THANKSGIVING

My sweet younger boys playing in the leaves.

Yes, I know it's over. This is just a recount of the day.... or week.... yeah, the week. Keep in mind, that this is from MY memory. If things were different... well, this is how they were perceived by yours truly.

My hubby and I have spent the last few weeks neck deep in home improvement. I started, a long while ago, stripping wallpaper from the kitchen walls.

We were delayed, in that, due to life. We just got busy. But, my hubby, good man that he is, knew exactly when to start working again, because really, had he started any later, it would not have been finished.

And, though I would love to claim the credit for taking on the kitchen, it was all hubby. He pulled the cabinets, he sanded them, he painted everything and cleaned and replaced the hardware. I only painted a few cabinet doors and then papered the shelves and drawers. The kitchen turned out so pretty..... deep red and navy. I am going to accent with bluebonnets and Texas stars.

Monday, my hubby and dad installed the convection/microwave oven. *swoon*

That afternoon, I had to go get my hair done. Yes... I HAD to. I got it trimmed and highlighted, as normal. But, usually I highlight my blond hair with lighter blond. This time, for fun, we did some blond and some auburn. Totally different for me, but fun.

Tuesday, I got another surprise. A new washer and dryer. Well, that wasn't necessarily the surprise. Hubby told me he was getting them. Home Depot was running a good special and as our old set was.... well, OLD, we decided to take advantage of this. I asked for red, but the special was on certain styles, which, I think, only had white. Well, when it was installed and I came to see, they were red. SO excited.... my hubby is good that way.

Right after the installation, I went out with one of my BFs. She and I went Christmas shopping and spent some time together. She has, this year, gone back to work and we hardly ever see each other. We ate at Chuy's... YUM! Then we hit many stores. Spending money and getting some stuff taken care of. I was gone from 9:15 a.m. until about 6:30. It was a great day and allowed me to "get-away" for a bit.

Wednesday. That is when things kicked into overdrive. We were expecting my SIL, my ILs and my hubby's grandparents "sometime today." I don't do well with "sometime today." And, as I'm sure most of you experience, I don't notice a lot of dirt until I'm about to have company. There were things cleaned that hadn't seen clean since.... well, LAST Thanksgiving. LOL! We. Worked. Our. Butts. Off.

(My older 2 helping out.)

About 2:00, I was finally able to start cooking and baking. And I did that until about 9 that night. Then, we "entertained." I had bought sandwich stuff as that would be the easiest to present and clean up in the midst of all the other stuff I was doing.

The next day, about 10:00 or so, all our company started to show up. We had me, hubby and our 4 kids, my SIL, my ILs, hubby's grandparents and my parents. Does that make 13? That's how many we had.

Here's the thing.... there are 3 strong females in that group. One of them, for the most part, backed off..... She recognized that 1.) it is my event to host and 2.) it could just get ugly trying to swim in the pond that held myself and my mother. LOL! Cooking is a favorite activity for the 2 of us and anyone who gets in the way... well, it leads to collateral damage. It's best to hunker down in the fetal position... cover your head, if possible, and let us do what we are going to do.

The thing that got me.... and keep in mind, nothing was WRONG... it was just there were certain things I wanted done a certain way and it didn't happen. When we are doing a big meal and hosting several, there is a certain role that I want to play and I want my hubby to play.... and.... well, some of that was taken from me. Sometimes, hubby didn't hear me. Sometimes, hubby didn't respond quickly enough. And, sometimes, MIL pushed FIL into the position. :0/ *sigh* What do you do?

"HONEEEEEEEY?"

"WHAT?"

"Will you put the turkey back in the oven?" (It was 25# and I didn't want to drop it.)

*(new voice)* "I'll go get [FIL]."

When I called DH to carve the turkey, MIL tried to get FIL to do it.

Now, I know this isn't a big deal to most... and it shouldn't be to me... but that is how I am. In big, traditional meals, the man of the house does certain things and the woman of the house does certain things......

Well, thanks to my new washer and dryer, all my big girl panties were freshly laundered, so I had them on. I just smiled and let it happen.

The one big disappointment (big to me, anyway) was I wanted DH to sit at the head of the table... that is where he sits. Always. ESPECIALLY when hosting a family dinner. Well, MIL and SIL set the table and he was placed on the side, by me. Then, when I said something about it, DH said, "Don't worry about it."

There was no worry.

Just disappointment.

Kinda sucked, that.

BUT, all that aside, the meal was a tremendous success. All the food was yummy and enjoyed by all.

(This isn't all the food, but it is the only table pic I have.)

Everyone left after dessert, well.... the grandparents took dessert with them..... they had to get back... TODAY! When we reminded them that it would be dark (they *are* old and there are some medical conditions that we need to consider) we were reminded by the grandfather that "The car has lights."

Nice.

Again, what do you do?

We did get a call that they had made it back safely.... of course, the call came from their daughter in their town as their cell phone was not charged.... good thing they didn't have issues and good thing "the car has lights." :-/

SIL stayed one more night. Yesterday (Friday) we kind of lazed around for a few hours before taking SIL to the airport. Nothing like wrapping up a Thanksgiving weekend with your choice of full-body scan or "pat-down." Actually... I don't think that airport does that..... yet.

We came home and just relaxed. Hubby got packed up for his trip and we watched some TV. It was a nice day.

Now, there is a small lull (our tree is already up.... we only need outdoor decor that will be hung Wednesday or Thursday). During this weekend, I will be checking school uniforms, catching up on laundry, clean up a few areas (trying to keep the momentum from the beginning of the week) and start lists.... always the lists.

Christmas cards.

Christmas pictures.

Baking list.

Candy list.

Teachers' gift list.

Classroom parties.

Wrapping gifts.

You know how it goes......

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Have a great weekend and

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!