Holiday Exhaustion!

Thanksgiving weekend happenings...

Unlike Mama Pea, who didn't want to be rude and photograph the inside of her cake while at a friend's house, I had no trouble shoving people out of the way... "I gotta get a picture before you hog it all!"

While my version of Mama Pea's Almond Cranberry Cake didn't look quite as good on top as hers, it was a hit and the entire thing was gone by the end of the night!  I will definitely be making this again.  Everyone had trouble describing it - most seemed to agree it was in between a coffee cake and a very moist rum cake - (no rum in there, but I bet it would be good!)

Below:  the kid crew

And can you believe this?  It was so nice that afternoon, the kid's table was outside!

Below:  I started these artichoke seedlings last spring and gave my friend one...

mine died and hers looks spectacular...

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving, the after dinner fire

Another shot of someone getting a little carried away while feeding it

After dinner, I was happy to receive this on my phone - Here's hubby getting his advancement/promotion certificate and 3rd chevron (stripe) for his uniform this past week.  He looks as if he needs FOOD... he said he's lost about 20 lbs, unintentionally... he was already slim!  We need to feed this man over Christmas.

I don't do early morning Freaky Friday shoving matches, but sometimes I do like to get out and just enjoy the madness a bit.  We went out in the afternoon to check out Bass Pro... mostly because it makes us feel close to hubby (he loves it) and there is so much to look at the kids have fun even if we don't spend money.

Posted this on Facebook while we were there to trick hubby into thinking we bought him a quad for Christmas... he didn't fall for it :)

Today was "Small Business Saturday" and my local yarn store was having a sale.  I went to check it out since I needed some more alpaca and NEED sale prices on that!

The little shop was packed!  Usually there's 2 people in there knitting and that's about it.  Good for them and I hope they really bring in some money this weekend.  I can't imagine not having a store that offers quality fiber around... 

Below, the kids were mesmerized by the ball winder while I shopped.  Personally, I think they like having the other women fawn over them and tell them how good they are and offer them candy from their basket on the counter!

This is where you can always find me... natural, undyed Alpaca... In case of the apocalypse or squirrel attack, I will probably be found hiding next to this bin doing my survivalist thing...

I have so many things to do now it is almost overwhelming, but it's all in preparation for hubby's homecoming and Christmas vacation, so I wouldn't have it any other way.  All in all, what a great Thanksgiving with friends and my kids, wrapped up by my parents giving us an early Christmas gift that enables me to get my new tires on this week- my parents are the best!  Of course I'm secondary I think to the boys... they had to make sure their grandkids were coming!  If someone would have told me when I was younger how giddy new tires for the car would make me I would have thought it ridiculous, but here I am doing my happy dance!  My head is filled with housecleaning, knitted gifts, tires, haircuts, cleaning the car, cleaning the dogs, fall gardening, dr appts, new prescription for eyeglasses... it goes on and on and I hope I don't forget to pick hubby up LOL!

Loved everyone's updates on their holiday this year, and thanks for sharing your days!

The days are flying by now and my head is spinning and I think I need to collapse now...

If you don't hear from me in 3 days... send the knitting EMS crew...

Happy Thanksgiving - artwork for you!

What do I do with all this stuff that comes home?

Share it with you, that's what!

Have safe travels today, enjoy the company of your family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving also to my brother in Afghanistan as well as hubby and crew & airwing of the USS Truman, it won't be long now!

Over the edge...

I need an intervention...

  

 What do you think?

  

Yep, that's exactly what it looks like - a wine cozy...help!

Below, more fun with stash wool...

I really needed a break from socks!

Finn is modeling hubby's new hat, this is the first hat I've ever done in the round!  But still afraid of circulars, I did it on double pointed needles which I'm comfortable with.

Today I attempted to make Mama Pea's Almond Cranberry Cake!  This will be going to Thanksgiving Dinner at a friend's house tomorrow.  Mine doesn't look nearly as beautiful as Mama Pea's, go check hers out and you will want to make it too!  Not sure what happened other than I'm a great cook but a horrible baker... I felt like I needed a degree in rocket science to get it out of the pan!  I will try it again, though, since I'm sure it will taste good (I snuck a chunk out of the bottom LOL) - I just need to work on aesthetics!

On to the BEST thing that has happened since we had the kids....

Hubby was promoted!

He has aced the test for this promotion twice a year, for the last several years, BUT... out of all the sailors eligible for promotion, only 1.9% were being advanced each year.  This is no doubt due to the economy, many servicemembers are no longer getting "out" as usual, preferring to all stay in for the full 20 years!  The pipeline thus has been clogged up with personnel that are normally lost through attrition.  I found out late Sunday night that the results had been released, and a very tense 4 hours or so went by until I found out if he made it...he did!  This had been the source of much stress because a couple of more years and he would have had to get out due to high year tenure.  Now that he made it, he will no longer be in danger of this, and will now receive a retirement paycheck after he finishes serving 20 years... I can't tell you how much weight has been lifted off our shoulders with this one!

I am so happy for him, he works so hard and really deserves this!

This is truly a Thanksgiving we will remember even though we are all apart...and  Homecoming + Christmas with family  + this advancement?  The will be the best Christmas EVER for our little family!

One more little Thanksgiving post set to go for tomorrow, but if you don't log on, have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

busy!

After posting a poem about a chicken and then disappearing for 2 days, I figured I'd better say "hi" and let you know that I wasn't committed (yet) or anything!

Been very busy knitting socks and prepping for hubby's upcoming return and our vacation. Tonight is the kids' "talent show" their music teachers put on for all the students. It's really just all the kids getting to perform in front of people, and the guests are charged an "admission" of donated goods for the local food bank!

As long as the camera battery cooperates, I'll have "talent" show footage later this weekend! I'll probably be MIA again tomorrow as I have a lot of projects that need finishing around here. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

The Chicken Whisperer

aka the weird mom who talks to factory chickens while home alone all day...

Oh Grocery Store Chicken,

I'm sorry.

Many times I've passed you by

in favor of your more pampered farm friends

the economy

and here you are before me on my counter

What to do?

Here is my promise

You will be respected in death

as you should have been in life

First night you gave us roast chicken

the next you graced my garden salad

today, we stock!

Sadly you were raised to sport Hollywood fake breasts

puny legs

no matter...

All of you will be cherished today!

In the pot you go

to socialize with vegetables

the ones you were deprived of in life

If you had been mine...

oh, you would still have not died of old age!

But while you lived you would have had sunshine

bugs

weeds

vegetables

dirt

children laughing at you

maybe a knitted ascot

chicken friends

I will give you now what you didn't have in life

respect

thank you little chicken,

the house smells good today!

Soup's On!

a quickie...

this was how dinner conversation went tonight:

Finn: "Mommy, are you 40 or 50?

Me (snicker-choke): "I'm 40, why?"

Finn: "My teacher wants to know"

Me: "Oh, did she ask all the kids how old their parents are?"

Finn: "No, she just asked me, she wants to know if you are 40 or 50."

Me: ????

Do you think he's fibbing? He swears his teacher asked! LOL...

BTW, his teacher is about 28!

Not the kind of "day off" I had in mind!

I didn't post yesterday because I didn't want to be a whiner! Yes, I was SICK! After dinner Sunday evening I started to feel a little "off". Sure enough, by 8:30 p.m. I was completely overwhelmed by it. Classic flu symptoms, muscle aches, chills. I was under 2 down comforters and then I started shivering, badly, like teeth chattering and felt like I was having convulsions. I checked the thermostat, it was 74º inside so I took my temperature... 95.6!! I ended up taking Nyquil and woke up with only the feeling of being beaten with a baseball bat, but no fever or chills, just tiredness. Strange, but apparently either my flu vaccine 2 weeks ago had some cross protection with another strain, or this was truly a 24 hour flu. (Most people say 24 hr flu to refer to something that isn't the flu at all, but a stomach bug.) No G.I. symptoms whatsover, so I'm thankful for that! I let myself rest most of the day yesterday, just to make sure, but today was completely back in the game, got errands done, car washed and waxed, and was able to check on the garden before the rain started this afternoon. Still not much going on out there.

Thought you might enjoy this:

After a horrible morning trying to get the kids out the door to school while I was so sick, I admitted defeat when they got home and laid on the couch and let them fix their own dinners!

The menu? Peanut butter & honey sandwiches, applesauce and Halloween candy LOL!

One night won't kill them, right?

I am happy to report that not only am I feeling much better, but I was able to get some retail therapy in the form of buffalo check plaid at the fabric store! I came up with the perfect beginner project for this time of year - gift bags for my socks!

Now I need to find the time for that, but at least I have my supplies.

Looks like I should have made that chicken a day earlier, than I would have been able to make the chicken soup the day before I got sick, needless to say, it went into the freezer until I could deal with it and I had canned soup instead :)