Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m actually not feeling “thanksgiving-ish” in any way. We went to my parents’ cabin on Saturday, came home Sunday night, and have not been anywhere near a slice of turkey.
Turkey at the cabin was not a combination that appealed to any of the adults when we were planning food for this weekend, but when the kids were all sad about no turkey, and we adults were honest about our deepest feelings, I think we all realized that turkey is kind of necessary for Thanksgiving, cabin or no cabin.
So we will do things differently next year, but for this year, Thanksgiving was kind of like any other really nice weekend at the cabin. And that’s still nice!
We celebrated Anika’s birthday there – a little early.
We may not have had turkey, but we had Bean Cake.
For real. That sounds totally gross, but it tastes exactly like normal, amazing chocolate cake, but without any sugar or flour.
How it is possible to blend up black beans with other normal cake ingredients, and get something delicious is a complete mystery to me, but if you want to find out more, check out the recipe here.
And then you should make it, be amazed, and devour it’s completely healthy goodness before you rush out the door, hunt down my good friend Nikki, and hug her like she’s your new best friend, because she’s the one who first introduced me to Bean Cake, and without her, this blog post would not be possible.
And now, I’m off to roast a chicken, in an attempt to make today feel slightly more like Thanksgiving.
I wish you a wonderful day!
Ordinary Days 
I went to work today for an hour to meet a new student from the university I will be working with this semester. I have to admit I felt much like you this morning. I had a headache (which is a sign my back is acting up) but I had cleaned my bedroom yesterday and loved waking to the airiness. But still there was an undertone of “This doesn`t feel like a special day.” But then I met my student and heard the details of his/her life and suddenly had much to be thankful for! I have the ability to see my kids whenever I want, I can remember today, yesterday and last year without the effects of a head trauma, and I can learn anything I want to without the constraints of a mind that forgets easily what happened 2 minutes ago… suddenly the big dinner being prepared at home didn’t mean as much as the 45 minutes I spent in a local coffee shop with a new student… suddenly I had much to be thankful for.
I know what it feels like to not have the big turkey dinner… but I guess today God had a lesson in mind for me… I’m thankful for the learning.
God Bless you Kendra, Ben, Anika and Kayleigha
I highly recommend the bean cake…and apologize for being the adult most in favor of ditching the turkey this year!!
Oh, don’t worry about the turkey – I was in complete agreement with you right up until Sunday! Then I changed my mind.:) But a turkey dinner to clean up after without hot water would have been quite a big job!