Thanksgiving Day

It's just past 1:30pm and the turkey went in about an hour ago.  Twenty-one pounds of poultry goodness. They never take quite as long to bake as I imagine.  Stuffing's mixed and in the fridge.  Sweet potatoes simmering on top of the stove.  The rest can wait.

When I was a kid, my mom would get up at dawn to put the turkey in the oven.  When we used to go to my in-laws for Thanksgiving (over the river and through the woods), my MIL would do the same.  Then everyone who was a worker bee in the kitchen would be exhausted by the time dinner was ready at 1pm or so.  And neither my mom or my MIL seemed to enjoy the meal because they were stretched to the limit.  I changed those rules for us way back when.  Didn't seem to make much sense to get up so early in order to eat for a late lunch.

So....

Now I'm in bed, still in my jammies.  The house will get picked up later this afternoon. First born is sleeping, so we'll stay quiet.  He went into work last night at just after 9pm, got back at 7am this morning and has to go back at 5pm this afternoon.  It's just not right.

I'm reading more and more about stores being open earlier and later for this season's shopping.  I don't think people realize the pressure this puts on the retail salespeople.  Our son is the manager of a toy department at a major chain store, which is open 24 hours a day anyhow.  Thankfully he'll be off this weekend, though.  But still.  Takes a bit of the sparkle off the day knowing he won't be able to eat with us.  I offered to get it ready earlier, but eating a heavy meal after you've slept several hours just doesn't sound appealing, does it?

Must go now.  Enjoy your sweet days.  Eat lots and rest.  It'll get busy soon enough.

Thanksgiving Eve

Went out for a late lunch with third son...drove to Midtown, a part of the city that's near Downtown, but is wonderfully quirky.  It's the artsy part of town. Anyway, went to a pizza place and got sandwiches...meatball for me, and it was yummy.  Then went to the Hippie Store (not its official name) around the corner from the restaurant and we both got some incense, and I picked up some Vanilla Tea and also some cayenne capsules for Gary, who's trying to kick some nagging sort of sniffle/cough.

A wonderful outing.  And when we got back, fourth son had made pies for tomorrow.  Two pumpkin and a chocolate chess.  Delish.

Now chillin' before we go to church.  Dressed comfortably and looking forward to seeing the church at night.  Hope there are lots of candles.  Counting on the incense.

(the photo was found online and is called 'the cloisters' but i'm not sure where they are...lovely, though)

Late Tuesday afternoon

The photo is of my new hair-do thing.  I was invited to an online party by a friend from church, and part of the fun was that one participant would win a piece of hair jewelry.  Happily I can say that I was the lucky winner.  Got the piece in the mail this week, and today was playing around with it. Much nicer than the plastic claw I sometimes use. The site is called Lilla Rose, and really, their hair clips and sticks, etc. are exceptional.  Bendable as well (I heard that the figure eight part is made of piano wire, so it moves and isn't stiff), so that you can cram a lot of hair into one.  And I've got a lot to cram, especially considering my mop of hair is down to the middle of my back.

Anyway.  That's about as exciting as it's gotten here today.  Finished up school for the week.  Will whip the house into shape tomorrow with hosing off the siding and hosing off/sweeping the porches.  Planting a flat of pansies and violas. Baking pies and just having a restful day.  Church will cap off the evening, and you won't hear any complaints out of me.  Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite days of the year, with cutting and simmering celery and onions being at the top of my JOY list.  It just smells so good, and when I'm doing that, I'm happy.  Now I'm off to cook scraps for everyone. Plain old mac and cheese from boxes tonight.  They'll be starving come Thursday. :)

Thanksgiving week

Well, the Thanksgiving shopping is done.  Even got an extra turkey to save for Christmas, because, where we shop, they raise the prices again the day after Thursday and don't reduce them for Christmas.  I find that a bit puzzling, but my mom always made ham for Christmas dinner, so don't remember what folks did in the old days (meaning when I was a child!).

Planning on going the the prayer service tomorrow morning, and then puttering in the church kitchen, getting it all tidy for the dinner our priest and his wife will hold there on Thursday for anyone who's not got anywhere to go.  Then on Wednesday night, will go back for services.  Maybe I can twist Gary's arm to go as well (crossed fingers).  I've not been to an evening service, and with the lights muted, it ought to be breath-taking.

Oldest daughter told me as we were driving home from the store that now I can relax, and really, she's right. There's no reason at all that I can't take a DEEP breath and enjoy the rest of the week.  I know I'll avoid the topic of Christmas.  I mean, really?  It's way too early for that.

(the photo is of gary when we visited his parents up in baltimore when we were engaged (1982---doesn't feel like 30 years ago)....we were at atlantic beach in this picture...he just began growing what ended up being his huge mustache during this trip!  to see a more current photo of him, go here.)

Sunday afternoon

A quiet morning at church.  Refreshing.  No stress, and with us sitting in the very back, it was a nice change to not have someone right behind us. Sometimes it's nice to be left alone and left to your own business.  I came home rested and peaceful, and I'm thinking that's the way it ought to be.

Ate a lunch of a steak from the restaurant that the boys brought home (we get treats that way sometimes when a customer refuses them...folks can be pretty particular about how their meat is cooked) with eggs and toast.  Gary loves it when that happens.  Steak and eggs---his favorite.

And now in bed resting.  A good day.

(and yep, i did putter around with the template again...what else is new!?)

Pre-Thanksgiving chatter

Bought a turkey.  A bit shocked at how busy the grocery store was this afternoon. What was I thinking?  Of course it was busy. But truly, I've found that the very best time to shop is after dinner.  Most folks are home, and have either already been out, or will go the next day.  At least at the store we go to---people don't buy groceries much after 7pm.

Trying to get it in 'major chill' mode.  Over the phone this morning got into a discussion with Gary about the bills that are wedging into being late, but not too awfully late.  He's already worrying about things that have to be paid after Thanksgiving, and I was trying to reason with him, saying that we have enough to think about without that being a bother while we're stuffing ourselves this next week.  I mean, really.  I want to eat turkey and all the trimmings with a free conscience.  No worries, and don't think that's too much to ask.

Anyway.  Fed the family homemade rolls and tuna salad tonight, though I'd not say that canned tuna fish is cheap fare, anymore.  If I'm going to spend around seven dollars for meat for a meal, it'd better be something more interesting than tuna. Huh.  And at nearly or at a buck a can, I say 'huh' again.

Best go.  Am reading a couple of Thomas Howard's books, and thinking about things. Thankful for the lull of Thanksgiving week before the full brunt of Christmas smacks me in the face.  I'm more into anticipation of events, and would be fine with passing over the real thing.  Looking forward is always more fun.

Designer pugs and blog re-decorating

Yowza.  Really liking the look of the Dynamic blog view design. My goodness. Simple to set up, a few options to play with and voila....neat result.

Nice to be able to play with the blog design without driving myself nuts at the same time.  Usually it's an evening's work, and not satisfying at that.  What's nice about this is that you can set it to show whatever you want the default homepage to be, and then folks can pull-down the menu on the left at the header, that displays other options.

Now then, on to other things.  Must needs get the Thanksgiving grocery shopping done, most likely on Monday.  I starve the family on the nights preceding next Thursday, and that always makes them laugh.  Waffles, macaroni and cheese, eggs, and anything that's cheap and filling.  Helps when I need to save money for dinner anyhow.

The weekend will be pleasantly dull, however.  Will pick up some more Thomas Howard books on hold at the library, putter around the house, and we're only doing the church service on Sunday---skipping Sunday School, which is a small, but sometimes pleasant change of pace for the weekend.  Tired of the sameness of our Sundays, so a change is good.

Take care.