Thanksgiving week...

is a really busy time for most.

For me, it is a weird week.
Firstly, this is a fairly new 'holiday' for me... okay, not so new (I have been a resident/citizen of the US now for 18 years).. but I didn't grow up with American Thanksgiving which is a whole lot bigger than Canadian Thanksgiving. (Then, of course there is the whole I-don't-eat-turkey thing but not really a big deal.) And the kids are home for 5 days!
There is also the knowledge that winter is creeping up on us ....
(before it is officially winter) so... we can have snow (like we might get tonight) and we can have colds/sore throats/etc (like the ones we all have right now!).

I usually realize around now that one of the kids is in desperate need of some sort of outerwear that (s)he has grown out of and I am running around town trying to find something. Nature Boy's winter jacket ...
is waaaaaay too small now! and Teenager wants to know how it got so small!!! He is a growing 12 year old (for goodness sakes!!!) from a long line of very tall men on both sides of our families and to top it off, the men on my MIL's side have especially large feet (Nature Boy is all ready wearing a size 10)!!!!

And then there is the 'anniversary' (that sounds almost celebratory, though) of the day (11/24/05, Thanksgiving Day that year) Sugarbaby was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I am so thankful that overall, she is the same kid...a sloppy, bright, outgoing, playful, obstinate, humorous princess. But deep down.... I resent the fact that she will be burdened with this challenge for the rest of her life!

Life typically is normal, routine, even mundane at times but most kids at 9 years of age aren't pricking their fingers 5-10x per day, counting the carbohydrates they eat, and having needles stuck in their bodies frequently. I am thankful for the invention of an insulin pump (a pump does not regulate diabetes but helps to manage it) instead of sticking needles into her body many times a day. But we also have to remember the importance of healthy eating (luckily she likes fruits, veggies, and a whole lot of other good foods, along with candy!), exercise (our prima skaterina, tree climber, moving almost all the time!), and taking good care of ourselves to prevent the complications of this disease when she is older.

So it is a little bittersweet.... sad that there is this diabetes in our lives but glad that life is so good to her.

And the good news... Sugarbaby passed her first USFSA (US Figure Skating Association) test yesterday!!!! This coming weekend, she and I are going to indulge in a love of figure skating by attending the opening night of the Stars on Ice show in Lake Placid!!!!


In the meantime, Thanksgiving week begins that PANIC in me that I have a month (and in many cases, a lot less!) until I have to finish some gifts !!!! Like several pairs of fingerless mitts...
Nature Boy ...

and Sugarbaby...

joined me in the art of knitting this past week. Teenager is too cool now for this kind of stuff!!

Oh! last week, a package arrived addressed to me...

and since I wasn't home, my kids hovered over it as it sat on the kitchen table, until I arrived home.

It was a parcel from my wonderful, bloggy friend, Kellie, who recently had the chance (lucky gal!) to travel to the US (albeit, the other side of the country) to visit. She sent Sugarbaby this wonderful sock monkey...

and for me... the mother load of Aussie magazines!!!
which you all know that I looooove!!! Thanks again Kellie. And if you haven't checked out her blog, you must!!! She makes the most remarkable quilts!!!

I have all ready marked a variety of projects....

to add to my to-do list!

And speaking of my to-do list, I have another project checked off!!!

A pair of stockings (hers and his) that are to be a wedding present for Sugarbaby's 4th grade teacher (who also has type 1 diabetes and you don't know how great that can be!)... who are to wed in a week and a half...
paperpiecing, a little embroidery, a little felt for embellishments...

meandering quilting with stars...
and meandering quilting with connections (a la Carol Taylor)...

Next... a couple of rush Christmas projects that didn't make it to my written to-do list, but are on the list etched in my brain!!!