Have you ever read Persuasion by Jane Austin?
In that book, there is a brief discussion about the company that people keep. According to Mr. Elliot (evil villian? sort-of), good company is people of rank and stature, regardless of their intellect or beliefs. According to our heroine Anne, good company is the kind of company where beliefs can be discussed, and brains are put to good use, and the people are agreeable. Mr Elliot immediately counters her arguments with the comment that her ideas of good company are not good company, they are "the best company".
If there is anything that can describe my Thanksgiving weekend, it would be the phrase, "the best company".
On Thanksgiving Day, we spent time with both Faramir's family and my family. The food was good. There was much laughter. It was generally a good time all around.
But Friday, for me, took the cake. . .and Saturday. . .oh wait, it was all good.
Friday I got to have lunch with Charette and Brillig. These two women are so fabulous! But then, you should know that already. Four hours sped by, and the only reason I stopped at four was because I needed to go back and be with my family. I'm 100 percent sure that Brillig stayed with Charette much longer. They are bffs, you know. We ate good food and laughed and talked. I also got a tour of 1/2 of Charette's house so I got to see all her paintings. She is amazing! Her work is so beautiful. She has some pictures up on her blog. You should go check it out! I'm grateful that Brillig and Charrette let me tag along. It was one of the best girl talk times I've had in ages.
Friday night was spent with my parents. Amongst other things, we watched The Muppets Christmas Carol. This happens to be on my top 10 of all time favorite movies. I love it! "The Best Company" can sometimes be a movie, especially if you are watching it with your family and the movie means something more than mindless entertainment!
(I also did a lot of shopping on Friday. Does going shopping with myself count as "The Best Company"?)
On Saturday, my sil called and asked me to come over and help tie a quilt.
Background information. . .Every year we have a Festival of Trees for the local children's hospital. I know this happens in a lot of different communities. People decorate trees, donate them to the hospital, and then people and business owners from the community come in and bid to buy the trees. Here, there are hundreds of entries contributed by local church groups, businesses and individuals.
My brother owns his own business and decided to donate a tree this year. The tree was due to be delivered yesterday and they had a quilt that was part of the theme. His theme was "Oh Come All Ye Golfers". The quilt was a twin sized flannel quilt that has golf balls, tees, words, etc.. So I went over to my brother's business and tied a quilt with my sil and her mom and occasionally my brother and my sil's father. We had a good time. We chatted and laughed and frantically tied.
Saturday night was a cousins party. My cousins.
I have a lot of cousins.
Not even half of them were at this party and there were at least 50 people there. (That number counts my aunts and uncles in attendance and my cousins and their families, and my family.)
This was only on my dad's side of the family.
I have a lot of cousins.
Anyway, again the company was "The best". I love walking into a room and being with a huge group of people that are going to love you, no matter what. This is generally the way my dad's whole family is. There are problems. We aren't perfect. But there is a whole lot of love. I saw cousins I haven't seen in a while who were in town for Thanksgiving. I saw cousins that I see pretty regularly. And through it all ran an undercurrent of love. We are a pretty tight family--comparatively speaking. I was awed, by the end of the night, at what I was seeing. I was grateful that my children could see this and enjoy the time. That they could find new friends--and these are friends they can always have. It was an astoundingly beautiful thing to watch.
Sunday . . .
Oh, well, Sunday was craziness, as my holiday Sunday's usually are. Church as good. Choir was fun--as always. I play the piano, along with two other women, and some of the songs I am playing give me a workout. This year Faramir and I are also in a small community orchestra and performing Handel's Messiah with them. It's fun. We aren't the best orchestra or choir, but we have a lot of fun.
Yesterday I got really lucky. I got to help my brother set up his tree at The Festival of Trees. That was a fun, albeit tiring experience. We had the tree already decorated, so it was just a matter of taking the tree in and setting up the other stuff around it. And looking at the tree in general to make sure that the tree looked good as a whole. It does look great and if I were a golfer, I'd buy the tree.
So, lots of "The Best Company".
And Christmas is going to be more of the same. Most of my family will be here this holiday season and I'm so very excited!
Love to you all and I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as mine was!
In that book, there is a brief discussion about the company that people keep. According to Mr. Elliot (evil villian? sort-of), good company is people of rank and stature, regardless of their intellect or beliefs. According to our heroine Anne, good company is the kind of company where beliefs can be discussed, and brains are put to good use, and the people are agreeable. Mr Elliot immediately counters her arguments with the comment that her ideas of good company are not good company, they are "the best company".
If there is anything that can describe my Thanksgiving weekend, it would be the phrase, "the best company".
On Thanksgiving Day, we spent time with both Faramir's family and my family. The food was good. There was much laughter. It was generally a good time all around.
But Friday, for me, took the cake. . .and Saturday. . .oh wait, it was all good.
Friday I got to have lunch with Charette and Brillig. These two women are so fabulous! But then, you should know that already. Four hours sped by, and the only reason I stopped at four was because I needed to go back and be with my family. I'm 100 percent sure that Brillig stayed with Charette much longer. They are bffs, you know. We ate good food and laughed and talked. I also got a tour of 1/2 of Charette's house so I got to see all her paintings. She is amazing! Her work is so beautiful. She has some pictures up on her blog. You should go check it out! I'm grateful that Brillig and Charrette let me tag along. It was one of the best girl talk times I've had in ages.
Friday night was spent with my parents. Amongst other things, we watched The Muppets Christmas Carol. This happens to be on my top 10 of all time favorite movies. I love it! "The Best Company" can sometimes be a movie, especially if you are watching it with your family and the movie means something more than mindless entertainment!
(I also did a lot of shopping on Friday. Does going shopping with myself count as "The Best Company"?)
On Saturday, my sil called and asked me to come over and help tie a quilt.
Background information. . .Every year we have a Festival of Trees for the local children's hospital. I know this happens in a lot of different communities. People decorate trees, donate them to the hospital, and then people and business owners from the community come in and bid to buy the trees. Here, there are hundreds of entries contributed by local church groups, businesses and individuals.
My brother owns his own business and decided to donate a tree this year. The tree was due to be delivered yesterday and they had a quilt that was part of the theme. His theme was "Oh Come All Ye Golfers". The quilt was a twin sized flannel quilt that has golf balls, tees, words, etc.. So I went over to my brother's business and tied a quilt with my sil and her mom and occasionally my brother and my sil's father. We had a good time. We chatted and laughed and frantically tied.
Saturday night was a cousins party. My cousins.
I have a lot of cousins.
Not even half of them were at this party and there were at least 50 people there. (That number counts my aunts and uncles in attendance and my cousins and their families, and my family.)
This was only on my dad's side of the family.
I have a lot of cousins.
Anyway, again the company was "The best". I love walking into a room and being with a huge group of people that are going to love you, no matter what. This is generally the way my dad's whole family is. There are problems. We aren't perfect. But there is a whole lot of love. I saw cousins I haven't seen in a while who were in town for Thanksgiving. I saw cousins that I see pretty regularly. And through it all ran an undercurrent of love. We are a pretty tight family--comparatively speaking. I was awed, by the end of the night, at what I was seeing. I was grateful that my children could see this and enjoy the time. That they could find new friends--and these are friends they can always have. It was an astoundingly beautiful thing to watch.
Sunday . . .
Oh, well, Sunday was craziness, as my holiday Sunday's usually are. Church as good. Choir was fun--as always. I play the piano, along with two other women, and some of the songs I am playing give me a workout. This year Faramir and I are also in a small community orchestra and performing Handel's Messiah with them. It's fun. We aren't the best orchestra or choir, but we have a lot of fun.
Yesterday I got really lucky. I got to help my brother set up his tree at The Festival of Trees. That was a fun, albeit tiring experience. We had the tree already decorated, so it was just a matter of taking the tree in and setting up the other stuff around it. And looking at the tree in general to make sure that the tree looked good as a whole. It does look great and if I were a golfer, I'd buy the tree.
So, lots of "The Best Company".
And Christmas is going to be more of the same. Most of my family will be here this holiday season and I'm so very excited!
Love to you all and I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as mine was!
Love this post, love the Jane Austen quote, love that you had such a great weekend. LOVE that you got to meet Charrette and Brillig! So jealous!
Wow, what a busy FULL weekend you had!
BTW, I printed your pita recipe, and am totally going to try it, can't wait!
Sounds like a wonderful weekend! :)
I am, quite naturally, jealous and sad to have missed out on such fun. But so incredibly happy for all your happiness this past weekend!
I totally agree that company makes or breaks any holiday and I've been lucky enough to have the kind of family where the company makes the holiday every time.
WOOHOOOO! What a fun day we had! And you're right. I stayed with Charrette until the poor girl threw me out once and for all (or something like that-- I had family stuff that I had to get to also). I'm so glad I got to spend some time with you. I'm honored that you'd include me in your "best company" post.
Oh, and your family's tree sounds great! My mother-in-law took our family to the Festival of Trees every year. It's a tradition I'm going to miss this year!
Wow! BUSY WEEKEND! I love family weekends! And that festival of trees sounds really fun!
One of these days I am determined to be in your company, which I am sure will be some of the best company.
And in my book, sometimes being alone and shopping is the best company :) !!
HOW did I miss THIS POST?!?
That lunch was truly fabulous, and I loved having you over to see my house and my paintings.
I, too, have the kind of family that also qualifies as "the best company" and our kids ALWAYS think of their cousins as "the best company".
So honored to be counted among yours. Great post!