Thanksgiving Eve

We just got back from eating Thai food at Anchalee's tonight. So delicious. There are 2 turkeys in the fridge. One for roasting and Calvin is going to fry one for us.
Stephen is making homemade yeast rolls. He has been practicing his recipe for a couple of weeks now to perfect it. As of this moment, there are something like 5 dozen of those proofing in the oven. He wants extra rolls for turkey sandwiches afterwards.

I just did a huge double batch of sausage balls. And tomorrow will be a flurry of cooking in the kitchen no doubt. Pumpkin spice cake and Flan for dessert. Have I mentioned that flan might be one of my most favorite desserts in the universe? Stephen and Hannia are taking over most of the cooking duties. Of course that makes me really happy. I will do the stuffing and deviled eggs, but everything else is being done by someone else. Jeanne and Calvin brought 12 bottles of fruit wines, so we have punctuated our cooking activities with wine tasting. It makes it seem less of a chore that way.

Anyway, I hope you and yours are someplace safe and warm. And I hope all of you find plenty of things to be thankful for this holiday. Much love!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful to be able to be here at home, ready to celebrate the holiday with my family around me. We did the grocery shopping today, and the cooking will commence shortly. Erica leaves for England on Saturday. Stephen and Hannia will be moving to their own place here in Greenville right after that (pending future plans). And so, for now, I am taking a break from blogging to be with my kids and enjoy them for this celebration. I hope you have a wonderful holiday too.

My Knight in Shining Armor....with Shiny Tools....

My husband rescued me again today. I got ready to leave my office and my car wouldn't start (not the new red one...this is the mail delivery car). We have a couple of mechanics on duty, and one of them came over and used jumper cables to get my car started. He told me to head straight home and not to turn the car off (well, duh). But as I drove off I heard a weird high pitch whine, AND the lights on my dash were going crazy. They were flashing and strobing and I knew something was going on besides just my battery. I called Bruce and he said it sounded like an alternator problem. He told me to meet him at this auto parts store, and call him if I needed him.

Anyway, I made it there but it tore my nerves up completely. Traffic was heavy. I got caught at every stop light. I was so sure my car was going to cut off and get me stuck in a traffic jam. I think I was halfway sobbing the whole way. But I made it. I drove up right beside Bruce, and a guy came out to test my alternator which had gone bad, as well as my battery. And as he was testing it my car cut off. I made it by the skin of my teeth......whew. Anyway, my Knight with all his shiny tools had the old alternator off and the new one on, a new battery installed all in less than 20 minutes. So, its all done and I am good to go. What would I do without him???? He is priceless, for sure.

Also, the new dishes that I ordered came today. I am saying good-bye to the heavy stoneware Pfaltzgraff. I liked the pattern, but between the heaviness of it and the way it leaves marks when a piece of silverware even barely touches it....good riddance. We bought Corelle when we first got married, mainly because Bruce's Mom Lila strongly suggested it. I decided to go with the stoneware later...and have regretted it ever since. My new set (for every day) is Corelle again. I went with one of the new square designs, but its lightweight, and I know how well Corelle holds up. Erica is still using Corelle dishes that belonged to Lila....so yeah, it is definitely durable. I feel sure Lila is somewhere smiling over my latest decision. LOL.

Also? We have a pretty red truck in our driveway. We are friends with the people who own the dealership, and Daryl brought it over for us to test drive for a couple of days. It was kind of funny....Stephen was home when the dishes were delivered. He called to tell me, and then he said, "Oh, by the way, did Dad buy a truck? Because there is a new one sitting in the driveway with the keys in it." Daryl said he might run it by if he got a chance. I don't know if Bruce is completely ready to buy something else....but IF he was...I really like this little truck. It has a crew cab, meaning a full front AND back seat. That cuts off a little length of the bed of the truck, but man that thing drives like a fun car instead of a truck. I don't know if we will buy it or not.......but if it were up to me, I probably would. I mean how nice of them to just drop it off for us to try out, right....????

Can't Shake The Crud

I've had this cruddy stuff...sore throat, stuffy nose, feeling run down...and its been going on for a couple of weeks now. Sometimes it "almost" goes away and I feel ok. Then it will set in again and I start to feel sick. The past couple of days has been some of the cruddy sick days. I don't get it. I guess it could just be allergies. Colds set in and then just go away, don't they? I am just trying to live through it because the idea of taking antibiotics does NOT make me happy anymore. Not with the whole bout of dangerous C-diff Bruce got from taking amoxicillin. So what in the world do you do to shake the crud? This crud has worn out its welcome and the way I feel tonight, it has no plans to vacate the premises anytime soon. Good Lord, I am tired of it. I take Zyrtec every day, but that doesn't seem to be helping with this stuff. Blah!!!

We stayed in and watched a movie last night, especially since I was feeling pretty yucky (Stephen was too). We got rid of Netflix by mail when they got all crazy and started raising prices, but we kept the "Netflix instant view" because you can find so much stuff on there. We ended up watching some off the wall Korean film, complete with subtitles called "I'm a Cyborg and that's Ok". Its about a mentally ill young woman who thinks she is a cyborg and that ends her up in a mental hospital. There are some crazy characters in there, of course...and I found it weirdly entertaining. Bruce thought it was 2 hours of his life that he will never get back. LOL. It also starred "Rain", the Korean singer that had a singing battle with Stephen Colbert on his show (if you watch that....everybody watches The Colbert Report....right?). Anyway, it was strange fun. We think that it might make more sense if you were familiar with Korean cultural references, because I think alot of that kind of thing went right over our heads.

Anyway, I have a few errands to run, mainly grocery shopping. I need to sit down and figure out a Thanksgiving menu. But I am also going to be taking it easy, taking my vitamin C, and hoping that this crud decides its had enough of me. Maybe I will pick up some Airborne at the grocery store. Some people swear by that stuff.
Oh, and we did drive all the way to New Bern yesterday to look at a truck. Bruce halfway wanted it, but that genetic predisposition to spending money kicked in and he decided he needs more to time to think about it. I really liked the truck, but since this is something he will drive much more than I will, he is the one who has to love it more.

We bought a truck....

We set out to buy a truck yesterday. We came home with this. Stephen saw it and said, "Well, Mom, I have to say that your new truck has very limited hauling ability!". LOL. Yeah it does. But we had also thrown around the idea of buying a new family car as well, and had decided that we would probably go with another Impala since our older 2001 model has been so solid and dependable. And still is. We kept that one too. When you find something that works well, why mess with it?

I know red is Lori's favorite color, and I do like red. I just never owned a red car. Its sportier than I usually go for. Our car colors are usually a bit more conservative (white, dark blue, etc). And we did drive a silver Impala yesterday that we were tempted to buy. I almost didn't consider the red one until we drove it. It was something about the sunroof, I think. The way it opens makes it feel almost like a convertible but without the ripping your hair to shreds part. Anyway, we both liked it better, so we got the red one. We still need a truck, and we will still probably get one. There is a used Chevy Colorado at one of the dealerships we visited yesterday that we really liked. The guy made a good offer on it too. I just don't know if Bruce will be able to bring himself to buy 2 vehicles in 1 week. He has a certain gene in his genetic structure that prohibits him from spending money too freely. Which overall has been a good thing for us seeing as how I don't have that. But considering that our truck was purchased the same day that I found out I was pregnant with Erica (now 28), and considering the fact that although he has kept the thing running, it now runs like a lame 100 year old dog and parts are no longer easy to find (special order...yikes), and considering that it has no speedometer and is so scary to drive that I won't drive it unless the situation is dire, it might be time to replace it. Although we don't have to haul stuff too often, there are always occasions where having a truck is just really nice. Maybe he should shop for the truck alone, so he won't come home with something else he had no intentions of buying. LOL. Just saying.

Speaking of cars, I checked out the new Chevy Volt while we were out. It has gotten a lot of rave reviews online, so I wanted to see one for myself. I liked it alot, but it isn't practical for us at this time. Our cars need to have the ability to be used for mail delivery in case our work cars break down (always gotta have a back up). This one wouldn't do at all. Plus Chevy requires dealerships to have the expensive equipment to service these things before they can be licensed to sell them....so finding places in case of a breakdown would be tricky still. One dealership we visited had one (and just one!), the other Chevy dealer in our area did not. Eventually I think it will catch on, but not right now. There was also the matter of the sticker price which was just shy of $50,000. The salesman explained how it works though and the concept was pretty cool. The gas only powers a generator to charge the electric batteries. It has really decent pick up and speed, and if you were going to use it only to go back and forth to work and run errands around town, it would run entirely on about 80 cents of electric current a day and could presumably be used without a drop of gas ever. That is as long as you plugged it in at night.

Sherry's Birthday

We (meaning Val, Donna and myself) took our friend Sherry out for her birthday last night. It never fails...the minute we make plans to go out, work starts being a royal pain. It didn't fail to follow tradition yesterday either. I guess because today is a holiday, it was decided that every single scrap of mail, every package, every bulk rate junk mail catalog MUST go out that very day. It was late and I was exhausted when I finally left work, but I made it to the party on time. I was so glad I did.

We haven't been out, just us girls, in a while now. Donna has been battling thyroid cancer, and part of the treatment required a special diet (no iodine). She got the fantastic news on Wed. that her last scan showed no more signs of cancer, so honestly it was a double celebration last night.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time and were so happy to finally be able to have a Girl's Nite Out again. And while I think that ALL my friends are special, each in their own way, Sherry is truly one of a kind. I have never met anybody so quick to be the first in line to give or to help anybody in need. I trust her implicitly to keep any confidence that I might tell her. I was thinking how each of the 4 of us has such different personalities and yet we fit so well together. Val is the voice of reason and honesty. She is always "keeping it real". Donna is more the strong, silent type. A pillar of strength no matter how bad things get. Sherry, of course, is the compassionate, generous soul. And I??? I am the funny one with enough tinges of crazy to keep them all laughing. Sometimes, I feel like I don't have as many gifts or talents to bring to the table as the rest of them. I am not fond of reality like Val, crumple to the ground at the slightest hint of adversity, unlike Donna, and sometimes become way to self-involved to be attuned to the needs of others. Still, they all somehow seem to love me anyway. They appreciate my way of keeping them laughing, so maybe....maybe the gift of humor is worthy after all.....?

Darkness

As usual, the time change has thrown me off a little. I loved getting an extra hour of sleep. And I fully appreciate seeing daylight when I wake up in the mornings. It is so much easier to get out of bed with light coming in through the windows. But my body has not adjusted and I really don't love having things get dark by 5:30 in the afternoon. Oh well, Daylight Savings time will roll around again. It always does.

We are in a countdown for Erica's move to England. Things are coming together. She managed to sign over the lease for her apartment today, and will be leaving Charlottesville for the last time in about a week. She will be in NYC this weekend with her friends. I am planning to do up Thanksgiving in a big way to send her off with a celebration. I am NOT going to be sad. Really....Ok, so I am going to TRY not to be sad. LOL. I will be visiting her, and I am excited about that. It makes me unhappy that she is not going to be home for Christmas, but I have been preparing myself for the fact that the kids can't be home for every holiday now that they are grown and have their own lives and stuff.

Speaking of Christmas, Stephen and Hannia are most likely going to be with her parents in San Antonio, TX. Bruce and I are inviting some friends for dinner just to keep any sadness at bay. It will be ok. But we are thinking about heading to Asheville for New Years. We need to visit Greg and Lori, and I have always wanted to see Biltmore decorated for the holidays. We are in the process of trying to figure it out with our work schedules.

Anyway, I hope everybody is having a nice week. Its a long weekend for us, as we are off this Friday. Yay!