Sweat & Sparkle

The Football Game

My husband and I took a 3-day weekend to head out of town, even though we knew it was going to make the rest of this week very hectic. With work, holiday travel, planning, and just daily life, it wasn’t logically a great decision to go away, but it was an early Christmas present for my husband, so I wanted to make it happen.

I was shopping online for a football jersey from his favorite college team when it crossed my mind: why give him a shirt, when I can give him the experience of a game?

So that’s what we did. We packed up our fan gear and hit the road. We got to the stadium early to check out the tailgating vendors, the music, the excitement. We got to see the coach and the team arrive on the bus. (Well, he did, since he’s tall. Me? I stared at people’s backs but clapped anyway).

We went to our seats and right away hit it off with a couple with a young boy seated in front of us. A small crew formed around us, strangers laughing and joking and cheering together through the game. It was pretty damn cool.

The trip was a gift for my husband, but I had a blast, too. We had a nearly 6 hour drive home, and we talked about the game and how we want to do it again next season and anything else that popped into our heads. My husband got quiet for a moment, then reached over, patted my leg, and said, “Thank you.”

It made me happy to see him so happy. I think that is what is missing in so many relationships these days. People are so focused on what the other person should do for them, that they forget a relationship is a two-way street if it’s going to work, be healthy, and grow. It’s give and take. Love isn’t just a fancy, frilly word to toss around casually. Love is compassion, respect, honor, loyalty, honesty, and treasuring each other. Anything less simply isn’t love.

Going to the game meant having one weekend day to get everything done, from cleaning, to wrapping presents for relatives I will see this week, to laundry, to grocery shopping, to sipping chocolate wine (it’s not going to drink itself, now is it?) It made for a hectic Sunday, but it was absolutely worth it. At heart, we are homebodies, but sometimes it’s fun to have a little adventure together, too.

Soon!

Don’t Skip Thanksgiving

It happens every year, but it still tremendously irks me. Even before Halloween decorations have been taken down, stores stampede to toss Christmas trees and wreaths and flashing lights over every square inch like gaudy confetti, and they urge you to shop, shop, shop until you’re exhausted (and broke).

In the middle of it all, completely forgotten, pushed aside, ignored once again, is Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a quieter, more sedated, low-key holiday. I love Halloween, and we go all-out with our decorations. Although we don’t get nearly as elaborate with Thanksgiving decorations, I still have a soft spot for this holiday.

I like the idea of slowing down for a moment, taking time to reflect on what we might otherwise take for granted: people, family, jobs, pets, love, anything and everything that makes us smile or brings happiness to our lives. It’s important to acknowledge that and to make sure others know we appreciate them, and to remind ourselves of all that we have.

I look around our home, the yard that my husband and I put so much into, and I remember how hard we worked to find a place we both fell in love with. I see all the changes we have made to put our personal touch on it, make it ours. I am grateful not only for all of that, but for finding my true partner in the first place to do all of this with.

For years, this holiday has meant traveling up north to spend a few days with my mom in my childhood home, and hopefully seeing my brothers, too. It still stings that I won’t be seeing my mom anymore, but I can’t stay trapped in the sadness and loss. My mom liked to decorate too, especially when my brothers and I were still little, and some of the Thanksgiving decorations in my home now were once hers. It means a lot to me to place them where I can see them and feel just a little bit closer to her.

I don’t like the frantic, thoughtless, mad rush straight to Christmas, as if Thanksgiving is a nothing holiday that doesn’t matter. Today, to be honest, it means more than ever. The more people bury their faces in cell phones, the more we need direct, human-to-human, genuine contact. The more people prize material things and inanimate objects, the more we need to emphasize the value of friends, family, loved ones. The more people immerse themselves in artificial interactions on social media, the more we desperately need neighbors, conversations, families telling stories, meaningful connections and authentic relationships.

So yes, I know Christmas is coming, and I don’t hate or reject Christmas. But a holiday focused on gratitude, thankfulness, and family should not be skipped over in the haste to get to presents and Santa Claus. Each year, it seems that Thanksgiving dims more and more, and each year, it seems like we need it even more than ever.