7 Quick Takes about Servicing your Water, Crying to Strange Harp Players, and a Food Snob's Version of a Low-Key Thanksgiving

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday!

—1—

Decorating for the holidays is difficult around here because I'm so cheap (I like to think of myself as 'thrifty') and also because I'm so picky (I like to think of myself as 'classy.') So this inexpensive, nice-looking Thanksgiving centerpiece courtesy of my daughter was perfect!

She made this Thankful Tree at a church activity. At Family Home Evening on Monday, (only Mormons call it this, but it's like a weekly family devotional or a quick little Sunday School lesson at home) we talked about gratitude and added more leaves to the tree.

So two birds with one stone: got a pretty centerpiece, and avoided playing "scripture charades" again for FHE because I forgot to plan something ahead of time.

—2—

Went to a kid's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, where I haven't been since my parents used the place to bribe reward us for being good during long shopping trips. Some things were different, others hadn't changed.

Different: Chuck E. Cheese has gotten a lot more sensitive to cultural and religious diversity. Through song and animatronic puppetry, I learned all about Hanukkah and how Munch likes his potato latkes.

Same: The pizza still tastes like cardboard and I still rock at skee-ball.

—3—

As I was sitting at a red light, I noticed this water treatment truck ahead of me:

Among the services listed was "hydrofracking." What in the world is hydrofracking? And how do I know if I need it done? Clearly I need to drop everything I'm supposed to be doing right now and Google this.

—4—

Drove into Boston again for my son's outpatient surgery. I'm really starting to love that drive. Just kidding. Every time, it only seems to get more excruciating.

It was a long day, but he important thing is that the surgery went well, things are looking good, and odds are that this is the only surgery he'll need in the foreseeable future!

—5—

After I handed my baby to the anesthesiologist, cried in the bathroom for a few minutes, and then walked down the hallway to the surgical waiting room, I heard... live harp music.

Apparently there are volunteers who play the harp in the surgical waiting room and the NICU at Boston Children's to help soothe and relax the people who have to be there. 

I talked to the harpist afterward (translation: totally embarrassed myself by thanking her for the beautiful music and then bursting into tears when she asked about my son) and she said she'd been playing at the hospital for 8 years.

—6—

Meeting the harpist made me think about how there are more ways to do good in the world than donating canned goods to the food pantry. There's physical suffering, and then there's emotional suffering. When you're in the middle of an emotionally hellish situation, someone using their talents to help you through it can be just as much of a godsend.

Years ago, I read a very emotional story about an organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, where volunteer photographers take family pictures of parents with their stillborn children in the hospital, so they can take memories home with them in addition to their grief. 

Just proof that whatever your talent is, you can find a way to use it to somehow ease the suffering of others.

—7—

Because of the surgery and all the other life craziness happening this week, Phillip decided to keep it simple this Thanksgiving. If you're wondering what "keeping it simple" looks like for a food snob, this is it:

Brining the turkeys for 24 hours in a solution of salt, garlic, rosemary, whole peppercorns and cloves, apple juice, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar.

The man puts freaking orange slices in the brine solution and calls that "keeping it simple." All I can say is, heaven help the rest of us.

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