Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope this day finds you spending time with loved ones, eating lots of turkey and pie, not arguing too much about Obamacare with your crazy uncle and taking a beautiful tryptophan induced nap.

To me, Thanksgiving is the greatest holiday. It's basically about eating and hanging out and thinking about what makes your life great. What's not to like about that?!?! Also, all the best foods are stars during Thanksgiving. Mashed potatoes. Sweet Potatoes (despite what Topher says.) Stuffing/ Dressing. PIE. (I could take or leave the turkey, frankly)

I have many, many things to be thankful for. But I wanted to take a minute to say who much I am thankful for all of you. Ken, Topher, Patrick, Brett and I started this little blog a couple of years ago to help promote our book. We didn't have an end game, we didn't know how long we'd keep it up for, and we knew that we were sort of a little late to the Blogging bubble. And while the blog has not yet (yet!!) progressed to the point where we can all quit our day jobs, I once got some free yogurt and a free spoon that is really great. But more than that, we get to write every week and we get friendly, positive, encouraging likes and comments from all of you. So thanks for reading, and reposting, and sharing and liking and all those things. Thanks for telling your friends to read, and sending us nice emails and notes. It always amazes me when someone that NONE OF US know in real life, reads this blog. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

If you need to keep reading so you can avoid hearing about the growth on your aunts ankle, here's a few more things to check out.

Ken's List of 100 things he is thankful for.
My thoughts on Pie. (Spoiler: I pie per adult in attencance at your Thanksgiving gathering.)
And if you are one of those people who is going shopping at 7pm on Thanksgiving day: a retailers's guide to Black Friday. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...Already.

So there you are, 9:30 at night and you realize you need a cup of sugar.  You could ask you neighbor but it's late and you hate them so you head to target.  You are wandering around the Home Decor section because you remember your sister-in-law's cousin pined these chevron candle sticks that you think might be on sale now that Halloween is over and before you know it, you realize that you are standing in the middle of a winter wonderland, complete with actual snow and Jewel singing "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear".  And you huff out in distain, "CHRISTMAS?!!  Already? That is disgusting!  Disgraceful!  Stores bring this crap out earlier and earlier just to make a buck well, I won't have it!" So you pull out your phone and update you status to the tune of "Those brash capitalist money grubbers!  Christmas right after Halloween?  What about Thanksgiving?!  Disgusting!  Disgraceful!"  and all your friends 'like' you in agreement and update similar statuses which are 'liked' by similar friends who update their status which are 'liked' forever and ever, amen.

So, you've done your part so you turn to leave and there you see it.  The small sign that says 'Holiday Decor 25% off'.  You pause for a moment and look at the offering and it's all disgusting and disgraceful but there are these adorable boiled wool ornaments of ballerina mice that your daughter will love and she'll pull out year after year to hang on the tree and she will name them and assign each one to a different member of the family and she will tell her own children, your grandchildren, about the Christmases she had at home hanging these mice by their tales in your flocked tree (you saw it on Pintrest and it's super coming back) and those grandchildren will gather in you lawyers office the week after you die, all of them holding each other grieving your loss, but also shooting sideways glances at each other each of them wondering the same question...who's gonna get Grandma's Christmas Mice...and they are 25% off.  So, you take the set, because, you justify, they will be gone by this weekend and you want to pick the ones with the cute faces and not be stuck with the leftovers at 2:00 am on Black Friday.

Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Swipe.

and you are on your way.  You pause for a moment at a stop light to check your phone and you get that twinge of excitement over seeing so many comments/likes over your 'Save Thanksgiving' status.


Well, let me tell you sweetheart.  Josh and I work retail, and if you are disgusted then just picture us, two months ago getting our Holiday Binders with plan-o-grams and concepts and holiday 'raps' ready to have a smooth roll out for Christmas on November 1st! Both of us thinking, it can't be time already?! Really?!  Didn't we just do this?!

AND YET....

There it goes, November 1st, and with it, baskets full of Christmas Loot leaving with a smiling customer who quips quips about the early bird and worms and such.

We sell it.

Every year earlier, every year more of it.

Josh's store has even started opening on Thanksgiving day (a terrifying trend) and you know what?! They make scads of money. You better believe if I'm the fat cat sitting on top of a huge company, home on Thanksgiving with my family, but my marriage was a little shaky this year and my wife thinks I don't appreciate her the way I did when we were dating, so I think I will get her a little something extra for Christmas and that something extra should probably be a yacht, then yeah, I'm gonna open on Thanksgiving, because people, even people with inscrutable commitment to tradition and the season, will shop, they will hand over fists full of cash to be able to have first.

Several years ago, I worked at a retailer in Orem, Utah who relocated its store to another part of Orem, Utah and part of the relocation was that we would be open on Sundays.  We whined and begged but the Company, based out of California, knew best and we were open on Sundays.  Years later, and just last Sunday, I drove by that store and it was closed for the day.  No one shopped.  The store didn't make enough money to keep the lights on and pay the employees and the company was loosing money and companies HATE to loose money so they closed, just for the day, because it made the most business cents (that's right).

So this is the world we have, it was given to us by our parents who lived on farms and had to hand make their Christmas decorations and chop down their Christmas Trees and the entire family budget for Christmas was an orange, and they took turns opening four handmade presents, two of which were a separated pair of crocheted socks and they were grateful, so grateful, in fact, they closed all the stores on Thanksgiving so they could all sit around a table and tell each other who thankful they were of all that they had and so the people who worked in the stores could to the same! And for one day in November the country gathered and reminisced and laughed late late into the night, because no one had to get up very early the next morning.    

Happy Pie-Day!!

Thanksgiving at my Mom's house last year. 18 pies.

I believe Thanksgiving needs three things to be successful: Turkey, Gratitude and Pie (not in that order.)  Sure I love many of the other elements of the meal, but for me, it is the pie that is king. I have long held that there should be one pie per adult in attendance at dinner. That's not to say that you need to eat a whole pie, (though if you need to, go ahead.) But you want the variety, the choice. What makes you feel more thankful than having to decide which of the 18 pies presented before you you are going to eat.

This year I am bringing 4 pies to my MILs. That way if someone else shirks their pie duty and only brings one, or -- the horror -- NONE AT ALL, I can offset it a little bit with my 4.

This years entrants:
Pioneer Woman's Pecan Pie - the best you'll ever eat.
Pioneer Woman's Cranberry Pie - I have a crush on the Pioneer Woman.
Ken's wife's apple pie - thanks for marrying someone awesome, Ken!
And a last minute entrant because I had some leftover dough - Lemon Meringue Pie. This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen big red book but this pie always reminds me of my Grandma Pendleton, who always had it at thanksgiving for me because she knew it was my favorite.

So have a wonderful day! May you be safe, happy and loved and full to bursting with pie.

Just me Givin' Thanks Ya'll

Alright, so here we are, all of us that read Part Time Authors and we are sitting at the dinner table and it's that time of year when we all go around the table and tell what we are thankful for.  Ken told us 100 things that were on top of the really big things like Family, Health and Faith...100 ON TOP of those!  Well, as there are literally thousands of us sitting at this table (and by 'Literally' I mean 'Figuratively' and by 'Thousands' I mean 8.) I will keep my list short.

I am thankful for everything.

That's it, nothing more, nothing less.  Really, I am saturated in blessings and to break them down would be wasteful of precious internet space. My family?! My family is incredible, my wife (who got her PhD this year so she can emotionally, physically, and financially support me) still loves me and still inspires me to be the man she sees when she looks at me.  My kids are amazing and amaze me and everyone who meets them daily.  I come from a loving family who still want to get together and try to one up the others. I have a lovely home that is warm and dry and stuffed with stuff that is more than I need but makes the place my own.  I am lucky to have a job and to work somewhere that I am appreciated and liked and where I make a difference....even if it's just to women needing a skirt.  I have more friends then I can maintain and yet they still hang around, untended but always there when I finally get my act together.  I have a car that can get me and my family where we have to go. I can take my kids to the doctor, me to the dentist, and my dog to the vet. There is food in my refrigerator so when my daughter yells, "Milk!" there is some to give her. I can go to church, any church I want, and believe any whack a-doodle thing I want and no one will kill me for it. I have a book club that makes me think I'm smarter and more smart than I am.  I get to write.  Each week I get to come here and spill whatever is rattling around in my brain and dump it out of my fingers and watch and see what it does.

I am grateful for all of it.

This world is ugly and terrifying and hard and disappointing a lot of time...but lots of times it's thoughtful and caring and brave and kind and gracious and friendly and beautiful.  And this year, I am thankful for that world.

This world:

      












So I guess I did make a list.  I love that list.

Thanks.

Happy Month of Thanksgiving!

Whenever I consider the abundance of blessings in my life, I always have my Top 5. I think most people do. And generally, the list includes such themes as faith, family, friends, and health. As I said, I’m no exception to this. If there were nothing else good in my life, I would maintain the greatest level of gratitude and graciousness because of these most foundational and fundamental blessings. My convictions of who I am , where I came from, and where I am going – and who I get to go there with – create the symbolic north star in my life.

But I should never stop there. We are encouraged to count our blessings and name them one by one. So in addition to the most essential and life affirming blessings I’ve already mentioned, I think I would like to try an experiment and see if I can write down the first 100 things that come to me for which I am grateful. Not in any particular order, and certainly not “least to greatest.” I want this to be more a stream of consciousness.

1. The funny.
2. The benefit of the doubt.
3. Witty conversation.
4. Personal stories of triumph – anybody’s.
5. The kindness of strangers.
6. Being trusted.
7. Coming home from anywhere to 16 arms that want to hug me.
8. Katie’s sense of humor.
9. The examples of spiritual leaders.
10. The musical talents of my children.
11. DVRs.
12. Sketch comedy.
13. Improvisation.
14. Dinner with friends.
15. Fresh guacamole.
16. Cheeseburgers.
17. Steak at Del Frisco’s.
18. Chilled watermelon.
19. Haagen-Dazs.
20. Almond M&Ms.
21. Hershey Nuggets
22. Personal notes, received from friends over the years, kept in a box, to be read anytime.
23. The Proclamation on the Family.
24. My parents’ support and confidence.
25. Six brothers and sisters who share their life’s experiences with me.
26. Autumn colors.
27. The Pacific Ocean.
28. Songs that take me back to specific times and places.
29. People who assume the best about me.
30. Forgiveness.
31. Receiving advice from trusted sources.
32. Katie’s unfailing belief in me.
33. People who take me to lunch.
34. Listening to somebody speak who is clearly the expert in the room.
35. Faithfulness.
36. Buying clothes without having to try them on.
37. Hearing a new song that immediately resonates and I swear I’ve known it my whole life.
38. Movies I’m ready to watch again the moment that they end.
39. Lucy’s mimicking.
40. Becca’s kisses.
41. Tanner’s smile.
42. Roxanna’s laugh.
43. Connor’s ingenuity.
44. Garren’s dedication.
45. Abbie’s articulation.
46. The love in my home.
47. No car payments.
48. Listening ears.
49. Scripture.
50. Tender mercies.
51. To have confidence in people I work with.
52. Katie’s conviction of her divinity as a woman.
53. Katie’s ability to prepare our children for success in their life’s decisions.
54. Danceable music.
55. Quiet music.
56. Home videos.
57. Other people’s vivid memories of things I’ve long since forgotten.
58. Originality.
59. Pioneers – of anything praiseworthy.
60. My senses.
61. Sleeping next to my wife.
62. Inner strength.
63. Written expression.
64. Spiritual promptings.
65. Personal revelation.
66. Priesthood blessings.
67. Emotional comfort.
68. Pillows.
69. Indoor plumbing.
70. Hot showers.
71. My children asking me to tell stories from when I was young.
72. Abbie being 15 and still holding my hand in public.
73. The goodness I feel in my children, just by being in their presence.
74. Independently owned restaurants.
75. People who offer us hand-me-downs.
76. Colors of the sky at sunset.
77. Herbal remedies.
78. Light, in every sense of the word.
79. Plates of treats dropped off by neighbors and friends.
80. Compliments. I can live an entire month on one compliment.
81. The remarkable generosity of all my in-laws.
82. Books.
83. iPods.
84. My iPhone.
85. Couches and blankets, together.
86. Christmas movies.
87. Having the perfect gift for somebody.
88. Houseguests.
89. Excellent seats at concerts.
90. To be able to travel and see different cultures.
91. Old friends.
92. New friends.
93. For friendships that can go years without communication and pick right back up as if no time has passed.
94. Mentors.
95. Freedom.
96. Exercise.
97. Massages.
98. Quotes that inspire me to keep doing what I’m doing or to change what I’m doing.
99. That there’s still time left.
100.  Feeling that my life is better than I deserve.