Hi Everyone! I'm still around. Doing ok. Went back to work part-time until the end of the year to help them out during an employee crunch. Busy helping DD with her 3 boys as she begins a new chapter in her life as a single parent. Breaks my heart watching her going through so much heartbreak. Sorry men! And that's all I've got to say about that! I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving. We did. My feet, knees and back were hurting so bad by the time I finished cooking the meal and trying to make the table pretty that I didn't take any pictures. Sort of simple, but nice. DD offered to come up and help, but with the 2 year old into everything I figured it would be easier to do it myself. Had to take a pain pill and lay on heating pad to go to sleep last night. Next year I will start earlier and accept more help. It's tough to admit my body is getting old and letting me down when I want to do so much. Still haven't bought any more dishes since my last post about a year or so ago. DH hasn't had time or money to get the storage closet built, yet. Any extra money has been spent helping DD who was a stay-at-home Mom get financing to keep her house, do repairs to it and get it ready for winter so no pipes will freeze. I'm spending a lot of time lurking on the cooking forum. I had gotten in a rut making the same old-same old. DS is very active in track, which keeps us busy. It is almost year round with indoor, outdoor and cross country. BUT, we are still Blessed in so many ways and I'm glad to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving. How precious my family ( that includes y'all)is to me. Mr Turkey (pic from last year) was present on our table this year. We had 8 people and only 4 plates of each pattern, so I alternated place settings. It worked out well, I think. I think of everyone here often. I've even lurked, but didn't have time to share anything. Alfred and I miss shopping for dishes. I was surprised when he told me he missed it! As I'm hunting for Christmas wrapping paper and boxes to use for presents, I'm finding dishes I had forgotten I had purchased. Maybe I will get around to setting a table with them. Love y'all. Going Christmas shopping now. First time ever on Black Friday for me. Wish me luck. lol Betty

Remember what Readinglady said when her Dad passed away on Thanksgiving: "Nothing is lost, it is simply unseen". Thank you for that poem, this first Christmas without Dad or Stepdad was very different. We didn't even try to make things the same, we started some new traditions, as difficult as it was. Elery got a Santa Claus suit and came as Santa, enthralling all the little kids, that's going to be a new Christmas tradition we keep, I think. Dad would have loved telling the kids how the reindeer were down at his hayfeeder, but I'm sure he was just sitting and chuckling anyway. Annie

Yes, thanks for remembering. Eileen, I enjoyed hearing your remembrances. I lost my father four years ago and then my mother this April. DH Joe lost his dad around the time as mine and then six weeks after my mother's passing, his mom unexpectedly died in June. So this is our first year as "orphans". It is strange to now be the ones who are the oldest living generation and for the first time, I feel an odd connection with relatives past that I never even knew. I've inherited photos back to the mid 1800's and I can feel that I am part of a string of generations that is stretching out into the past. I was blessed with loving caring parents who sacrificed and showed their love daily. When my father passed away, I told everyone that I had lost the one person in the world who thought that I was perfect. Sometimes people questioned this and asked about DH Joe or my mother and I would say that they KNEW I wasn't perfect!!! But I felt that I was perfect in my father's eyes. Strangely, my mother filled his shoes after his passing and I realized that she had the same faith in me even though it was sometimes hidden under motherly "concern"! Whenever I make the turkey gravy, I feel my father with me and there is usually a sad moment or two at the stove. This was always his job at holiday time and he would carve a little turkey from a leg to add to to the gravy, walk around offering crispy skin on the carving fork to whoever would come in the kitchen, and stir and taste, I'd come in and he'd offer me a spoonful to check for salt....... the gravy always was perfect.... made with love! This year with my mother gone too will be rough. I keep thinking that I need to find a gift for her and then I remember.... Grace

I haven't been on Houzz in almost over a year. Good to see the names of those still posting here, but so sorry to see the names of those we've lost. Truly surprized to hear about Ruthie-she was one of those who I thought would always be here. When I first came to the KT in 1999, I was 46. At that time, one of our posters (who obviously like Math) took the KT'rs ages and the average was 47. This month I will turn 63--I honestly don't know where the time has gone. And, FWIW, my memory is terrible as well.