Impossibly beautiful skies over the Ko'olaus - view from the beach where we're having Thanksgiving.

Today mom, the boys and I went to base to run errands for Thanksgiving – getting the permit for the pavilion I rented on the beach (on the Marine Corps Base), get some champagne and sparkling cider, and check out the pavilions once again in person. While at the beach, we did some watercolor painting and shell collecting, then as we packed up after this somewhat relaxing interlude I got a text from co-conspirator Liisa that our Thanksgiving guest list had just doubled from 17 to about 33 people! YIKES! My first reaction was OMG, my stomach did a flip, then I remembered that this is what Thanksgiving is all about for me – sharing with those near and dear as well as those who are without their near and dear folks. A squadron from San Diego that was just deployed is on their way to wherever they’re going, and this is the first stop. They are here without friends, family, food or fun. So we’ll provide whatever we can for them. With this news, our next stop today was the commissary, where I bought more plates and pies! Liisa and I are very foolish…or very clever. Either way – the funny thing is neither of us cooks!

This is bringing back a flood of memories from the first B.O.B. (Bird on the Beach). Gail – do you remember sharing the kitchen with my mom in Coronado? That was so fun! You guys did a bang-up job! And remember forgetting both turkeys sitting in the sink? We got all the way to the beach with all those sides for 20+ people and managed to leave the turkeys behind! Dan slept in the kitchen with his head in a cupboard, Tim was in our neighbor’s house, and I think three people shared a futon, another was on the deck…11 people in a 500 sq ft cottage! And I was 32 wks pregnant! Now that’s fun! Dave had to go to a meeting on the carrier while the turkey was in the fryer, and almost every Thanksgiving (or Christmas) since he’s managed to have some kind of “thing” threaten to or actually pop up whenever I plan an event 🙂 Suspicious??? Yes. Smart??? Absolutely! Poor guy…he hopes to be there for some portion of the day on Thursday, but either way Liisa and I will have plenty of distraction keeping our eyes on the little guys, and the big ones, too – making sure they don’t get too out-of-hand. Mom will be there, too, as she has been for every adventure so far 🙂 Thanks mom!!! It will be fun!

Today I went to Tripler to have my feet checked out – the balls of my feet have been numb for about 9 months. It was time to get an opinion other than my own. Yes, I know it’s likely from pushing a heavy double stroller with shoes that didn’t have a big enough toe-box. Things are getting ever so slowly better now that Sam rides a bike most of the time and I have even bigger shoes (a size-and-a-half bigger than I wore before Sam). I’m also stretching more and doing yoga. The x-rays ruled out stress fractures and bone spurs, so that is good. MRI is next. I find it funny, though, that doctors (residents) seem so young to me. They come in the exam room in their little scrubs and I just want to tuck them into bed and read them a story. They look like they’re in their jammies! I felt bad for the doc today – grubby feet he had to look at! My friend Angel would have been in a nice yellow frock with freshly pedicured toes and cute feminine sandals. I wore my running shoes (so he could see the strike patterns, of course) and had just high-tailed it from a parking lot up on a hill a mile away from the entrance. That was the only workout I got today…