Happy Thanksgiving!

I woke up this morning to tornado warnings in Indiana? Huh? It's November, for Pete's sake!

I had a rather sudden change of plans this week. Instead of going to my sister's in Illinois for the holiday, I was persuaded by circumstances to stay home and visit with my grandchildren. It's a long story which I will spare you. Suffice it to say that I had to beg off from Illinois and change directions here.

Originally, I was to meet the children's stepmother in Gary on Wednesday evening for the kid trade; however, she called me to say that her "ex" was driving the whole distance to pick up their daughter on Tuesday night...and would bring my grandchildren with them to Lafayette where I could meet them at about 9:00 PM. That was going to save me a couple of hours of drive time. (I hadn't been aware that the children got Wednesday off from school.) In any case, he got snarled in Chicago traffic for about an hour-and-a-half going up and didn't call me to say he was on the interstate in Indiana for the trip back until almost 10:00 PM. I left for Lafayette. Couldn't find the road to their house. After a couple of calls, I stopped in a Steak and Shake parking lot, and they decided to come to me. (Guess I was close...but not close enough!) Anyway, the children and I were back in Plainfield by 2:00 AM. I'm glad we did our traveling on Tuesday. Wednesday turned out to be a nasty weather day.

It feels so good to have the children here! Yesterday, they were up fairly early, watching the clock to determine when their friends would be home from school. Ryan played Spore on my computer while Robin and I made pecan tassies. (Robin loves to cook. Since pecan tassies [little pecan pies] are somewhat labor-intensive, it was good to have the help. She did a great job forming the little pie shells!) The day went smoothly, and the instant the neighbor kids came home, it was play time! The neighbor and I conspired that when it was supper time, play time would be over. She needed to get ready for Thanksigiving at her house...and although I had the children here to play, they tend to migrate back and forth. In the evening, we watched a Harry Potter movie on TV and ate popcorn...then off to bed. (Well...the kids watched the movie. Grandma dozed!)

Our Thanksgiving feast is a cooperative effort with the children's other grandparents here in Plainfield. I supplied the turkey, but Judy is cooking it...plus stuffing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. I'm bringing the pecan tassies, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, and deviled eggs. What started out to be just a small celebration has grown over the past couple of days. I don't think we'll have to send out for pizza!

Megan and Denis are making a road trip to Zion National Park in Utah for their long weekend. Megan will call the children if she has cell service there. Robin was asking if she'd be able to talk to Mommy on Skype. We'll work on that!

I wish my family in Illinois the very best of blessings this day. (I love you, Shari. I'll be there next week!) To my friends, I am so thankful for you! May the day bring you joy and warm family times. To my daughter and son-in-law, I love you. Take care in your travels! Happy Thanksgiving to all!