Dawn Is Me

Well, evidently, this guy wasn’t:

That’s gotta be the funniest football frock-up I’ve seen in a long time! And props to Da G for sharing.

I haven’t been in here in a little while, so I haven’t told you yet that we’ve had something of an event in the Baker household.

Gina has had a birthday.

Not just any birthday, either. Gina turned 20 last Saturday.

Now, compared with either 18 or 21, you may not think of 20 as all that big a deal. Ah, but you see, turning 20 (as Gina herself pointed out to … somebody) means you are officially no longer a teenager.

It’s funny, we notice things like the “official” beginning of teenagerdom at the age of 13. I’m sorry to say that I,for one, had never considered its natural end at age 20.

This is why I need children, to teach me these things.

As events have unfolded, I soon had real and tangible proof that Gina is, indeed, no longer a teenager.

You see, a couple of months ago, in a moment of sisterly initiation, I happened to see her carefully instructing her younger sister. “Rule number one of being a teenager,” she told Kimmie. “You must have your cell phone with you at all times.”

So, the day before yesterday, when I heard Kimmie yelling at Gina (who had just gone downstairs) that she’d gotten a text message, I realized that she really truly had passed beyond teenagerdom.

Welcome to the world of the Grown Up, Gina!

Anyway, I’m about to head into the kitchen with my teenaged daughter and my no-longer-a-teenaged daughter to start baking pies. That’s ’cause TOMORROW IS THANKSGIVING AND DIETING BE DAMNED!

-ahem- Excuse me.

Happy Turkey Day to anybody who might stumble upon these ramblings. Do stop to ponder things you are thankful for between bites. I’m sure there’s something …

Ooooooo-kay, so now that’s all over and done with.

Halloween has been and gone (and a good thing, I really don’t like Halloween). Election Day has, too, and I was not chosen to serve my community in public office (trans: I lost).

Now we’re coming into one of my favorite times of year, the Thanksgiving/Christmas nexus.

My kids don’t really like Christmas anymore because we’re too broke to make it interesting for them. That takes a little of the shine out of it for us, too.

But there’s still Thanksgiving.

You wouldn’t think that any holiday that involves me in spending a day and a half in the kitchen would be among my favorites.

Ah, but you see, there’s more to it than the cooking. It has to do with why I like this time of year so much.

It has gotten cold. My noisy neighbors have gone inside their houses, taking their noisy children with them. Nobody is living their lives at the top of their lungs in the middle of the street at this time of year.

It has gotten dark, too, and will grow even darker as we move toward the end of the year. So this is the time when we pull inside the house and get all nice and toasty. It’s the time when we enjoy the golden glow of the hearthfire. I tend to want to burn a lot of candles at this time of year.

This is the time that’s all about home.

It’s special to me. If you were to ask me why, I wouldn’t be able to explain it but … it’s there.

This time of year says, Welcome Home.