1. We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We got a catered meal, smoked turkey with all the fixings, and a pie or three. We sat down with the family members who were available and enjoyed a delicious meal and some football and some pie. And then I left the whipped cream at my mother’s place, the good kind that squirts out, and I was so sad. I had leftover pumpkin pie. How could I eat that without the whipped cream? Isn’t that the point of whipped cream? Well, as I learned at breakfast yesterday, I like pumpkin pie. I like it fine without the whipped cream. I didn’t know that before this year. So I learned something, and I ate something, and we were all grateful for the weekend.
2. This weekend, I got the chance to finish watching PBS Masterpiece’s Magpie Murders, which I loved. It was based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz, and it was absolutely lovely. I was so impressed. And I also got to finish watching Annika. I struggled with it some. Nicola Walker is lovely—I’ve adored her for years—but the character breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience, and I wasn’t sure about that part. I saw the third episode first, since we actually watched PBS that night instead of football, and then went back and watched the first couple of episodes. But I think it wasn’t until the fourth episode that I fell in love with it. And now I’m sad that it’s over. I think there will be more, which I am excited about, if only to see more of that moody Glasgow scenery. It’s so beautiful! And I’m hoping for another season of Magpie Murders (or will they call it Moonflower Murders, the name of the second book?) as well as a third book about Atticus Pund and Susan Ryland to enjoy.
3. Usually, when I’m on this computer (it’s a laptop), I’m sitting at the dining room table. I can see out back, and lately my view has been of fallen leaves, slate gray skies, barren branches, and an occasional squirrel running around. To me, it looks like late fall/winter. It reminds me of being a kid. The house I grew up in was at the bottom of a hill, and for awhile my best friend lived at the top of the hill. I remember walking back from her house and looking up at a sky that looked like that, at trees that looked like that. All that’s missing is the smell of fireplaces burning, and I’m ten again, waiting to get days off from school and wondering what Santa is going to bring. (Okay, I think I knew about that last part by then, but my parents were still pretending). But it’s a nice way to connect to that kid that’s still in there somewhere, even if just for a moment or two.
*what is making me happy this week
