I hope all of you readers enjoyed Thanksgiving. We certainly did.

I become quite excited weeks before, looking forward to the companionship of family and friends, especially grandchildren. I feel Thanksgiving from the moment I make out my grocery list until the last of the family leaves the house.

This year, I was blessed to have two 8- and 9-year-old grandchildren to help me shop, clean the house and cook. We had a blast together and they earned money for their savings accounts. (A little boy in particular is earning money for an Xbox — video game console, if you don’t know what that is, and that’s about all I know about it.)

Despite the joy Thanksgiving brings, it is a lot of work and stress, and I’m supposed to be reducing stress because of that little heart attack in September.

Each year, I discover a more efficient way to do one thing. Last year, it was doing all my oven cooking the night before to free up the oven for the turkey on the holiday. This year, I used the bridge on my stovetop to make the gravy right in the turkey pan. And leftovers were collected by all in containers buffet style right off the table instead of in the crowded kitchen.

Finally, my daughter and a daughter-in-law put heads together and suggested that this year for Christmas, we draw adult names at Thanksgiving instead of buying for everyone. Kids get gifts from all. (Our family’s growth in numbers will bankrupt us all if we don’t.) So two cousin granddaughters entertained themselves with writing down the names on paper, getting the spelling right and then allowing us to draw names. We do the same at the TC among employees.

I’m looking forward to shopping for something very special for my family giftee, as well as my TC giftee, with ease.

Becky Clark, Editor