Of Pumpkin Rolls and People

I’ve been trying to write a blog post all week, but I’ve had a lack of time and a lack of ideas. I decided (last minute) to make and sell pumpkin rolls again this year. I wasn’t going to, but the musical at the high school got postponed for two weeks, and I suddenly found myself with several open days. I ended up making 40 pumpkin rolls in two days, and let me just say… I’m exhausted. It’s the good kind of exhausted, though. I’ve sold pumpkin rolls three years in a row, but this is the first time I’ve made that many in such a short amount of time. There will be traces of powdered sugar in every crevice of my kitchen for years to come. 

Tonight (I’m determined to finish this post before midnight*) I got all of the pumpkin rolls distributed, and now I’m lying in my bed feeling desperate for sleep but also wanting to write five blog posts, read for 30 minutes, watch six episodes of a show, and play a round of Wingspan. I should also work on my Relief Society lesson for Sunday. But I’m on the brink of passing out cold any second. 

Tomorrow (Thanksgiving) I plan to wake up around 6:00 and hit the ground running. I need to go to the store for cream cheese. I am NOT a person who normally goes to the store on Thanksgiving. In fact, I shop like it’s the apocalypse the week before as a way of avoiding stores during the Thanksgiving chaos. Then I’m hoping to color my hair (really just apply toner because it’s turning a bit orange) and finish my Thanksgiving assignments (jello, cranberry sauce, and pies). I’d also like to do a full grooming cycle, but we’re going to the zoo, so that begs the question… groom before or after animal and cold weather exposure? 

But what I’m really here to say is that in all this hustle and bustle of the holidays (Wham! They are here!) I have been feeling particularly thankful and lovey dovey about the people in my life. As I prepared pumpkin rolls over the last few days, I couldn’t help but think about all the individuals I was making them for, and I was so tempted to just hand them out for free because everyone deserves my gratitude. It was really, really hard to accept money for my goods because SHE takes and sends me photos of my son during his theatre performances, and I want to thank her for that. And SHE is making my daughter a custom Christmas shirt. And SHE has cancer. And HER dad just died. And SHE buys me Cafe Rio once a month. And SHE has been my children’s primary teacher over and over again. And HIS birthday is this week. And SHE does way more for me than I do for her. And so on and so forth. 

So on this Thanksgiving of 2023, I’m especially thankful for my people. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am in people because I have more of a “people suck” mentality. But you know what? Some of them don’t suck, and I am surrounded by people who are kind, giving, and genuinely good. I’m so grateful to claim them as “mine.”

*I didn’t. I passed out mid-third paragraph.