Getting Ready

We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner here for Ben's family -- John and Dawn and their sons Michael and John Jr., Dawn's father, Donald, and Ben's other brother, Jeff.   There will be eight of us around the table, and we will just fit with both leaves pulled out.   The other day Paul helped me move some furniture to make more space in the dining room and it felt like we were getting ready for a party.  As Dawn reminded me last night, this will be the last Thanksgiving in this house so it calls for a special celebration.

Yesterday I made a run to the grocery store which was full of people who all seemed to be looking for holiday foods like canned pumpkin, turkey gravy, and poultry spice.  Oddly enough the hustle and bustle made for a festive experience instead of a stressful one, and I quite enjoyed it.  I was so in the spirit that I splurged on a pretty floral arrangement which is now gracing my kitchen window ledge.    

You may be able to tell from the view out the window that it was not sunny and nice here yesterday.  It was very rainy and windy and cold, and this gloomy weather is expected to continue today.  It caused me to change my plans and stay home instead of driving around the Beltway to a mattress store (to buy mattresses to be delivered to our home in Boulder in time for our December visit) and to Arlington Cemetery (which I was going to visit with Dawn's father).  But for some reason, neither the weather nor the curtailed plans dampened my spirits.  I'm happy to be home taking my time  getting ready for the big day tomorrow. What a treat it is to not be working right up to the holiday. 

Yesterday I made cranberry sauce, one of my mother's Thanksgiving favorites, baked cornbread for the cornbread stuffing, and made chocolate chip cookies, so the cooking is well underway. 

As I work and play around the house I'm enjoying watching the birds --there are no cardinals in Colorado! -- and thinking about and feeling grateful for my far-flung family and friends.