Why don't I think of these things?

My dear friend Teresa Paulina posted this on her blog, and it's ABSOLUTELY TOO GOOD not to share. You MUST watch, especially if you're a mom.

And speaking of Teresa P., please send up a little prayer for her and her family. They're having a little bit of a rough time, and could use some good thoughts and wishes.

ENJOY!!

Later that evening...

The turkey was...



... cold. And I mean COLD! He (the father-in-law) made the turkey yesterday, and cut the meat off the bones. Today, he (the father-in-law) doused the turkey slices with fake butter spray and reheated them in the microwave. UCK!! There were pecans in EVERYTHING - the cranberry sauce, the sweet potato casserole (well, there are supposed to be pecans in that), and the stuffing. Pecans in the stuffing!!! Celery, dried cranberries and LOTS of extra sage in the stuffing, too. Sure, it might sound like it would be good, but this is not the way God intended Stove Top to be prepared!



The corn and mashed potatoes were good (don't ask about the gravy).



And, of course, the pumpkin pie. But I guess it's hard to screw up a Mrs. Smith's pumpkin pie.


Tomorrow, we will be putting up our Christmas decorations, and I will begin to eagerly wonder who will get me a pair of vibrating slippers this year!

Bring on the bird!

Thanks to you who sent me birthday cards, both electronically and by regular mail!

My husband's gift to me is the promise of tickets to see... wait for it...

YO-YO MA when he comes to Columbus, OH in May of next year! Tickets are not yet on sale, and I hate to think how much they'll cost, but who cares.

Did my brother even CALL to say Happy Birthday? Or the "best friend" (who I know was at the gassy-man's house, because he's off work until the middle of next week)?

No!

Let's not go there.

So today, we're headed over to the in-laws for our postponed Thanksgiving dinner. We were supposed to go Thursday, but the father-in-law came down with the flu (or something) early last week, so dinner was put off until today. Holiday dinners at the in-laws' place are always an adventure in food.

My father-in-law loves to watch the Food Network, as do I. He also loves to experiment with recipes that he sees on their programs or finds on their website, as do I. Sometimes these experiments are successful, and sometimes ... they are not.

For some reason, my father-in-law has had it in his mind for years that my husband (his son) does not like turkey. This could not be farther from the truth. Because he (my father-in-law) was under this misunderstanding, though, our Thanksgiving dinners at his place have always been... different (and it's only this year that we discovered that my father-in-law thought that my husband {his son} didn't like turkey, in case you're wondering... it just never came up before... oddly enough... ). Last year was the kicker, though.

Last year, he (my father-in-law) tried out a recipe from the Food Network for pork chops (fine), that involved first soaking the pork chops overnight in a brine solution. One very important step to this that he missed, though, was rinsing OFF the brine solution when you remove the pork chops the following morning!

ICK!

Also on the menu was some sort of exotic (and I use the term loosely) stuffing, that really was nothing more that a perfectly decent box of Stove Top ruined by all sorts of weird things like almonds and raisins being added to it. Oh sure, it sounds like it might be tasty, but trust me, it was not.

But I ate it. With a smile on my face, I ate all of it. Because that's what you do... I suppose...

This year... this year, though, my mother-in-law (my father-in-law's second wife, not my husband's mother) said she's putting her foot down and having the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, et al (which is how it came to light that my husband does, in fact, like turkey, but the conversation really wasn't interesting enough to recount here).

Wish me luck.

Sending you all wishes for a wonderful holiday

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving...  and the day after that is my birthday, YAY ME!

 

The bad thing about the new position at the Casa de Insurance is that I actually have work to do, which really stinks because I was born to slack at work.  At least things have slowed down a bit today, the day before a holiday.

 

I am trying to come up with a list of things that I'm thankful for.  My life is full of things I should feel (and am, really) thankful for, but it's hard to put it down on paper, for some reason.  My brother called me the other night, asking a few questions about what the boy would like for Christmas.  It was nice to hear from him and all (since I rarely hear from him, even though we're each the only true immediate family that the other one has left, now that both of our parents are gone), but it also reminded me of how distant we are with each other now, and how there's nothing I can do about that.

 

Which hurts.  Very much so.  And stirs up feelings of anger and resentment, at both him and myself, and rejection, which always hurts...  but even though he's been so distant for so long, and we've grown apart, and I feel almost like we're strangers, even thought I've offered a blanket apology (even though I don't know of anything I've done that would be so offensive to him or his wife) and practically begged for us to be close again, which has never gotten a response from him, I'd still pick up as if nothing had ever happened, if the offer was ever made.  I would accept him with open arms and forget these years of hurting, and pretend as if nothing ever happened...  if that makes sense...  because I miss him.

 

Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to write down that list of things I'm thankful for...

Honoring those who have served

Thank a veteran today

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

I'm probably the last person to see this. That's usually the way things happen. But I have not laughed this hard in quite a while... it felt good...