Monday, November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving Day

What a great day! My brined turkey tasted great - I will do it again next year. I had all the folks over for the feast and everyone contributed something. We had a great time talking and eating and, althought there were a lot of people in a small space, it wasn't that bad. Some folks were in the kitchen and others in the living room and it seems that we all just naturally rotatated and all was fine. The cats, of course, were not too happy with the situation because they don't like crowds of people so they hid as much as possible.

We all ate too much and of course then we had to sleep off the overdose of turkey but we had a great time visiting. JW, Mom, Erica, Erin, James, Toni, Larry, Olivea, and Vivian and, of course, myself were all in attendance for this holiday feast. Mathew and Mo were unable to attend as Mo's father was very ill and Mo was with him. Mo's father actually passed away later that Thanksgiving evening. My heart goes out to you Mo, my sweet son.

My sweet daughter, Erin Marie, aka: The Christmas Nazi, decorated my house for me the day after Thanksgiving! It was all I could do to keep her from putting up the decorations on Halloween! I finally relented and let her dig out the Christmas stuff from the shed and go to town. She had a lot of fun with Olivea as they put ornaments on the tree and sorted out Christmas stockings. It is strange to be passing the torch, so to speak, to the next generation for the Christmas morning festivities. All these years, my home has been the place that everyone has gathered at on Christmas Eve and stayed the night so we could all be together the next morning to watch the little one open her gifts. This year I am passing the tradition on to my daughter Erin and it is her home that everyone will gather at and party and then wake up the next morning to the laughing glee of the little ones. I am going to stay home and just go over in the morning but it does seem strange--however, it is the normal evolution of things as the children grow-up and establish their own families--it is a milestone.

This year my dad is coming for Christmas! He lives in Brunswick, Georgia and it has been a couple of years since I have seen him and it has been at least 10 years since he has been back to the Northwest for a visit. It will be fantastic to spend some quality time with him and introduce him to the great grandchildren he has never met!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

It's Been A While

Hello! Boy, it's been a while since I have posted but I have been down ill with pnuemonia and then I came down with a bad ear infection so haven't been up to writing much lately. I am on the mend now and back to work and feel'n like doing some writing today.

I finally gave the cats their flea bath and I came out the winner! Not that it did much good. They are still scratching like crazy but I am not going to give them another bath! I value my skin too much for that! Elliott tried to crawl over my shoulder and down my back but he didn't succeed in getting away, he did, however, succeed in giving me a good scratch as I pulled him off my shoulder and back. Hermoine was much easier but still no walk in the park. I will have to find another way to eradicate the little beasties other than flea baths - they don't work -- and are hazardous to my health! You know they just didn't appreciate the fact that they had a nice bath (Not Relaxing), had their coats brushed, and their nails clipped--I'm asking you where's the love! They didn't speak to me for two days!!

I got a phone call today from my daughter Erin, who is mother to my granddaughters Olivea and Vivian, who informed me that she and James are going to have another baby in July! Wonderful for them and boy am I glad they have their own place cause she is no picnic to live with when she is preggers! They are hoping for a boy because this is the last baby that she is going to have -- she is going to have her tubes tied after this baby is born.

We are just about ready for Thanksgiving - I have a smoked turkey coming from one of our line reps at work who have demo models of professional smokers and are, as a special service to our company, smoking our holiday turkeys for us. I am also roasting a turkey and for the first time ever I am brining my turkey before I roast it. Brining is supposed to make your turkey juicy and flavorful so I'll let you know how it turns out. I am having all the fam over to my house this year, which after my move last year, is quite a bit smaller so we will have a real up close and personal time ( I hope everyone showers and uses deodorant!). The rest of the dinner is being supplied by everyone else so my part is really pretty easy. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!