Good morning, ladies!
Good morning, gentlemen!
Hubby will be coming home tonight, he's got house hunting leave to help out with the move. Things are a bit chaotic as you might imagine *L* pack up/move out dates are Nov 30/Dec 1st.
Oh I almost forgot, I turned 28 the day before Thanksgiving...
It was the first year our families libs kept their traps shut about politics. Gee, I wonder why? ( 4 more years, baby!)
My family made the best thing we have ever made for thanksgiving, reservation to a upscale seafood and traditional thanksgiving buffet brunch. The turkey was safe but I put a gapping hole in the gulf coast shrimp population.
We heard tales of 10 inches of snow in Missouri!
My husband only had one day off for Thanksgiving because they're on a tight schedule to finish a bridge they're building. He drove in from Iowa on Wednesday night (a 6-hour drive to our house) and left about 2:00 p.m. yesterday driving back. I doubt if I get to see him again until Christmas because they've got to finish this bridge by January.
I was up early and cooking fast to get Thanksgiving dinner cooked and ready so he could get out of here and back to Iowa. I did a turkey, 2 types of cornbread dressing (oyster and plain), caramelized sweet potatoes by my great-grandmother's recipe, veggie and relish platter and pumpkin pies. Whew! I'm pooped still yet! :) And, yes, I have a few leftovers but the kids have been making a steady dent in them since last evening. :)
We always celebrate the holidays alone because I usually work most holidays, so I run up and down the stairs between my office and my kitchen and somehow manage to be productive in both places! :) Anyway, my family is a 3-hour drive away and his family is a 12-hour drive away.
I always cook a big holiday meal because I love to cook and also to sort of make up for the fact that we're not able to spend the holiday with our extended families.
It was such a nice treat to see my husband. We weren't sure he'd get to make it home because the forecast was for 4 to 8 inches of snow here in our part of Missouri. Luckily, we only got about an inch instead, but he did have to drive through Kansas City, which got about 5 inches, and there was quite a bit of black ice on the roads up there. It took him 7 hours to drive down here instead of the usual 6, pulling in about 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night. P.S., Wednesday was our 15th anniversary so it was extra-important that he come home! :)
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Time to get back to work!
drove, prayed, ate, yakked, football, yawn, dessert, drove...yada yada yada...
We stayed home. We're in California, and the rest of our family is spread between Texas, Colorado, and Southern California. It's too far to travel for Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday, we had my church Bible study group over for a potluck. Only 3 people didn't go. Everyone else showed up. It was a lot of fun. I made a taco soup, and everyone else brought side dishes and desserts.
Yesterday, I cooked the whole Thanksgiving dinner for my hubby and kids. The only thing, my son had diarrhea all day yesterday, and now my daughter has it today. I think it's viral, and my daughter is really not feeling good today. Lots of stomach cramps.
After dinner, we watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It's the first time my 8 year old twin girls have seen an Indiana Jones movie. One of my girls sat on the edge of her seat the whole time and was clapping her hands and screaming during the whole movie. She was really fun to watch. The other 2 kids liked it, but they weren't as vocal.
Today, we were going to see "National Treasure", but my daughter's not up for that. Instead, I'm going to make some turkey soup for my sick kids.
Sad to say, our Thanksgiving was not so happy. On Tuesday morning, I went downstairs to do some laundry and found one of our beloved dogs had passed away. She laid down for her nap and just died in her sleep. It was so shocking and sudden, and we're really grieving. She was not sick at all, in fact she'd been running around like a puppy just hours before... that morning she had her breakfast, went outside, ran around like a crazy nut the way she liked to do sometimes in the morning, then my husband put her back in the house with his usual good-bye pat, he went to work, I went inside to do house stuff. Two hours later, I found her. No noise, no struggle, no barking from her or her sister, nothing. It looks like she just laid down, relaxed into her nap, and slept away. I know she didn't suffer, and I take comfort in that. But we're still just stricken... she was a wonderful dog. We still have her sister, who is bearing up remarkably well. And, as my husband pointed out, she left us a great gift... she adored our two year old, and thanks to her, he not only isn't afraid of dogs, but loves them all. That makes me feel better. She was eight years old and completely healthy (at her last check up, ironically, the vet commented on how good her heart sounded). I knew the breed was susceptible to heart problems, but didn't realize some of them could take her so suddenly without any warning. It was just too soon, but we are lucky we had her as long as we did. I have to stop now... I am still tearing up over her every time I talk about it. So unfortunately, this probably ranks as saddest Thanksgiving ever for us.
Politics was mostly Frepper-type since my best friend, kids and son-in-law are all of that persuasion. Niece and nephew are libs but they didn't bring up politics.
We have a tradition in our family to go around the table and say what we're thankful for. Our country, President Bush's reelection and our troops were the big winners this year. The libs winced a bit during that phase.
Thanksgiving was wonderful - relaxing and pleasant.
First year that my parents needed help preparing the meal, so I was over at their house early to do the heavy lifting and other hard stuff. I was little sad about the need for it, but I was glad that I was able to help.
I brought some movies with me and kept them playing the whole day so we could drift in and out of them. Meanwhile, my family is all conservative, so when politics did come up, we could have a constructive discussion, and where we differed, we could learn from each other. I like that about my family.
How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was fine, rather quiet. I've been doing most of the cleaning and cooking for the past 5 or so yrs. Thanks to careful prepping (sous chef-fing) and meticulous clean-as-I-go, the process allows me to relax and enjoy with family. I don't mind the cooking, just not real comfortable with the bird. Small group again this year.
Are all of your relatives liberal democrats? No, not all. My sister doesn't discuss politics, but I have a suspicion that she and BIL are dems.
What is your all time favorite Thanksgiving dish? Loooove pumpkin pie. And, if I may say so myself, I make a darn good one. Guests are fond of my cornbread stuffing.
What is the worst Thanksgiving dish you have ever eaten? Liver dumplings. (not my idea...)
Did anyone else get snow this week? 8^)I wish! My sister did, 3 hours south, but we got just a glazing later in the day, mostly slippery roads.
Why are you answering these silly questions when you should be out shopping? We decided to avoid the madness this year. Will probably go Saturday.
What is the airspeed velocity of an African Swallow? European? Is that a trick question? ;-)
Sorry, all out, didn't need them this year.
Waah! Nobody brought green bean casserole to our family Thanksgiving get-together!
Hope everybody got a start on their holiday shopping today.
Our Thanksgiving was very nice. We moved to the Sierra's in late June, and my family came up here for our feast. The weather was beautiful, the mountain sky was blue, and some of us ate on the deck enjoying the scenery. We had the traditional dinner with the Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and giblet gravy, and way too much dessert! I had never made stuffing before, so I was quite proud that it turned out so well! (pat on back!)
Had two Thanksgivings - my husband and I visited his mom, who is home-bound, on Thursday. The agency that provides her housekeeping service provided dinner, and told her to invite family. Phyllis and her daughter Chelsea (who is much nicer and more attractive than the former presidential daughter Chelsea) delivered delicious meals.
Then on Sunday, my daughter, my son & his family, and my F-I-L and his wife joined us for dinner at our house. We had turkey, two kinds of squash, carrots, potatoes, rice, gravy, and my husband's special pecan pie. He makes the best pecan pie! One of his secrets is to soak the pecans in butterscotch schnapps! It really brings out the nutty flavor of the pecans!
No liberals at either table. My son voted Libertarian, but we didn't talk politics.
Hope you all had a terrific holiday!