville, Iowa and take up plumbing and electrical work to pay the bills.  Due to dad's business and the needs of the family, it lead him to move us 2 more times, the final move to Shannon City, Iowa and the East Union School District when I was in second grade.
                  Why do I call that my defining moment?  My entire life hinges on it.  Without that moment, I would have grown up a dairy farmer and sawmill operator, thus I never would have learned all I did about plumbing and electrical from my father.  My wife would never have met my sister in junior high and thus would never have known me.  I might never have been disillusioned by the church I grew up in and thus not had the experiences I did, not all of which were good, but all of which contributed to my understanding and have since strengthened my faith.  I can't begin to list all the other things that hinge on this one event.  I am sure it was painful to my father when it happened and I know it couldn't have been easy, but I am thankful for it as it is key to who I am and what I have become.  Maybe I went back to far, but this is what I came up with over the past thirty minutes while I wrote this.  I am not done thinking on it and maybe I will add to it later, or maybe not.  But it does beg the question, how much of our lives is based on stuff we can't even comprehend when it occurs?
             What about you?  What is your event?  Think on it and thank God for it.  Maybe you'll find something you haven't thought of for years.
            Have a happy Thanksgiving and let everyone around you know just how thankful you are for their influence in you life.  Thank you all for reading this, knowing you read it is what allows me to keep writing.

Thanksgiving Week: Thank God for my Wife!

           Yes, it is Thanksgiving week and I am continuing the theme. I know I said I wouldn't, but I can't help it.  I have to say just how thankful I am for my wife.  She told me she read my blog and then she informed me that it was definitely me.  I have been married long enough to realize that responding, "who else would it have been?" would have been a bad idea and so I let the opportunity pass.  The strange thing is, I know she would have just chuckled, OK, maybe not chuckled, more likely she would have given me that smirk she has; either way she would have laughed it off to a certain degree.  She gets me (most of the time) which is a good thing.  Even when no one else does, she is there to lean over and whisper in my ear, "say you're sorry and try something different."  The other phrase she gets good at is, "I don't think I am the only one that didn't get it."  She is usually right.  The really sad part of that is that usually I didn't get it either.  It's pretty bad when your wife gets something you didn't and you are the one that said it.  It has happened to me (not that I admit it).
              She not only gets me, she understands what I mean when I say, "I am normal, for me."  It takes someone really talented (or really insane) to put up with me for so long.  She is definitely the anchor that keeps me from drifting into the reef with the stranger tides.  Take the time I told her I could relate to jack sparrow and understood where he was coming from, she simply said, "I know."
            There are times that I wonder why she doesn't laugh at one of my jokes, then I realize she smiled even though I had used that joke at least a hundred times before.  You may think I am kidding, but I have literally used some of my jokes that much.  I forget that they aren't original and use them.  It isn't until my wife rolls her eyes and sighs that I realize what I have done.  At least she doesn't get mad.
             She is also the kind of lady that won't let go of something she is right about until I admit it.  I can be stubborn too, but when she gets that look in her eye, I tend to surrender and she is usually right.  Usually it is about money.  Usually because I want to spend it and she doesn't.  I guess that is why we can afford to have what we have.  I love her for it and am so thankful she is in my life.  I am really good at convincing  myself that a want is a need that I can be real stubborn about it.  Thankfully she is patient with me and can usually convince me how wrong I am.  the wonderful thing is, she knows just how often to let me have that want.  Often enough to keep my hopes up and keep me happy, but not so often that I break the bank. 
              She is also a wonderful mother.  I think that she knows more about our boys than I do.  Which is fine since she is with them more than I am (as much as I would like that to be different).  I couldn't do it without her.
              I could go on and on, but I can already feel her face turning red.  It does turn a lovely shade of red when she is embarrassed (so does my shoulder if I embarrass her to much, but that is besides the point).  I couldn't live without her and that is all that there really is to say.  I am so thankful for her.  So thank you dear.
              Have a great day.  Only one more post for this week so see you then.

Thanksgiving week: Thank God I am Weird.

           It's Thanksgiving week and thus I thought a theme is in order.  I almost went against the grain and picked a theme that wasn't "what I am thankful for," but fate intervened and left my mind blank on alternate themes.  Thus it is that I give you, "What I am Thankful For" week.  Don't you just love how original I am (Please note the sarcasm dripping off that last statement).  To continue, please enjoy this post.
            As you may have guessed, I like to go away from the usual and tend to go for the, shall we say, less normal avenues.  So, while I am thankful for all the usual stuff, wife, kids, health, family, etc., I am going to delve into some of the deeper things I am thankful for.  Not to detract from that other stuff, it is all important to me, it really is, I just felt that i needed to go deeper this year and find some new stuff I am thankful for.
           I think that for me, I really have to be thankful for just how odd I can be.  Think about it, if I weren't a little of center, I would be "normal" and thus would probably not be writing this.  If I were to write a blog (I'm not sure if blog writing is considered a normal activity or not), Firstly, the name would probably be more boring, but I would probably spend the next paragraphs detailing just why I am thankful for my wife (not that I couldn't write pages on it, I just feel that you probably wouldn't be interested.  Feel free to comment if I am wrong.)  The great thing about being slightly, OK, really weird, is that I can engage in thought processes that most people wouldn't touch.  Granted, this may be unhealthy at times, but I find that I am much more creative that way. 
             Being odd isn't just something I am, it has become something I strive to pass on to my sons.  I think I succeeded a little to well with my oldest, but it seems to be working out for the best.  It's like I told my boys, weirdness is inherited in my family, their mom managed to get lucky and have some of it rub off on her.
             I can't imagine what a "normal" life would be like.  Mostly because normal to me, is boring and means being like everyone else.  Sure, I try and blend in every once in a while.  It tends to remind me that failure is something you need to shrug off and is usually an indication that you did something wrong.  I have yet to figure out what that is, but I keep trying none the less. 
             If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be weird, try saying something off the wall for no reason at your next friendly gathering.  If you feel weird about it, well, I hate to say it, but you're normal.  Me, I say something and it isn't until people stare at me with wide eyes and mouths hanging open that I realize that I must have said something weird.  Weird can't be faked (and neither can normal by the way).  I think it is a good thing.  It makes you stand out.  I like to think it is what attracted my wife (I can't think of anything else that would so I am sticking with that until she tells me otherwise.) 
              Being different can be a good thing, especially if it means that you are someone others want to be like.  I can't help but wonder if Einstein was considered weird.  Not that I compare myself with Einstein, not even I am that egotistic.  I like to think that my weirdness is a result of my genius.  I'm still waiting for the genius part to show through, but that doesn't stop me.  Yes, I like being weird and I am so thankful that I am.  If it weren't for being weird, I'd be normal like the rest of you.
             Thank you for reading.  Have a great day.