Southern Comfort, Northern Cold, Much Thankfulness and A Little Frustration!

I guess it's true.....you can take the girl out of the South, but you cannot take the south out of the girl. To my pure delight as I was strolling in the grocery store down the cereal isle.....way down on the bottom shelf (trying to look inconspicuous) and hiding behind the "Old Fashion Oat Meal" was a box of GRITS !! Oh be still my heart!!!! I've been here in Maine a little over 2 years and I have not had grits since we stopped at a Crackle Barrel restaurant on our 4 day trip driving here from San Antonio, Texas. It would be a total total total understatement to say that people in New England do not eat grits........in fact I joke with John sometimes that it's like the judge in the movie "My Cousin Vennie" when the judge asks Joe Pesci..."What's a grit?" John makes the most awful face when I even talk about grits (he did try them once and needless to say...once was enough for him)..........but it is never 'once is enough' for me. I love grits! I like them cooked in the morning as a cereal with butter, sugar and milk. Now that my friends, to a little gal who spent most of her life in Texas and was born in New Orleans, is pure delightful southern comfort.

Ummm Ummm Ummm Ummm Ummm! I think I'll have a bowl tomorrow morning because it's warm and yummy on cold mornings....and land sakes alive.....are we having cold mornings...in the 20's with wind chills in the teens. The weatherman says we are having January weather in November. That's an understatement, but not a surprise to me. The Farmer's Almanac says our area is to be much colder and get more snow in the next couple of months than we did last year......and even Mainers who have lived here all their lives would say we had tons of snow last year. But I think it is all relative. There are people here and across the United States and I imagine the world for that matter who love snow and all the fun activities it brings with it. We always say Maine has the most beautiful weather except for the 4 months when it's so cold and snowy..............but then right down in San Antonio, my sweet Daddy has said, "the weather in San Antonio is great....except for the 4 months when it's so brutally hot". So to each his own. We all have some give and take. That's what makes the world interesting.

This morning the mums, with flora and foliage now frozen close to resembling only dead weeds in a pot, took a much needed hike to the back woods of our land and the pumpkins that have made our front porch "festively fall" and "autumny" will be split in half and laid out in those same woods to make lots of little creatures happy and lots of little tummies full. By the end of the week the indoor "Indian Corn", "Fake Autumn Leaves", and " Pumpkin and Spice Flavored Candles" will be put back in the box in the basement labeled "Fall Decorations" and we will have a couple of weeks of 'just normal' living room and dining room before the Christmas decorations go up.....and those will be few. John and I are of the common agreement that "less is more". We like simple, plain and orderly.....I like to call it quiet elegance. It drives us both nuts that lots of stores already had Christmas things out before Halloween was over and the radio stations are already playing Christmas songs. But I guess that is all relative too. I think as we grow older one of the main things on our minds is thinking of all the ways we can slow time down......and having to think about Christmas at the end of October is not one of those ways. (Although, I'll have to admit, I like to get my shopping done early and have in years past had it all done and wrapped by the weekend after Thanksgiving).....I am not a fight the crowds for last minute gifts type of person! But on the other hand, the little ones can't wait and the longer they can think about it and have time to hint what they want Santa to bring, the better.

John and I have talked a lot lately about how lucky we are....to have found each other (although I think God put John and I where he wanted us to be at just the time we needed to be there and made the rest of our story unfold the way it did and continues to do....I'm not much of a believer in luck. I think 'things' happen for a reason and there is a much bigger picture (that we may never fully understand) called "life" that is guided by a greater being. But luck or fate or whatever it is....we are ever mindful of the blessings we have. We are ever aware of how many people---right here in this little village we live in (and all over the world), are overwhelmed with the needs they have of putting food on the table, how they are going to heat their homes and clothe their children, how they are going to pay the bills or get medicine and health care.

As Thanksgiving approaches we hope you will all join us in taking time to be thankful for the things you have (however great or small they are).

As Christmas approaches we struggle with what to get each other because there's not a lot we really need or want.....perhaps because we're lucky, perhaps because we're older and material things are not important.....we have our health, a warm home and food on our table.....but most importantly we have each other and for that we are thankful.....at Thanksgiving, at Christmas time and all through the year.

I always love the song that says: "It's not the things you do at Christmas time, but the Christmas things you do all year through".....and the other song that says "To love and be loved is the greatest gift of all".

So with thoese thoughts in mind, if you read the title of this post, you must be wondering what the "little frustration" is............well the day I started writing this post (*I never seem to get them written in one setting)....I was trying to connect my work laptop to my home wireless connection....cannot for the life of me get it hooked up!!!! Still can't....But in the whole scheme of things, that's all it is .....a little frustration....to be dealt with another day.

Oh and one more thing I have to be thankful for......I now have a new "Northern Comfort"....a big steaming bowl of haddock chowder....or as we say it up here....haddock chowda....Yum Yum Yum!

Take care and I'll write more soon!