THE TURKEY BOX

OK, here's the tradition. For the past 100 years (give or take) the Thue Family has had a Thanksgiving Tradition called: The Turkey Box. Each year a different person constructs a receptacle that looks like a turkey (sometimes you have to squint your eyes to see it, but it IS a turkey,ok?)

Throughout the week before thanksgiving the Turkey Box is prominently displayed in the home, along with strips of paper and pencils. EACH and EVERY member of the family simply cannot wait to write on the strips of paper all the many things they are thankful for, and leaves them anonymouse. The 'thankfuls' are often funny, or sarcastic, or witty, and many times touching and meaningful. The papers are deposited into the box, and after dinner/before pie on Thanksgiving Day, Dad opens the box and reads the contents aloud. Everyone has fun guessing who wrote what, and it is always entertaining and fun. For the past several years, our family has been scattered at Thanksgiving time...from Saskatchewan to the Dominican Republic, from Arizona to Washington DC, from Nevada to Saratoga Springs; but we never fail to do 'the Turkey Box'. The honorary Turkey Box Creator this year was Sadie, the crafty masterpiece is pictured above.

So calling all Thue Family Members...Thues in DC, Grovers in Manhattan Beach, CA, Phillips in Mesa, AZ...enter your thank-yous here (on this blog). I will print them out and deposit them in said box and they will be read on thursday. I will also list them here on friday, and even tho we are all far apart, we will feel closer, because of "THE TURKEY BOX". Traditions keep our family close and I am thankful for that. Hey...that's a thankful...I'm gonna write that one down.

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HEY! HOW COME NOBODY EVER POSTS ON MY BLOG???

I would just like to know...

Sunday in Mt. Vernon with Matt & Tara

The weather vane is a 'dove of peace' chosen especially for the cupola atop the main house at Mt. Vernon by George Washington himself.

These lanterns are hung all over the propery at Mt. Vernon. I thought this one was particularly "Halloweenie" with the spider webs all over it...and it was all Mother Nature's doing, no

special effects here.

Ron and Matt snuck off in the gardens, while Tara and I were taking pictures, to check their fantasy football standings...I guess a guy can only take so much history and culture, eh?

Some berries growing in the HUGE gardens...

"Sunday in Mt. Vernon with Matt & Tara


OK, that was my really lame take-off on a Sondheim musical, "Sunday in the Park with George", which was based on a painting of closely the same title by Georges Seurat...ANWAY.

The next few blogs will be an out- of -order account of our LONG trip, that took us to
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Martha's Vineyard, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

WHEW!


This post is of the 6 days we spent in DC with Matt & Tara, and they were great hosts. Among other things, we had some fun meals out together, went to a driving range where the golf balls are digitized (that's probably not the right word, but whatever) and their distance and landings were tracked and displayed on a screen in each individual driving area (again, I'm sure there is a word for that too...could someone please respond to this post with the right terminology?). Tara fixed us a gourmet salmon dinner, I spent several hours (as opposed to my fantasy of weeks) in the Smithsonian Museums, Ron and Matt went golfing on a course with a close up view of the Washington Monument. We saw Mount Vernon, the US Printing & Engraving headquarters, a midnight- practically- private- tour of the Jefferson Memorial and Roosevelt Memorial, saw the actual White House, and the Holocaust Museum. Not to mention my harrowing adventure in a Hospital ER somewhere in Viriginia; the only good thing about that experience was my gallant ambulance drivers: Matt & Ron. Thanks guys! I believe later that same evening there was a televised presidential debate...I highly (that's a pun folks) recommend watching those things AFTER being heavily medicated for a migraine.
(see my previous post.)

That's all you can take for now I'm sure. Watch here for another random chapter in the account of
Debbie and Ron's 30th Wedding Anniversary-Vow-Renewal-Adventure!

What I did on my DC Vacation...

The Scream(Norwegian: Skrik)
Edvard Munch, 1893
Oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard
91 × 73.5 cm
National Gallery, Oslo

Actually, this is not ALL I have done on my vacation, just the most recent in memory. Yesterday, after a trip to the National Holocaust Museum (excellent, more later), and the National Bureau of Engraving and Printing (aka. the money factory), I unfortunately was struck with a horrible migraine. Matt and Ron rescued me to a Virginia area urgent care, hours later we were sent to a hopsital ER, where, finally, they gave me something to interrupt it's progress. I HONESTLY believe that Edvard Munch MUST have been a migraneur himself, because that is the only thing AWFUL enough to have inspired such a work. I'm just sayin...

Vow Renewal #5

First of all, this pic of us at a baseball game accidentally jumped onto this post, and I couldn't figure out how to remove it, so just pretend you don't see it...it has nothing to do with this post.

This August 19th Ron and I will have been married for 30 years...AAAHHH! So to commemorate this momentous occasion we are doing 30 'mini vow renewals' in 30 different locations that have significance to our history together. This one (#5) is the site of our first 'public' kiss. We had enjoyed exactly 3 dates, the BYU semester was over, and Ron was returning to Saskatchewan for the summer to work. I was staying behind in SLC to continuing working. I took him to an address on Margaret street where he was to meet the other Canucks he was carpooling home with, and he caught me by suprise and kissed me goodbye..whereupon I informed him of my opinion on public displays of affection (negative). We sure didn't know eachother very well, in fact it's kinda scary that we got married 3 months from this incident. We said goodbye on Margaret Street in May '78, I visited him in canada for 1 week in july, and the next time we saw eachother was 3 days before our wedding on the 19th of august. Hard to believe, eh? Actually my theory is that if we had dated any longer, I probably would have talked us out of getting married at all, so - lucky for me - 3 dates (plus the farewell on this street), and the thrice repeated proposal worked out perfectly. I'm so glad Ron was persistent.
So kids, that's the story behind vow renewal #5. I'll post a few of the remaining 29 on this station over the next few weeks. Sneak Peak: our 30th will transpire in the place that our eyes first met, Spring of 1976, on the shores of Cape Tormentine, Nova Scotia, Canada, where Ron picked me up from the first ferry of the season to come off of Prince Edward Island. Romantic, huh? Who knew???

Trees !

Our little trees that we planted less than a year ago are finally starting to take off. I think they actually grow faster than the corn planted in the farmer's fields next to our house (and that's pretty fast...it is almost 'as high as an elephant's eye"). It is as if they grow a hundred leaves each, in the dark, every night after we go to bed...when I wake up in the morning and look out back I am so suprised! They are suddenly not my 'little trees' anymore...they are hardly recognizable from the 24 wobbly twigs we put into the ground last fall. YAY! Soon we will have a natural privacy fence and shade in our backyard. And I can't wait for autumn...it will be so pretty ! Ain't nature amazing!?!
And ain't I amazing for actually being able to get a picture and a post on my blog all by myself?!? YAY me! I'd better be careful, or I might get grounded from exclamation points and the BOLD button...hee...hee...hee

SERIOUSLY!

SERIOUSLY! Someone PLEASE check out my play list...I mean I went to all that work and everything...with technology...I'm just saying....

PS re: My Last Post

Oh yeah...I forgot...the playlist is actually at the bottom right of this page...
herp-a-derrrrr...

My New Playlist

Check it out...I actually made a playlist all by myself...that is until I couldn't get it to copy onto this blog, then Mally had to help me. Oh well, any baby steps that involve technology count for lots of points with me. I think my selections are pretty good. I think you might enjoy it...I like to see what other people are listening to...reply here and let me know what you're listening to these days.

OK...seriously...the last one...

more cat pictures

OK...one more...

more cat pictures

Maybe this is why I post so seldomly...

a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/04/27/funny-pictures-2-go-bak-on-teh-interwebs/">
more cat pictures

Watch this on U TUBE

Ok, So I know I haven't posted for awhile (understatement), and most of you know why (major life-changing occurence...henceforth referred to as "LCO"...meaning justabout died...and haven't thought how to put it into words yet). However, about the same time I was having my "LCO" I happened on a utube post that is amazing, all the moreso because of my "LCO". You can watch in on utube, search "Randy Pausch" or "The Last Lecture", or it is now available in book form of the same title and author. It's just all around good and perspective changing (or at least perspective improving or validating, depending where you are in your individual life at any given moment).
SEE? Now you know why I haven't yet posted about my LCO. I just am not too good with words right now...hopefully that will improve over time...hope so. Anyway, watch here for a post titled "MY LCO" in the near future...hopefully.

See This Movie!

Alright, so anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I'm a movie freak, and I'll see just about anything more than once. I was even so desperate a week ago I saw a move called, "The Eye", starring Jessica Alba...don't even ask...Anyway I usually see movies at least 3 times, so my reviews on movies are not taken very seriously. Even so, I saw a little indy movie the other day that I cannot recommend highly enough. It is called, "Lars and the Real Girl" and it is just so good, and deep, yet comical and entertaining, great for discussion afterwards, except I don't have anyone to discuss with, so I'm putting it here. PLEASE leave a comment if you've seen it, if you haven't seen it yet (it is now available to rent), that is now your assignment. Then you must come back here and leave me a comment. That's all I have to say about that.

A Starter...not a finisher..

OK folks, I've been informed I need to post something/anything on here or get the heck off - so here goes...
Actually it was this "request" that brought me to the subject of this rant. This blog is one in a long list of things that I have started and not finished. This is one of my greatest weaknesses and regrets, the fact that I really am a BRILLIANT starter, and a sloth when it comes to finishing things...anything...thoughts even...heck thoughts probably most of all.
I made a mental list the other day of "projects" in my house that I have started and not finished. The grand total? 21. And that's just in the last 18 months. These aren't little things either, like books or sandwiches, nooooo, these are biggies like for instance ohhh re-upholstering a couch. And it's almost as though it would be better if I had never started the things to begin with. At least if you're THINKING of re-covering a piece of furniture, it just sits there in one piece and is functional while it is waiting for it's new clothes. But me, I have to tear the thing apart, spread it all over the place, staple on a couple different fabrics to see "how they look in the light in the morning", and suddenly it's 4 months later, and I seem to have no qualms about inviting somebody in to actually sit down on the thing while it continues it's evolution. "Don't mind the pins, I'm just in the middle of recovering it.." AAAHHH! My whole life is half-finished tasks, and just begun projects. And here's another thing. After living with one of my "starts" in it's metamorphic state for awhile, I don't even see it as unfinished anymore. Yup, I'm so good at seeing what something "could" look like with a little facelift, that I actually just begin to SEE it, as though the surgery was already complete and the patient has fully recovered. Heck, in my case, the patient has already recovered and gone shopping, and got a new hair-do, had 3 more kids, and looks just great, thank you very much, when in all reality, it is still really just a chair in so many pieces on the ground...with pins in it...
The biggest thing on my "to be finished..." list is my degree...which I started awhile ago...ok...35 years ago. So now, I hereby promise to turn over a new leaf. (Although technically, isn't turning over a new leaf just another way of saying I'm "starting" another thing....that i probably won't finish...again?!?)
ANYWAY, I'm gonna do it. I'm going to join "Club FINISH", by choosing one thing from my list every month (I know, I really aim for the stars, don't I?) and finishing it. And I will post my accomplishments here, where I can be really embarassed and appropriately prodded. I am already enrolled in my first class back at BYU , AND I am going to finish dressing that chair with all the pins in it...my visiting teachers will be so relieved.

Christmas in Mesa