How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was nice. Our extended family gathered together at my cousin’s beautiful new house Thursday evening. I heard someone say they counted over 40 of us. We really enjoyed hanging out with several of my cousins’ young adult children. Most of the crowd left around 9:30 and we then sat around with my cousin’s family, telling stories and laughing until, as my daughter said, “our cheeks hurt”. I think one of the best parts of living in the rural South are the stories. You really can’t make up anything better than the sort of stuff that actually goes on around here. There’s a reason that Southern authors are amongst the best story-tellers.
Friday we had a Thanksgiving meal with our kids, son-in-law and my parents. I cooked a turkey breast, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, dressing (twice – since I let the first batch burn!), and green bean casserole (my own version made with alfredo sauce and caramelized onions). I had made cranberry sauce the day before, as well as pineapple cream and coconut cream pies from my grandmother’s recipe. Lisa brought homemade rolls and chocolate chip cookies. My mom brought “Snickers Salad”, a favorite of David’s. And now we have enough leftovers for days!
Now that Thanksgiving is past, I’m ready to get into the Christmas spirit. I’ve been working on making a Christmas playlist on Spotify today. I also took down the fall decorations and decorated the entry table with the nativity set and advent candles. Next up is to decorate the banister. Then hopefully tomorrow afternoon we will put up the tree. I don’t know that I’ll get it completely decorated before we leave for New Orleans on Friday but I’m going to try.
I didn’t post yesterday because I was wiped out after being on my feet cooking much of the day. Since I missed a day of “Thankful November” I thought I’d just list a whole bunch of random things I’m grateful for:
Earl Grey tea, pirate and wench friends, Jergens lotion, The Grateful Dead, peace signs, tiaras, kitties, line-dried sheets, feather pillows, books, quirky movies, a well-made cosmo, starry skies, Happyland Music Fest, Birkenstocks, chocolate, my French press, Mardi Gras beads, our fireplace, the sound of the ocean, my Prius, raw oysters, used bookstores, my iPhone, scarves, New Orleans, live music, singing in the church choir, coconut milk egg nog, advent candles, Spotify and Thanksgiving leftovers.
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