Lots to be Thankful For

A whirlwind of a Thanksgiving weekend, but definitely a lot of fun. It was great to have Casey home for the holiday and we look forward to the start of her Winter break next week. This picture of her laundry bag is precious to me because that laundry bag belonged to my mom. When we were cleaning things out of their house, I took this blue denim laundry bag and a white cloth bag that we used every year when we went to Maine. At the time, I didn't know what I was ever going to do with the laundry bags, but when we headed to Ireland this summer, those two laundry bags went with us. The white bag was Mom's laundry bag in nursing school and still has the remnants of her name, Marjorie McDonald, and her classmates. Casey used the blue bag while in Ireland and when it came time to pack up for college she took it with her. So the other morning, I came downstairs and saw the laundry bag full of dirty laundry sitting by the washing machine. The memories flooded back.
Our Thanksgiving morning breakfast was the result of a very cooperative effort. Larry squeezed the OJ, Greg made scrambled eggs, Casey made pancakes, and I took care of the bacon. What a feast and what a nice tradition!!

The day after Thanksgiving, Casey and I were at the mall by 6:30 am and selfishly shopped for ourselves. It was fun and didn't seem as crowded as past years. We came home and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful day before going to cut down our tree at Holiday Farm.

We have cut down our tree every year at Holiday Farm since 1990 and we have 16 Christmas mugs to prove it. It wouldn't be the same without our annual trek to the tree farm. The house is now decorated and putting me in the Christmas spirit. I have lots of shopping still to do, but I am trying not to stress out about it. This holiday season is hectic enough, but I volunteered to run the blood drive at work as well. My goal is to get a big turnout for the blood donation day on December 21.
I have always donated my time to Wrapping Presence and visiting nursing homes with gifts, but this year I was unable to do that because of my work schedule. So this year, instead, I am taking part in something just as close to my heart - blood donation. I remember how many times my Mom had to have platelets given to her to keep her alive. This year, my community service will be giving back to something that gave me more time with my mother. So I close on this bit of "blood trivia" -
Despite all of the technological advances, one thing hasn't changed: blood cannot be stockpiled. It has a limited shelf life and must be constantly replenished. For example, platelets for leukemia and cancer patients last only 5 days, while plasma for treatment of burns or shock can last 1 year, frozen. While a limited amount of whole blood can be frozen, not all of its vital components can. New blood donations are needed every day.