Happy Thanksgiving Eve ladies,
Sorry I didn't get back here yesterday. Did my stint at the shop then we went to one grocery store to drop off some returns (thank goodness they provide a UPS/US Postal Service/Fed Ex shipping at the customer service counter. I picked up a fresh turkey and some groceries. DH was being good, he did not hassle me about stopping at Wallfart too because I needed to get some supplies for the thrift shop as well as pick up some things there that I could not get at the other place. By the time I came home it was 3:30, took me well over 30 minutes to put the groceries away. By then after standing constantly since 10am, I had to sit down for a few minutes and take a break. Made a flat iron steak (I love that cut of meat) stir fried with onions, red bell peppers and added a packet of Campbell's slow cooker Korean Beef BBQ sauce. Although it's a slow cooker sauce, we just warmed it up. Added some sugar snap peas to tender crisp and served it over rice. It was really good. The flat iron steak is quite tender - would also be good for fajitas or any kind of stir fry dish. After cleaning up I had a bit of a problem trying to find some pricing tags the thrift shop needed. They were very specific in what they wanted and some of the places I found them at had horrific shipping costs for 2 day delivery. I refuse to pay more for shipping than for the item I am buying. Was finally able to find something reasonable. I have a company credit card so I made copies of the receipts and emailed them to the accountant. Then realized I needed some other things from Amazon and sent that order off too. I do a brain training thing online with a place called Lumosity (DH signed us up) so did that. Watched a bit of the finale of Dancing with the Stars as DH was chatting that up. Then I realized I had forgotten I had a sizeable amount of Kohls cash to use up (it expired today). I had to figure out what I could use (nothing really) and then make sure I didn't use it all as I will lose some when I return a few of DH's things. I settled on some new bed pillows. Before I knew it, it was really late and once again, I was off to bed late. Slept in which I shouldn't have. Need to break this cycle.
I'm glad I got stuff for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. 2 friends invited us to a restaurant we aren't crazy about. Mostly because the front door opens right into the dining room where all the tables are, the place sits on a hill and the winds blow right into the room as soon as the door is opened and of course, people stand in the door talking and holding it open for too long. So you get a chilly blast and I don't like eating cold food. Plus it's only supposed to be a high of 12 degrees tomorrow so it will really be cold. I was going to call them to finalize the time today and he called this morning and said his wife accepted an invite from someone else. Really? I didn't think that was too cool as I had immediately responded yes when they first asked. But that's how they are - invite you and then back out at the last minute.
So I will continue with plans for a nice meal for us. And some delicious left over dishes for the next few days. I am all about the side dishes
This will be the first time I use the "new" china I got at the thrift shop back in the summer. I am excited. We could have gone to Chicago but DH hates to drive this time of year with the snow and ice and all and this is the busiest travel day of the year so no thanks. So today I want to tidy up the house so that things look nice. I might even think about starting to decorate for Christmas this weekend since that will be here before we know it. And that's about it for me.
And no ladies, we won't be eating any fresh turkeys from our yard
They are indeed not your domesticated Turkey Store turkeys. These are lean, mean walking machines. They are quite tough as they are 98 percent muscle with very little fat at all. Plus (except for the ones in my yard) they live on a diet of bugs, ticks, leafy compost and other yardly yuck so they have to taste pretty bad. :P
Besides, I could never eat anything I saw live and walking around. I even feel badly when DH has to "take care" of destructive critters in the yard.
Terra - it sounds as if you have quite a delicious dinner planned too. It's nice that you will all pitch in and help Mom out with dinner since she has to work tomorrow
Shad - oh no, sounds like another PITA project. I guess that comes with the territory. I hope it won't be too bad for you *duck and cover...*
Glad you made it to Melbourne alright.
Susie - I agree with you - much as the day is busy, it does seem to help the old bod if you can get a little movement in. I felt better than I thought I would after shoveling snow for 3 hours on Monday even though it got to the point my arms would not lift another shovelful.
Dee - that's a cute idea with the t-shirts. I have to admit though that I got spoiled with the cotton spandex blend and I don't like the all cotton t-shirts. Still it would be fun to paint / decorate them and give them away. I had to smile at your description of DH's frustration with the website. I got one of those guys too - sometimes it's just best to walk away and leave them be just like you did
Did you get your Fitbit yet and if so, how do you like it? Thanks for posting some picture - fun to see people - very adorable.
Ceejay - we weren't allowed to have guns at work either when I was down south. However I worked in the ghetto in a very unsafe area and had to pass through a terrible part of town on my way to and from work. DH wanted me to carry a pistol in my bag (I had a license and carry permit). He said and had a point - no one would be able to protect me if I got attacked other than me. We had guards at the front of the reception area but they were unarmed and the police didn't always respond quickly because there were always altercations going on in the area. Our corporate office was 10 miles away in a better part of town even though there were car jackings on the next block. There was alot of negative feedback from the employees in my complex that the bigwigs did not care about our safety, only saving money by renting a building cheaply. So I refused to work there late. I can understand your concern though - if 5 phone lines ring you are only one person and do what you can do. Are you travelling over to the uncle's tomorrow?
Michelle - thanks for checking in. Glad to hear you are resting comfortably and recovering nicely. Keep sipping the water and move around as best you can. Is step mom toning down the Thanksgiving meal or will you have a houseful?
Thank you ladies for the dessert recipes. They both look delicious. I am going to make an orange dreamsicle cake that I have been drooling over. I am going to cut the recipe in half so I only make a small loaf - enough to enjoy a taste but not overindulge. I might try those apple dumplings - if I can snatch the apples before DH tosses them out to the deer. He lobs 2 or 3 out each night and they go directly to them. Critters eat good at my house.
Annie - I have to say I felt so bad for you after your procedure. Was going to suggest sitting on a bullet popsicle
The stuff they do to us ladies men would never tolerate! I hope you are feeling better. I'm sure you will be cooking up a storm for the family - all sorts of yummy stuff. I am totally enjoying the cat posts you are putting on FB
I love, love, LOVE chicken salad. And it's even better with grapes in it. Comes from my days at the job from hades where me and my buddy would have the 10 minute power lunch - whatever we got to eat in 10 minutes was what we had. Chicken salad was the quickest thing to get at the in building deli and the fastest to chew. Plus I love the taste of it. Looking forward to turkey salad later too. That is very nice of Sissy to be looking to make a few extra bucks and you helping out by letter her clean. I'm sure she's thinking ahead of gifts for the kids and such. If I lived closer I'd hire her too! Congratulation on the 10 pounds down! Is this from all the walking you do now? Or yucky lunches in the cafeteria?
Laura - I did not get to make the soups on Monday - went outside to help DH and spent 3 hours shoveling. By the time I was done I was too tired to do much more than warm up some leftovers. I'm glad the beef soup meat I have is in a cryo pak so it will hold up until later today. Did you decide on what kind of pie to make. Apple cranberry sounds good although I made some apple cranberry sauce last year - wasn't that impressed with it. I think different seasonings enhance cranberries vs apples and they don't always marry well although they do have cinnamon in common. I guess the weather wasn't too great by you yesterday. Someone at the shop was talking about their kids travelling north from Knoxville TN and got stuck in a near shut down on the road. They stopped in Rockford overnight. It's early into winter and already they are getting crazy storms all over the country - our first snow at 12 inches, Buffalo with 6 feet and now I guess it's going to get really ugly on the east coast. Kind of scary. Do you get any leftovers to take home from the brother's house or is one turkey dinner enough for you? Oh girl you certainly have my sympathies with your comment about Mom being indecisive and having to get her moved. Buy an extra bottle of pain reliever for the headaches to come
Guess that's enough blabbering for now. I'm hungry and DH is taking a nap with the cats. Should I leave the leftover beef and rice for him (and be a good wife) or eat it and tell him you snooze you lose
Stay tuned...
in kids, reg. adult & plus sizes. In the summer when the Little ones r w us on a outing we wear these shirts in the same color so we r easy to spot 
I buy extra shirts for the kiddos to paint their own design & they also design a shirt for school & I sew it for them. W 2 shirts u can make a cute summer dress; the top shirt should feel comfortable & the 2nd shirt is the skirt so buy a bigger size & simply cut-off the hem on the top shirt & cut the 2nd shirt straight across @ the arm holes. Pin them together loosely to let the skirt b fuller & sew the 2 shirts together... No hemming needed because the shirt already has a hem. A $4 dress, a swimsuit cover up or a nighty, U decide; solid or color-blocked, add embellishments or paint a design or do some cut-work, that u made yourself (you r a fashion designer) 
Or design a t-shirt to wear under a work blazer or w pajama pants or summer time. Clothing is fun unless your a nudist 
cursing @ the page & arrowing back. 
I got one stair session in yesterday, but only 3 flights down, 3 flights up. Oh, and one flight up at the train station. I always try to use the stairs at the train station instead of the escalators. 
