Thanksgiving Friday

A new trend, dare we call it a tradition, is feasting and having Thanksgiving on Friday.
It's has worked for people's schedules, and had made for a richer, calmer celebration.
So Thursday becomes a very stress free day - we linger at home. We finish cleaning with no rush, we prepare the foods that need prep, no rush, we linger and play games, no rush, we do a few chores, no rush, we went for a walk, no rush. Did I mention no rush, no stress.

So Friday becomes a great day to celebrate. I get up early and do a bit of work and go do store checks because it is Black Friday and I do work retail, but no rush. I even had time to hit the gymn for my daily workout. Got home to help with the final prep work. Ok, let's be candid, it helps to be married to an incredible cook and hostess. Anyhow, come 3 pm we are gathered in and ready to dine. The family is gathered, the cousins who are home are gathered, the food is ready and served, we feast. A simple combination for one of the most delightful holidays of the year.

Happy Friday thanksgiving. Come join us next year.

(Having problems posting photos)

FLASHBACK - An Armstrong Thanksgiving

Life still happpened before I blogged - so here is a favorite flashback

There are many people that question the value of public high schools in our communities both the institutions and the students. At this Thanksgiving time of year our family would be very ungrateful indeed not to share for the incredible Fall our son has had at Armstrong High School. The students, the coaches, and the teachers have combined to show a huge amount of kindness, acceptance and embracing of diversity.

Our son, Evan, is a 16-year-old sophomore at Armstrong High School. Like many boys his age he is on the football, wrestling and track teams; he struggles a little with his social and science classes, and loves singing in the Varsity choir. He loves both the social and academic parts of school. He thrives on the vibrancy of a large high school with the multitude of opportunities for all students. One difference with Evan is that he was born with Down Syndrome.

A few weeks ago Evan was nominated for homecoming royalty. He, we, were thrilled and delighted by the inclusion and the honor. We attended the Homecoming pep fest and with other parents watched our youth participate. Evan was introduced and he carried himself well, head held high with an arm extended to his female counter-part. We were genuinely delighted by the round of applause he received. At the end of the pep fest when the royalty winners were announced, we were thrilled to hear announced Evan’s name. Then even more thrilling was the roar of approbation. The crowd screamed, clapped, stood and stomped and we as Evan’s parents sat and cried. Tears of gratitude for a school and community that embraces diversity and inclusion. Yes, a reason for an Armstrong Thanksgiving.

This was no fluke; a few weeks later another outpouring of kindness and acceptance occurred. . Evan has been a member of the Sophomore B-squad football team. Coach Dave Hansen and Coach Dan Enna have made it an incredible season. If you’ve ever had a son play football you know what a religion it can be. Evan is a zealous convert to the sport. He trained daily with the team in a safe environment, carefully orchestrated by the coaches. Fast-forward to the Minnetonka B-squad game. Game situation is 4^th quarter, 2^nd and goal from the 8^-yard line, Minnetonka is ahead. Armstrong calls time out. The coach runs out onto the field and has a conversation so that the refs, the Minnetonka coaches and players are all on the same page. After the time-out, Evan goes in as halfback and his number is called. The snap, the hand-off, Armstrong forms a type of wedge up the middle Evan goes high-stepping up the middle crossing the goal-line as the Minnetonka players deliberately move back. He SCORES! All celebrate as Evan runs off the field. The clock – records no change; the scoreboard - records no change; the yard markers - record no change. But a change there has been: another outpouring of graciousness and kindness by the officials, the coaches, and the players of Minnetonka and Armstrong. They gave a minute of fame and glory to a young man who loves football, and loves playing the game with “the guys” but who clearly can’t compete on the same field. Thank you to coaches who train and lead our young men and who are willing to set an example of inclusion and kindness.

Evan stands a little taller, Evan speaks a little clearer, Evan celebrates a little more. This November 25^th is for us an Armstrong Thanksgiving.

The Time Keeper

Quick reads, enjoyable reads, interesting reads with a simple thought behind them; Mitch Albom has written another, not dissimilar, to his previous best sellers of "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" . A book that isn't necessarily deep but has enough thought behind it to cause some reflection. This time the subject is TIME.

Time and how it affects our lives - from those who have too much to those who have too little and the dilema of choosing how to deal with our time. Most of us are preoccupied with its measurement, in fact you could set your clock by it. Dor one of three main characters of the narrative is the original measurer of time and we see how that 'curse' impacts both him and characters from our time. Saturday as I set in the Temple, I was reflecting how nice it is to be in a room without a clock, without a watch and let time be suspended. I think of Parker  trying to focus on being in the present, being a finisher and not focusing on the end of his service. I think of our conversation with our home teacher this month where we spoke of enjoying the moment we are in with our children and family and not anticipating the next phase before the current experience has even finished. What would life be like without the constraints of time?

A warning against the pitfalls of obsession with work, or nothingness, or anything that one might focus on to the exclusion of family, friends, and engaging in a  truly fulfilling life. How does one best optimize the time one is allotted. Take the time to think about it.

Blair shared a great video regarding how we engage in when we are, where we are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XiSIGPIi7s&sns=em

The Hub

An oft repeated theme in our annals of Naperville is gratitude for Chicago being the hub of so many activities and that with those activities brings along many of our favorite people . And these people are gracious enough to stop by, visit, and stay the night.

This weekend we welcomed a cousin and friend Lynne Wilson from palo alto. She is in town for a theological seminar downtown but has commuted out to the burbs for a visit. Great to hear of the new ideas she is thinking, share family updates, and chat.

CWD

Knowing the renown - isn't that just about as good as being renown. Rindy gets a regular email update from Houzz a home decorating and idea site. Saturday's email was :

you would have to scroll down to get to the relevant part of the email , but once you followed its link
 led to this:

which discuss the renown Caitlin Wilson wife of my cousin's son Brigham
and proprietor of a design business. Caitlin Wilson Design

Good job Caitlin - fun to see you receive acclaim for great work and design.

 

Let the Holidays begin

The Signs of the times are around us:

The cousins gathered for breakfast. It's a blessing to have them close and convenient to enjoy family time. I do enjoy the natural,congenial, and engaged conversation and interaction.  I enjoy the energy and activity of the kids. I enjoy the shared beliefs and values. I enjoy the food. The Holiday season is a time for family gatherings. We gathered.

What a beautiful, sunny, and temperate day we had; ideal for changing the look of the front porch. Last weekend we put away the couch and chairs and today we pulled out the outdoor tree, the moose, the led and skis. The Holiday season is a time for decorations. We decorated.

Mackey had things to do this day - people to meet, places to go. No sooner had she departed from home but I received a call. Excitedly she told me of 93.9. Normally, Saturday mornings are made for listening to NPR; but this was big news. The local all day Christmas music channel had begun. The Holiday season is a time to listen to the sounds of Christmas. We listened.

Confederates in the Attic

Not a new book but one which I recently read and enjoyed is CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC: DISPATCHES FROM THE UNFINISHED CIVIL WAR by Tony Horwitz. it is a well-wriiten , engaging, and compelling book. Not a quick read for me but a thoughtful read. He explores his own fixation with the Civil War and the book is part exploration of his fascination and part historic review of the south.

Those who know me, know that I have been challenged by southerners and their life view. True there are many a great individual southerners (read Honor), and many a good  attribute and lifestyle to the south ; but the under currents as explored by Horwitzz are things that challenge me. He  "refers to regional memory, the importance or lack thereof yet attached to this momentous national event. As Horwitz visits the sites throughout the South, he encounters unreconstructed rebels who still hold to outdated beliefs. He also meets groups of “reenactors,” devotees who attempt to relive the experience of the soldier’s life and death. One of his most disheartening and yet unsurprising realizations is that attitudes towards the war divide along racial lines. Too many whites wrap the memory in nostalgia, refusing to look beneath the myth. Too many blacks dismiss the war as meaningless to them or to their present existence."

Some insightful quotes include:

" You Wear Your X, I'll Wear Mine" ( the one the X in the rebel flag and the other Malcolm X)

" The two men had walled themselves inside a stockade or their own creation and erected around it an ideological deadline?"

"The  issues at stake in the Civil War - race in particular- remain raw and unresolved, as did the broad question the conflict posed: would America remain One Nation?"

"The  past had poisoned the present and the present, in turn, now poisoned remembrance of things past."

Veterans Day

Neither my father nor my father-in law, nor for that matter my mother-in-law ever made a big deal about their years of service during World War 2. Nasty times and long service. I am grateful for their sacrifice and safety. I've never had the interest, desire, motivation to join one of the armed services. Again, I am grateful for the many who have and do. They deserve more than a day.

Naperville has a nice salute with a community hill with 2012 flags and a short service. There are five veteran memorials in Naperville , these photos are from earlier in the day before the rain.

Thanks Vets.

End of the Volleyball Season

Rindy is one of the most productive people I know. Not busy for the sake of being busy but always actively engaged in adding value and  creating. Mackey has played many a volleyball game as her high school volleyball draws to a close; and those games have created opportunities for many a stitch. The fruits of which our in our home. For those who have seen her stitching - here is evidence of closure. The Crab and The Lobster - lovely companions. Its more than just spread sheets, sheet rock, seminary, and spades full of dirt for this talented woman.

Holidays On the Way

The snow isn't flying
The porch furniture has been put away
The family has not gathered
The calendar is filling.

The lights are up in downtown  Naperville
Hence the holidays are coming

Round Table

The first Thursday of the month typically, as it has for years, will find me at RoundTable. Its name is derived from King Arthur's famous table in the round where the knights gathered to discuss the affairs of the nation. In these days it is used to describe the monthly training of the Boy Scouts of America. In candor, many is the night when I have come home from a training session and said the definition of Round Table is "why do in 5 minutes in what you can do in 50". Though I must admit I have felt that much less frequently here in Three Fires Council than up north in Northern Star Council.

Our Stake YoungMen Presidency instructs a Varsity Scout session each month. It is attended by LDS units and we usually get about 50% of our units in atttendance. They tend to be the same ones making it and the same ones missing it.

Tonight's  subject was pioneering with a focus on knots. There are multiple videos that you can use to refresh the skill.Knots have been an issue for me throughout the decades of scouting. I learn them; I practice them; I apply them; I teach them; I forget them. So its always a humbling experience having to relearn what I have theoretically learned before. I now have the added challenge that knots fall into the fine motor skills that I am impaired by P, a double strike. Nonetheless, as a group activity we did " Cross The Alligator Pit". In the midst of said our Stake President dropped by for a visit and so he volunteered to walk the A-frame across the pond.

All in a night's fun