thread therapy

Ok, I've had a pretty craptastic day... to start it off, I had another dream about my mama last night in which she was 'back from the dead.' It wasn't in a scary way, but this is the third time I've dreamt that she has come back to visit and she looks just like she looked before she died and she always has a short time and then has to go back. It's weird, I know...... And I always wake up happy and sad all at the same time...
SOOO, I stayed in my husband's flannel cowboy pajamas all day :) I got jack-nothing done that was even remotely productive until I decided what I needed was some coffee and some thread therapy:

So, I made a little skirt for Ruby out of some old funky jeans and some scrap fabric to match the FABULOUS purple argyle tights I picked up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago for a quarter :)
Now I'm happy.

thanksgiving-palooza

Oh, I can't wait!! Thanksgiving has always been an 'all-out' holiday for my family. We do it up for this one and make it a point NOT to do anything huge in the kitchen at Christmas. I like it that way :) We cook with more butter than is decent to tell, use half & half in the mashed potatoes, and whipping cream in everything else.... and just generally make a huge deal out of it all. I love it.

This is the second T-day without my mama. Last year, for the first one without her, I thought 'how DARE you skip out on making the dressing, mama??' LOL. No one can make dressing like my mama's. I'm trying, though. And what I'm not fixing, I'm delegating. That's a huge step for my control-freak self. Thankfully, Eric is an excellent cook and in charge of all things turkey; one fried, one roasted. You just can't make gravy with a fried turkey.

My sister will be driving down with her dog and one of our cousins, another cousin is flying in from CO, my great aunt will be coming over, my daddy will be home, and of course the five of us :) I will enter crazy cleaning mode around Monday morning, start camping out in the kitchen around Tuesday night, we'll have dinner early on T-day at my house, go 2 doors down to daddy's for dessert and to watch the Saints vs Cowgirls game, come back to our house for the annual guys vs girls Trivial Pursuit game, stay up visiting and giggling with cousins, get up and fix a HUGE breakfast on Friday, collapse around 2pm, ... (snore, snore, snore)...,get up Sunday morning for church :)

Here's what's on the menu:
MUNCHIES (aka hors d'oeuvres)
to be available early on T-day for all those people (mostly of the male variety) who walk around all day whining that there's nothing to eat
Garlic cheese 'stuff' with the appropriate crackers
Crack wienies
Aunt Marilou's mushrooms
Eric's oysters
Hummus
fruit/ cheese plate
Spinach & artichoke dip
Chex mix
White trash truffles
Various cookies

MAIN ATTRACTION (aka carb-o-rama)
fried turkey
oven-ed turkey
spiral ham
mashed potatoes (duh)
sweet potato casserole
broccoli salad
regular dressing
oyster dressing
cranberry relish
canned, no berry, with ridges cranberry sauce (nasty, but mandatory)
corn casserole
pistachio fluffy stuff
gravy
rolls

DESSERTS
pumpkin roll
mince pie
carrot cake
chocolate truffle pie
butterscotch pie
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
appropriate amount of whipped cream :)

Is there a such thing as too much pie? Don't answer that. I don't want to know.

Of course, we'll still be cooking all weekend. Eric will make his gumbo and I'll make my bread. We'll mostly do sandwiches with the ham and turkey and have turkey hash at some point.
Oh, and my cinnamon rolls. I have to admit, they are the best I've ever had. And maybe a breakfast casserole one morning and sausage gravy and biscuits another.
I'm hungry.