Happy Thanksgiving! Matthew has today off from work and then all of next week for his birthday celebrations! I have today, tomorrow, and Saturday off from work. A nice mini-vacation.
What am I thankful for? Quite the long list. Let's see how much I can fit into a manageable paragraph. I am thankful for safety in our vehicles. I have become a slightly nervous driver. And while I still have a lead foot, I take much more notice of those around me. I don't trust other motorists. We have been without accident since our marriage, a miracle where I am concerned. I am thankful for our good jobs that have so many benefits. Mine pays more than we both made together on our 2008 tax return. Plus we both get free tuition for our graduate work. Matthew's gives him excellent experience and will provide him with a paid internship for his Masters degree. A great stepping stone for when he tries to get involved in a private practice. I am thankful for our affordable home and all it's comforts. It really has been the perfect place for us. I am thankful for friends and family who are so supportive and honest. Honesty is so important and I have the best family and friends who hold me accountable in all areas of life. I am thankful for good health. We have had a few scares during our marriage that something was terribly wrong with us physically. Thankfully we've had some good quick fixes and we are in excellent health. Able to breath, walk, run, laugh, and see. I am thankful for our youth. Watching my grandparents decline rapidly has been very humbling. Before I know it I will be in that 80's gap (Lord willing) and I could have lost vision, lost memories, and lost mental functioning. And just last spring they were both in good health and spirits. I am thankful for my every growing Library and a husband who indulges me. I am thankful for our lack of debt as we really don't know what we're doing financially. But we continue to buy, we continue to save, and every month the bills get paid with generous allowances for us both. I am thankful for my kitten who provides me with endless entertainment and snuggles. I am very thankful for my husband who never ceases to show me love and affection. I am a quality time and he is a words of affirmation. We're learning each and every day how to best speak each others love languages. I am most thankful for my Lord and Savior, without whom I would be a miserable excuse for a human being. If not for His mercy and everlasting love I would be a mere nothing. He could cease to think of me for one brief moment and I would cease to exist. His is a blessed assurance and a deep deep peace.
I am thankful for so many more things, but those are just a few things off the top of my head.
Matthew is napping and the ham (Yes, we are having Thanksgiving Ham since neither of us likes Turkey) is cooking in the oven. I thought I would use the time for a nice update.
As far as the review. I shouldn't have put it off so long. All my initial thoughts have faded. Basically, the overall idea of the book I enjoyed. The high school setting is what makes up most of the cheese I find hard to get over. There were times I laughed out loud thinking of some seventeen-year-olds I know saying and thinking how Bella spoke and thought. But I understand, it is fiction and fiction appeals to the senses and not reality. Obviously, since this is about vampires and werewolves. But overall, the storyline wasn't bad. A nice change to enter women into the less traveled world of covens. Now, since I thoroughly enjoy the Underworld movies, I already enjoyed a good vampire epic. These vampires are different. And I just don't care much for fiction set in modern day. I have lately been very interested in Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Nothing compares. I have just finished (literally moments before sitting down to the computer) Mansfield Park. There is a great romance. I was kind of hoping that Jane would surprise me this time and have the characters end up with opposites but still be happy. No. It ended exactly as everyone thought... and secretly hoped... it would. But the last three pages I couldn't help but smiling. How does she do that? See, comparatively, Twilight... Mansfield Park... there really can be no comparison. It's not entirely fair to Stephenie Meyer, but there is no cheese in Jane Austen.
Alas, I admit I will read the next few books with interest. It has appealed to my senses. I can overlook the high school-ness and try to skim past the parts where she over quotes herself... I don't like repetition throughout an entire story. In one paragraph it can be artistic... through the entire book and I fear, the entire series... too much. But looking at the big picture hopefully I can view these books as a good experience.
Now, I watched the trailers for Twilight and New Moon on youtube. It still looks overly ridiculous. It doesn't help that I don't like those actors, find their voices annoying, and think they're far too young anyways. So those are not tempting at all. But the books are passable. Satisfactory.
One hour until the Iveson Thanksgiving dinner. A nice cooked ham with possibly some raspberry or peach glaze, I haven't decided yet. Some delicious mashed potatoes with cheese sauce. Green bean casserole. Delicious rolls. Pumpkin pie. I haven't decided if I want to make anything else yet. I made some more food last year and it was entirely too much for just two people. I think we will satisfy ourselves with the above. It will be a good meal. We're even going to make Emily her own personal plate so she doesn't have to beg off of ours all night.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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