So far it's been a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend.
I had a rough few days at school - a tough parent meeting (tough doesn't even begin to describe it - after he heard about, my administrator told me I don't have to take abuse from a parent and that I should have said, " I'm sorry, this meeting will have to continue with an administrator present" and walked out of the room. Yes, it was that bad), a fight in my classroom, and an overall need for a few days away from the craziness. Enter Thanksgiving Weekend!
Thursday was wonderful. Ricky and I decided this would be the year for us to start hosting Thanksgiving. We set up a long table in our living room, borrowed silverware and serving utensils from my parents since we don't have enough, set up a buffet table and beverage station in the kitchen, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with 10 adults and 2 kids. Ricky had to work so we served our meal abotu 5 pm. My very first Thanksgiving day turkey was wonderful. I used the Williams-Sonoma Turkey Brine at the suggestion of a friend (and 120+ raving reviews on the W-S website) and it definitely did the job. The white meat was almost as moist as the dark!
We had a great day with Ricky's parents and sisters, both nephews, Ricky's grandparents, my mom and a friend of Ricky's sister. There was so much food, great fellowship, and it was just a wonderful time to enjoy the company of friends and family. My mom was a huge help, even though she felt she couldn't do much as she broke her foot a week before Turkey Day. She may think she didn't do much, but I beg to differ! If nothing else, she made sure I didn't screw up the turkey!
Friday Ricky was off so we ran some errands, returning borrowed items and did a little shopping at Lowe's in the afternoon. No, we were not up at 4 am for the Black Friday sales. You know I love a good deal, but I love my sleep (and keeping my body parts in tact) even more! In the afternoon we took a thermos of hot chocolate downtown for the Christmas Tree Lighting in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Afterward, we had an excellent dinner at Aura Restaurant and Lounge on 10th and Burnside. What a cool place - a little too cool for me, I think! The food really was wonderful but I'm not sure we'd fit in with the standard clientele.
Today I met a friend/college roommate on NW 23rd for some lunch and shopping. We had a good lunch at Rose's Deli, then did a little shopping at Paper Source (I got some Christmas wrapping paper), Moonstruck (yum, chocolate!), and Lush (bath goodies!!).
Overall it's been a fantastically relaxing weekend, something I really needed. Tomorrow I'll be hanging out at home getting some work done while I wait for the delivery guys to show up with our new bed!! We've been redoing our bedroom and we're getting down to the end. Still need to choose a paint color, find nightstands and a dresser, and get new blinds for the window. All in good time, though. It already looks incredible since Ricky installed beautiful new wainscoting. What a change that made!
I hope you all have had as wonderful of a Thanksgiving as I have. I am truly in a wonderful, holiday spirit. Here's to keeping it through the next 26 days and beyond!
*It's killing me that the title is grammatically incorrect, as it should read "so much for which to be thankful" but that sounded kind of odd and pretentious so I went for the more common version. It's all I can do not to change it! I am a freak.
