Can’t sleep. Went to bed at 10:00 PM and tossed and turned for an hour and a half before I just got up. Laying in bed when you can’t sleep is irritating torture. My limbs and hips are throbbing, making it impossible to get comfortable. And that was after a kama sutra oil foot rub, from my wonderful husband.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ve no doubt everyone ran around like chickens turkeys with their heads cut off as well. (I like to think so anyway)

This next post was to tell everyone about the wonderful christmas present that Rachel gave me! My blog is sporting it. This beautiful new Christmas template designed by Rachel of Weblog Design Studios. I love it! And as always, she did a creative and beautiful job on it!!!  Thank you Rachel. As usual your generosity is humbling. (And very much appreciated!)

We survived all the prep-work for the Thanksgiving Day feast, and it went off without a hitch. Kevin prepared two turkeys this year. One he put together in the traditional manner, with the bird stuffed with stuffing, and the other turkey was deep fried. If you enjoy your turkey crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle, deep-fried turkey delivers.

I have yet to watch Kevin prepare his stuffing, as he starts it well before any of us get up in the morning. I love his stuffing completely! Riley, who rarely eats anything he can’t completely recognize, loves Kevin’s stuffing! I usually will have the table laid out and ready for the silverware and plates to be laid out, the night before.

We relaxed quite a bit on Thanksgiving Day. Three of our dinner party were not able to make it, due to a nasty case of the flu. (I’m a firm believer in the flu vaccine) But then Tayler was busy being an extra in a movie on the day Riley and I went in to get vaccinated. Kevin got his at work. So it was good Tayler wasn’t around Roxanne and the kids this weekend. I take her in this Thursday to get the flu vaccination.

The house was cleaned thoroughly days before Thanksgiving, so there wasn’t any cleaning and odds and ends rushing around. Kevin and I split the different dishes for Thanksgiving. Although I did have the X bring a fruit platter and green bean casserole. The kids’ grandmother brought the desserts. She made a scrumptious pumpkin pie, apple pie and a pudding dessert that I don’t remember the name of. I was in charge of making a shrimp salad, the candied yams and the whipped garlic and sour cream mashed potatoes with gravy. We cheat on the gravy. We buy the Boston Market jarred turkey gravy and combine the turkey giblets with it, bringing it to a boil and then sticking it in a miniature crock pot to simmer for an hour. Very tasty.

My potatoes and candied yams were a little different this year. Like most of my recipes, I’ll take someone else’s recipe and tweak it to my own tastes. This is basically what I did with the potatoes and candied yams. I stole a few ideas from Stephanie Klein’s recipes she had posted on her blog. For the whipped garlic potatoes I took the horse radish from her recipe and added it to my own. With a wonderful outcome. The candied yams, the same thing. This year the sauce received a splash of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, (the usual brown sugar and butter) and my special secret ingredient, Kahlua. (Stephanie uses bourbon, I think.) Which led me to believe my Kahlua would work well too. And it did! They were the best I’ve ever made. We were so thrilled with the outcome, that instead of going to a Resort this year for Christmas brunch, we’re going to do this meal all over again. Kevin baked the rolls, since 8 times out of 10 I burn them.


We have eaten various combinations of Thanksgiving dinner Thursday through Sunday. The upside of cancelled company is the amount of leftovers are mind boggling. Even with sending some home with Randy and Margie. And we’ve loved every meal out of it!

Friday was a full day of pulling out the Christmas decorations, organizing them, and then we start to assemble the Christmas tree. We literally double the amount of lights put on the Christmas tree this year, much to the husbands chagrin. It WAS an ALL DAY project. Kevin started the Christmas decor for our front yard about an hour before sunset. Then we collapsed in front of the TV with the kids and watched Ice Age 2 and Cars. We loved Ice Age, and both Kevin and I dozed off during Cars.

Saturday Kevin spent all of it outside preparing our Christmas light display. He is making noises about wanting to put something big ON THE ROOF. His footing is not the surest, as the few chores he gets on a step-ladder for have proven. I’ll be doing some fancy distracting, to keep him from pursuing this goal. The house is bright and pretty, the roof is fine as is. I’ve tweaked the tree a little, but haven’t gotten in to REALLY decorating it yet. When it was dark, we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and sat around it staring at the flames, while the kids did their best to set the backyard on fire playing with sticks and fire. Today we did nothing but sit in the hot tub and lay around in between plates full of turkey dinner and pies.

And now here I am, not even slightly closer to sleep, and it’s well after midnight. I know what is finally coming up this week. And although I have willed myself not to worry about it during the busy time of Thanksgiving, I think it’s creeping back in, since I have to fill out all the medical forms every doctor’s office requires you to do. (Why can’t they just send a copy of my medical reports from the referring doctor?)

I want to thank DB and Christine for the beautiful bouquet of flowers they sent to me, and for the well wishes and zen that was sent with the flowers. They brought smiles to my face and heart. Thank-you DB and Christine, you’re special friends!


And now, I’m suffering through a hot flash, peeling off clothes in between typing. Damn if this is any indication of what’s to come, I’m really not looking forward to this. (this=menopause) So Wednesday is it. I will finally be moving towards a more definitive diagnosis. I feel confident that it’s fibroadenomas, even so, after all I’ve read I think I want them removed. Having them does predispose one to cancer. But my thinking is, remove them, and leave a better view for anything else that might pop out in future mammograms. (always the optimist)

The fact is, I am afraid. Just the thought of a needle going into my breast, makes me weak at my knees. Let alone actually cutting into them! Well I’m not going to be able to psycho-babble myself out of my fears, but I can at least express them.

Well I’m tired of typing, so I’ll close now. And if I still can’t sleep, I’ll read a few blogs. Hope everyone has recovered from the turkey haze and is ready for a new week!

Love,

3T