I had fully intended to come up with a long, windy list of fabulous links for this Friday after Thanksgiving. But somehow, Thanksgiving morphed into a three-day, non-stop event that took me far from my computer (well, into the kitchen anyway). I haven't cooked a Thanksgiving dinner in YEARS, and I wanted to do this one up right -- wanted my kids to remember beauty, and laughter, and tons of food. I think we hit it pretty darn close. In the middle of it all I remembered that it's just as bonding to work with my family as it is to vacation with them. So, check, for now on 'teaching kids to work', and now let's move onto playing.

And just so you don't think I'm living in la-la land over here, let me detail to you the worldly amidst the wonder. 

1. Last Sunday our dishwasher developed this malady wherein you press start and it starts . . . but then about 10 minutes into the cycle it MAY decide to turn itself off. So, you press start again. AND, it may run the whole way . . . or may turn off in ten minutes. Frankly, it's tired. We went to three different stores, none of which could get us a new dishwasher by Thanksgiving. 
2. I bought two fresh turkeys on Tuesday and put them in the refrigerator in the garage. On Wednesday night I went to get something out of that refrigerator and had the feeling that it wasn't quite cool enough. Hmmmm. We took the kids out to dinner (which ended up taking FOREVER), and I mentioned to Sterling my refrigeration concerns. After dinner, Sterling ran to Walmart to buy a refrigerator temp gauge. 47 degrees!!! Oops. So, at 11:00 PM on WEDNESDAY NIGHT, Sterling had to go out in search of two fresh turkeys. Luckily, he found them easily. But I had an anxiety attack for about 27 minutes.
3. Right in the throes of cooking on Thursday morning, the ignitor on our gas stove goes beserk. It will NOT stop firing. Sterling digs around in the cabinetry to unplug the ignitor -- after which we have to light the burners manually. I was all, "This is just like Little House on the Prarie!" Sterling reminded me that the Ingalls did not have a gas stove. Oh. Right.

But guess what? We overcame faulty appliances and put out a massive feast (and were still all friends by the end)!! It was incredibly gratifying to work side-by-side with my family to make this holiday happen. I was exhausted, but I did sleep in a bit this morning to recover.

NOW WHO'S READY TO PUT UP THE TREE?

Happy Holidays to all of our readers!!