Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Pet Sitting / House Sitting Tips

Holiday Pet Care & House Sitting

It’s mid November, and the holidays will be here before we know it. To me, the holidays are all about spending time with family and friends ~ near and far. When you travel to see your loved ones, don’t forget about your pet care for your fur babies … they are family too! Who will take care of them?

Personally, I think in home pet care is the best option. This way, your pet stays in their familiar surroundings, even though you aren’t home with them. Another benefit of in home pet care is home security. Your home won’t appear vacant while you are away.

Pet care & house sitting is one of the many services that Tracy Helps You offers. I can come a couple times per day to feed and let them out to do their business ~ or ~ I can stay at your house. This has the added benefit of bringing in the mail, watering the plants, turning on/off lights and decorations, etc.  A home that has someone coming and going throughout the day is less of a target for burglars. Plus, your fur baby will have company in the evenings … we may go for a walk, play fetch, or have a good belly rub while watching TV 🙂 Dogs especially are such social animals, I believe they feel lonely and really miss their owners when they go out of town.

You can also board your pet at a kennel while you are gone. Your pet will have their basic needs met, but will otherwise be spending most of their time alone. Most kennels don”t have the staff to offer more than food & shelter. I highly doubt there would be many good belly rubs 🙁
If you have plans to travel, please call me sooner rather than later. The holidays will be here before we know it. It will be a wonderful gift for your fur babies to have someone who will love and play with them, as well as, take care of their basic needs. 

Happy Holidays … Call me 🙂

Thankful for Thanksgiving Leftovers

Tracy Helps You’s Thankful Thoughts for Today ~ 11/28/14

November 28, 2014 ~ Today I am thankful for Thanksgiving dinner leftovers. Our family tradition is that my sister-in-law usually hosts Thanksgiving dinner each year. She is a wonderful cook and a gracious hostess <3.

Every year she buys new Tupperware type containers and ziplock baggies for her guests to bring some leftovers home in. My family loves leftovers, especially leftovers from a big holiday meal or party. I realize that not everyone likes leftovers … I have a friend whose family simply refuses to eat leftovers – how sad. Turkey with stuffing and homemade gravy is my favorite day after Thanksgiving leftover meal. I’m doubly blessed because I get extra yummy food and new food storage containers 🙂

♥ Today I am thankful for Thanksgiving dinner leftovers ♥

thankful for memories of Thanksgiving

Tracy Helps You’s Thankful Thoughts for Today ~ 11/27/14

November 27, 2014 ~ HAPPY THANKSGIVING !! Today I am thankful for childhood memories of Thanksgiving. For those of you who may not already know, I was raised by my grandparents. Sadly, my grandpa passed away when I was in 7th grade and my grandma passed when I a senior in high school. I am truly thankful to have wonderful memories of both of them 🙂

I’m a morning person, so I’m an early riser by nature. I have wonderful memories of waking up on Thanksgiving morning to the wonderful smells of onion and celery sauteing in butter on the stove … the starting point of my grandma’s wonderful stuffing recipe. Continue reading

Thanksgiving Turkey

Tracy Helps You’s Thankful Thoughts for Today ~ 11-28-13

November 28 ~ Today I am thankful for traditions. It’s Thanksgiving Day … a day set aside for expressing gratitude for your many blessings. It’s also a day full of traditions with family and friends.

Like most American families, we indulge in a huge feast of turkey “with all the fixins”. Turkey, stuffing, and casseroles, oh my … and let’s not forget pumpkin pie with whipped cream 🙂

This big meal is the backdrop for families as they gather around a heavy-laden table and share their heartfelt gratitude. It is a day filled with love for family and friends.

Many families have certain traditions that they continue from year to year … grandpa always carves the turkey, watching football, the after dinner nap, or go to see a movie. Some families exchange names for Christmas gift grab bags or scour the ad papers for Black Friday specials 🙂

There are many different traditions, but what’s important is that traditions bind families together and are passed down from generation to generation. Traditions make memories … HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

♥ Today I am thankful for traditions 

photo by: Ruocaled
Handmade Thanksgiving Card

Tracy Helps You’s Thankful Thoughts for Today ~ 11-21-13

November 21 ~ Today I am thankful for the gift of creativity. I’ve been blessed with a flair for creating. I love to arrange things so that they are appealing to the eye. Being a slight perfectionist, I don’t like to stop til I’m satisfied that whatever I’m working on will be appealing.

I’ve always been creative … I have memories of helping make craft items to sell at my Great Aunt Ruth’s Annual Christmas Bazaar at her church. My Grandma taught me to crochet when I was 9 years old. I remember I crocheted a miniature afghan for Garfield Goose (a popular kids show when I was growing up) and sent it in to the show. I was so excited when they showed it and thanked me for it on TV 🙂

I’m older now, but still love doing crafts as a creative outlet. These days I enjoy floral arranging, making jewelry and scrapbooking. I’m part of a card making ministry at my church. Every month, we send handmade cards to all the seniors in our congregation. It warms my heart when they tell me how much they love them and how thankful they are to receive them.

I also love working on “behind the scenes” committees for stage plays. Working on live theater productions is always exciting … you never know when something is going to go wrong and you have only a couple of minutes to fix it. I’ve helped on costumes, sets and props.  Props is definitely my favorite … I just love “getting in the zone” and working to create convincing scenes 🙂     

♥ Today I am thankful for the gift of creativity  ♥

My Direct TV DVR Remote

Tracy Helps You’s Thankful Thoughts for Today ~ 11-8-13

November 8 ~ Today I am thankful for my DVR. Don’t laugh, I know it sounds silly, but I really am thankful that I have one.

I love that I have it set to record all the regular shows that I like to watch. I don’t even know what day of the week or time that they come on. Since I don’t have a lot of time for watching TV, I truly do appreciate that all my favorite shows and Hallmark movies are recorded and waiting for me to watch.

Yesterday afternoon and evening, I had some free time to catch up on a couple of my shows. I love that I can watch an hour long show in about 40 minutes by fast forwarding through the commercials. I even watched a Thanksgiving movie on the Hallmark Channel. Since I was actually watching “live” TV, I wasn’t able to skip the commercials. It was ok though because I saw previews for some of their Christmas movies. I just love those sappy, happy ending type holiday love stories … so I set my DVR to record them 🙂

♥ Today I am thankful for my DVR ♥

Be Thankful

My Blessings As I Countdown to Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for … most of us do, even though the economy has wreaked havoc for so many people throughout the world. Times are tough for so very many. Illness, accidents, unemployment, violent weather/natural disasters, terrorism, political chaos … there’s so much to be depressed about.

I refuse to fall victim to these feelings. I want to be optimistic and have a positive outlook. I’ve been through tough times before and everything turned out okay. I will draw on past experiences and be encouraged. I recently read a book by Ann Voskamp called “One Thousand Gifts”. While I have never experienced the horrible life events that she shared, I was really inspired how she counted all her blessings ~ big and small ~ as a gift.

Since Thanksgiving is on the near horizon, I’ve decided to really pay attention and concentrate on all the blessings that I sort of take for granted; from big revelations to smaller, everyday types of things. Each day leading up to Thanksgiving, I hope to capture my thoughts and emotions regarding how truly blest I am. I hope to share these with you along my journey. I’d like to wake up this Thanksgiving Day truly knowing all the things I’m thankful for because I spent this time in reflection.

I would love to hear your feelings on this topic … please comment to share your thoughts and/or past experiences. 

photo by: rustiqueart
Indian corn, pumpkins, corn stalks and bales of hay make perfect Autumn Decorations

Autumn / Fall Decorating ~ Halloween or Thanksgiving ?

It’s Fall ~ I just love Autumn ! The past week or so has been gorgeous weather in the Chicago area … warm sunny days in the low 70’s and cool crisp evenings in the low 60’s — Everywhere you go, you see apples and pumpkins … it’s so fun spending an afternoon apple picking; enjoying the activities at a local pumpkin farm; or going for a hayride. I love laid-back evenings just sitting by a relaxing bonfire sipping hot apple cider 🙂

I also love the autumn color palette; so many shades of gold, orange, rust, red and brown. The garden centers and pumpkin farms are stocked with harvest inspired decorations.

Do you decorate in the fall?? Indoors or out?? Do you decorate for Halloween or Thanksgiving or both?? Continue reading

photo by: jmd41280