The turkey's in the oven, and our formerly non-existant Thanksgiving is going to at least make a small appearance after all...yay!!
Jack does have to work that evening and sleep the day, but that buys me some time to put the polish on some side dishes now that we ARE having T-Day. My daughter found out at the last minute she is NOT traveling out-of-state, so she'll be joining us...double yay!!
My kitchen is not clean, which means that has to happen before the last mad dash of concoctions get concocted, but since this is a GREATLY scaled down scenario, it'll be turkey, gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce, veggies, beans, winter squash, pecan pie, iced tea (or kombucha) and pumpkin cake. Not too shabby, eh?? In comparison to other Thanksgivings, it's small, and I really like to put on the dog (well, bird anyway) for a whole gang of family and friends when possible, which usually requires planning weeks in advance and cooking days in advance, a regular baking tear...which I love! But this is ok for this year...I'm glad we're able to pull off something :)
It sounds like a crazy way of dealing with the empty nest syndrome, since my daughter moved out last weekend to her own place, but most of her things are still here, and she'll be coming to get them soon. So I've been dealing with it the opposite way I thought I would...by removing her things and cleaning and then making certain areas "mine" again. Weird. This isn't the house she grew up in, nor do we have any extra rooms, so we don't have a guest room...till now. The second bathroom is the one she's been using as her own, and with her things gone, it's naked. Enter my things...and now it looks like a whole new place (sorta). I'm glad we've gotten her nice things through the last few years so she has the basics to set herself up with. There are enough reminders here that I'll never lack for the comfort of a few talismen. But seeing ALL THOSE things that have yet to be packed and moved was making me sadder and sadder. So I consolidated them for easier sorting, and regained a bathroom and a big closet...two things in short supply around here. I also cleaned out all the movies...also difficult! But half our office got sorted in the process...and that clears my head some.
This whole year has been weird, weird, weird.
Taking out some of my own things and putting them where my daughter's used to be is weird, too.
But not bad.
And there are a few bonuses (oh yeah!) in not having anyone else in the house but just us two...case in point, the romance department ('nuff said...woo hoo!) So I think we'll deal with this. I haven't burst into tears today one time, and tomorrow we'll be thoroughly L-Tryptophanned and stuffed, and we'll have a great time together if I can manage not to burn everything.
I'm still on my Horrid Food Bungling streak. This turkey should be interesting!!
;-)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone who sees this...we are SO thankful for what you mean to us!
...where the fat jolly guy goes after all the deliveries. Don't be fooled by that frozen plastic smile...he's catching some rays near the sunny coast. He's for sure got everyone else beat for the most snowbird mileage.
And of course right next door is his preferred milk-and-cookie alternative. (I can vouch for the apple fritters...) I'm thinking he carbs up here with Elvis now and then.
