Gobble Gobble

Where do I begin?

I mean, Thursday was technically the gateway into the holiday season, and that's kind of a big deal so of course I'm going to have a story or five to tell.

But where do I begin?!

...

My BFF came into town Wednesday night with her toddler, Lucy.  It was unplanned, but not unwelcomed.

Just....unplanned.

Have I mentioned Corey and I do not have children?

Or that our "baby proofing" previously consisted of moving items that would be attractive to a Golden Retriever mouth?

A few mistakes:

• left Oliver-dog's food bowls on the floor
• left wool for felting on ottoman

If you put two and two together you get a few necklaces and bracelets smelling like salmon and beef jerky.

We did our usual two meals on Thanksgiving.  First with my family where I swore I would not stuff my face, but stuffed my face anyway, and then with Corey's family where I had no more room to stuff.

So I stuffed my pockets.

Just kidding.  But, seriously, I wish I had.

On Friday I replaced my dad's and my traditional 3am Black Friday outing for an 11am shove match at the outlet mall where I found a pair of red corduroy stretchy pants at Banana Republic for $10.  I'm so glad I like the clothes no one else wants.  I lean toward stretchy now that my Summer of Carbs has turned into a Fall of Cookies and I'm getting all squishy.

By then our house was baby free and in the afternoon while Corey let loose with the vacuum I was able to felt my way to arthritis.  The process I now use involves stabbing small balls of wool with special needles, so I guess it was appropriate that I stabbed away to the 48 Hours Mystery marathon on TLC.

The rest of our holiday weekend was slow and uneventful.

I declared Saturday to be a day of inside projects and that is where I stayed.  Inside.  Washing sheets, felting, eating and not showering.  And on Sunday I accidentally got a spatula stuck in my stand mixer and flung cookie dough across the kitchen.

Corey was mad.  I think he's glad I'm back to work and away from his kitchen where I tend to make messes.

I made quite a few messes.

First with the two pumpkin pies.

Did you know I have this thing about making my pies from scratch?  It takes me three hours and I do actually get flour on everything, including the dog.

Then I made a green bean casserole.

Did you know I have this thing about making my cooking projects more difficult than they need to be?  I may or may not have sent Corey on a mission for bacon Thanksgiving morning.

Then I made dog treats for each of the ten dogs we encounter in our whirlwind, cross county Thanksgiving tour.

Did you know I have this thing about turning myself into Martha Stewart?  Fancy packaging, dog bone labels, wood basket and all?

Lord help me if I were to ever be a full time housewife.

And Lord help my waistline.

But now, finally, I'm back to work.  The daily grind.

...counting down the days until the next round of holiday madness.

I'm Thankful For Fridays Off

Happy Post Turkey Day, everyone!  I hope you all are recovering nicely.

I, myself, still have a five-pound turkey/stuffing/pumpkin pie rock simmering in my stomach.  It's my second dinner waiting for my first dinner to complete digestion before it can hop on into the intestine train.

Too much?

We had a great day.  I ran in the Turkey Trot in the morning to get the ol' metabolism warmed up while Corey made several batches of cranberry sauce.

"Hey Beetle, can you wash the dishes?"
"Are you kidding??  I have to go run now!"

"You don't get it, I have a lot to do this morning."

"Oh for heaven's sake, you're boiling cranberries!!"

I was unable to beat my last time of some embarrassing number, but in my defense the first two miles were practically all uphill.

I limped back home afterward.  Old age has given me bad knees as an early Christmas present.

Thanks, a lot.

Corey eventually finished he cranberry project, not before making me stick my head in the pot half a dozen times:

"Can you smell this?!"

"Come here and smell this!!"

"This smells so good, come over here!"

It did smell sooo good.  From the other end of the apartment.  But apparently you don't get the full effect unless your nose is literally sucking up jelled cranberries.

We finished all of our baking projects late morning and drove down to my friend Liz's house where my family and hers were meeting.  There is never a dull moment when my family is present:

"These are nice glasses," my mom is talking about Liz's set of curved drinking glasses, "do they spoon when you put them in the cupboard??"

"What does 'spoon' mean?" asks Liz's 10-year-old stepdaughter.

"Uh, well..."

The food was very good, and I must say the stuffing was perfectly mushy.

Corey and I gobbled down a few slices of pie, then headed out for round two just 15 miles away with Corey's family.  Also, never a dull moment

• 25 people
• children under the age of 7
• dogs
• gingerbread houses
• football
• Brussels sprouts
• and more

By eight o'clock my eyes were drooping and my buttons were struggling to hold on.  We left, and I passed out.  There was no way I would have been able to get up for my dad's and my traditional Black Friday shopping trip.  So I didn't.  We called it off this year, but to be resumed next year.

So here we are.  Recovery day.  To be spent....recovering.

I think I'll start with a bite to eat...

It's Almost Here!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!

...and happy turkey prepping,

cranberry boiling,

pumpkin squashing (yes, you squash the squash),

grocery shopping,

stretchy-pant searching,

table decorating,

recipe finding,

and "I'm thankful for..." contemplating

because it's all in preparation for the Second Best Holiday Ever*!!!

*Christmas is number one.  Duh.

The essence of Thanksgiving

Today I make pies.  Two pies.  From scratch.

They will be pumpkin pies, and I will use real pumpkins.

The crust will be golden brown.  Formed by my own (clean) bare hands.

And they will be gloriously delicious.

Have I ever made a pie before?  No.

Do I really expect these suckers to turn out?  Hecks yeah.

Stay tuned for pictures of me smeared with pumpkin goop.

For real.  I'm a mess.