WEDNESDAY MEDLEY -- THANKSGIVING

I'm linking up with Terri today for the Wednesday Medley.  Thanks, Terri, for taking the time each week to put these together.  Let's get right to the questions.

1.  What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?
This is a hard question because I am not a fan of Thanksgiving dinner.  I do not like turkey and now that I am going low carb, the meal is a nightmare.  But...  I love mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce.  My absolute favorite, though, is pumpkin pie made by my great-grandmother's recipe.  It's more like a pumpkin custard and does not have spices in it except for ginger.  I don't like spicy pumpkin pie.  It's all what you grew up on.

2.  What's the happiest Thanksgiving memory of your childhood?
I know this sounds sad, but I can't remember any wonderful Thanksgivings in my childhood.  I can think of one particular very sad one where my sister and I sat through the meal crying though.

3.  Who is the most consistently grateful person you know?
My friend Kathy.  She has been homeless, has major physical problems, and has been abandoned by her family.  Yet she is grateful for anything anyone does for her and tells them so.  I give her a ride back and forth to church each week and she never forgets to thank me for the ride.  She just got a home with a family through a city program and she is so thankful for a home, food, and the family who is providing them.  I should be more thankful like she is.

4.  If you could thank one person today -- near or far, living or dead -- for their influence on your life, who would that person be?
Just one?  There are so many people who have influenced my life.  I think the greatest influence in my life was my great-grandmother who raised my sister and I.  I truly believe that living with her and my great-grandfather made me into the person I am today.  So much of how I think, how I act, how I do things is because of the two of them.

5.  Who's one person you've never thanked for their contribution to your life, but would like to?
When I read this question I thought of my step-father.  As a child I really didn't understand the importance he had in our family and just wanted my parents to be together again.  But after my father died, I realized what a big part in my life he had and how he had tried his best to fill the role of father.  I wish I had thanked him before it was too late to do so.

6.  Tell us something random about your Thanksgiving week.
It is not at all what I expected.  Joe is sick.  The weather is going to be below freezing.  I have a long drive with terrible pains in my hands and knees.  But... I'm so looking forward to being with my family and friends.

I have been trying so hard to clean up the house.  It is a mess and I won't show anyone pictures of it.  But I've found a new group on facebook that is really helping me and my mental stress is quickly fading.  For the first time in years I have hope that I can get my home back to where I want it.

I said I was so disgusted with everything that I wasn't going to decorate for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  But now with hope that things are going to get better, I did a little bit.

I'm feeling happy and hopeful.  I'll be telling you all about Thanksgiving later in the week.  In the meantime, I hope you all have the best holiday ever.

Kathy