Thankful

I am thankful - for a lot of things. Over the past few days I was blessed to have my family here for the holiday. There was this fruit centerpiece thing that I found in a cookbook at my daughter's house. Something compelled me to want to make this thing even though there would be plenty of other food for Thanksgiving. I learned that my girls think I am capable of doing something that I wasn't really sure about myself. As I was constructing what I felt would be a monstrosity, my girls both assured me that it was looking fine. Their words were precious to me. I was also in "Grandma Heaven" as it were. We ate, we visited, we ate, we played games, we ate... you get the picture. Somehow, having the little ones around gives a whole new perspective to things. I can never get enough cuddle time with my grandkids, so I took advantage of every opportunity (except when they went to Bounce Magic - it's just too noisy!!). Our final activity with the kids for this whirlwind weekend was making a gingerbread house. You know, the kind you buy prebaked with the candies from, oh, 2 years ago (maybe). We added some fruity loopy cereal to the candy assortment just because we could. Grandpa "constructed" the house and the kids did the decorating with the help of Aunt Holly. I am really proud of myself because, as a Mom, I always wanted everything to be perfect and would instruct my children in the placement of the candies, etc. - whereas, now that I'm a Grandma, I've learned to let go of the "just-so" complex, and we all really enjoyed the decorating. Did it look like the picture on the box? Well.....

I Almost Forgot!

I almost forgot to tell you about my fabulous weekend - my Mom, niece, and I went to Shea's to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, and it was... spectacular, I mean. We were in the balcony - really, really in the balcony (read: "nosebleed heaven") - but that just gave us an awesome view of the goings-on on the stage. The music was great, the costumes were colorful, and the precision of the Rockettes was amazing - spectacular, even! I was very happy to see that the last scene was a Living Nativity, so even though the whole show revolved around Santa, he gave up his spot in the limelight for the real Star of the show. I highly recommend this show.

Thanksgiving is Coming, Thanksgiving is Coming!!

Oh my goodness, did you realize that Thanksgiving is this Thursday??? I mean, did you take your turkey out of the freezer?? I remembered about half an hour ago (something to be thankful for!) so my beautiful 22 lb. turkey is now residing in the refrigerator instead of the freezer. Actually I didn't remember; my wonderful husband did.

Our Thanksgiving starts out with the parades, of course. When I was little I didn't understand how my Mom could miss the parades (she was in the kitchen cooking already) - I loved them. Now, I still enjoy a good parade, but I guess with maturity comes a bit of "if-you've-seen-one-parade-you've-seen-them-all-itis". Besides, somebody's got to get cooking!

Here's a great cooking tip - use one of those Reynolds cooking bags for the turkey. They really work; the turkey is moist, and best of all it is done way quicker. The first year I used one, I had to call everyone to come early because the bird was done, done, done!! Now I wouldn't cook one with using a bag.

After the big feast, we settle down to dessert and some serious business - the Black Friday ads!! Yes, I do sometimes get up at 4:30 to be at a store by 5:00 - (Did you know there is such a thing as 4:30 in the morning??) - but only if necessary to get that must-have bargain. Oh yes, Black Friday is a unique day, and I'm glad it's only once a year (whew).

This year we are blessed to be having my parents and both of our daughters and their families joining us for the big celebration. It will be nice to have everyone together. As I was contemplating where to put all of my 11 guests (if you include the baby), a friend stopped to ask me what my plans were. After sharing, I asked about her plans - she and her 6 siblings and all of their families are getting together at a fire hall. All 90 of them! They are cooking 2 22lb turkeys, 4 turkey breasts, and 35 lbs. of potatoes!! I'm happy with my 11 guests...

Happy Thanksgiving

I Did It - Finally!

I did it - I finally finished something! If you are not a procrastinator, you don't understand, you CAN'T understand, how thrilling it is for me to be able to say that I have finished something. My friend, Linn, has been quilting for a few years now and has dragged me along through the basics. I did a small potholder size sailboat as a beginning piece, and put together a table runner which was something called a "flip and fold" (which does not require binding on the edges). I just completed a Thanksgiving table runner with a binding and everything. What makes me even happier is that I found out this morning that my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren will be coming for Thanksgiving after all. So, this will be one full house - woohoo!!

Did You Vote, Did You Vote, Did You Vote, Vote, Vote??

Okay, the title of this post should be sung to the William Tell Overture, as you dance your way out of your local polling station - and by the way, DID YOU VOTE?? If you did, thank you; if you didn't, NO COMPLAINING!!!! We are still hours away from knowing who our new President will be, but what I'm most thankful for is - no more political ads on television, no more phone calls from political candidates; it's over, done, finito - finally. Do I sound a little, mmm, tired of it all? Well, I am, and I'm sure I'm not alone. This seemed like the looonnnngggest presidential campaign in history. Well, I just wanted to vent a little; after all, what's a blog for? Did you vote, did you vote, did you vote, vote, vote......