Turkey Lurkey Day

First off, I'm poufed. We ate 5 hours ago and I still feel as if I could 'splode at any second. I was so full, I even took a nap after dinner, but that may have been in part due to my glass of wine with dinner. Hehehe. Thinking back to my not completely full plate, I really didn't overdo it toooo much...well except on the pre-dinner juicy turkey samples as Mr. Fixit was pulling it off the bones. No knives- it falls off and apart. He is the roaster master and makes a damn fine turkey! He preps it the night before, gets up at 5 am to start cooking- with no complaints. In fact I don't even ask, that's just his job. He takes care of anything turkey related. I just steal some of the awesome broth to fix my noodles and dressing. :-D I don't mind making the potatoes, noodles and green beans. Dressing is really easy as well. Yesterday I made 'doubled' eggs, as Monster Man calls them and he helped, and a peach pie as well as a homemade-from- scratch pumpkin pie. No canned stuff. Real pumpkin cleaned of strings and seeds, cooked, peeled, drained and squeezed of water then pureed. Voila- Canned pumpkin the hard way! Needless to say, now that I've tried it the Suzy Homemaker way, I have a new appreciation of canned pumpkin and will not ever feel guilty using a Libby's can again. The kids did help and they enjoyed getting their hands into pumpkins one more time. I turned out really well. I even tried a bite, and I don't like pumpkin pie. Not too shabby! It had my pie crust so I had to at least try it! I could just eat pie crust-ugh pastry weakness!! After I had done those Monica called me to tell about pumpkin cheesecake from the Hershey cookbook (she had bought me years ago) she was trying. I had some pumpkin left over so debated making her suggestiong but ended up going with the Creamy Peanut Butter Chip Cheesecake with chocolate graham crust due to overwhelming majority vote of Mr. FixIt and the young-uns. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter baked things (thanks Mom- the thought/smell of her peanut butter pie still makes me gag 25 years later) so I tried a spoonful of unbaked cheesecake batter before I added the PB chips- YUMM!

So dinner is done, kitchen is now cleaned, kids are bathed and I'm scouring through blogs while sitting here by a roaring toasty fire. Aaaahhhh. I'm going to have to give up my warm spot before too long and head for bed. I'll be one of those crazy people at Kohl's at 4 am. Hehehe! I can't wait! Then over to Target at 6! I love crowds but I was never one to shop on Black Friday. Not until my sister and I went last year and we had a blast! We even called our mom at 4:30 to wake her up and ask questions-ha! We ended up not going to my sister's this year, but I'm still heading out the door at 3:45 tomorrow morning! I have my ads and coupons ready to go! Mr. FixIt heads out to deer hunt weekend after weekend, gone all day or all weekend for months so this is MY day. My turn to head out sans kids for the day, or at least the morning then I'm gonna come home and crash for a few hours before anyone has a chance to think I'm back on the job. Mom's day off aka Black Friday here I come!!

Hope you all had a wonderful turkey day!

Snow bunny...er, I mean puppy

Ok I had a whole post written up and it flew away like a fart in the wind. Synopsis- It snowed. It is really cold. I shovled the 10-car driveway. I promptly went inside and made hot chocolate on the stove. I built a fire in the den--no, not from my furniture---YET. It will take me a few weeks to thaw before I can return to the frigid cold outdoors. But isn't my puppy cute??

Isn't this nice? Ugh

Truthfully this was taken before Thanksgiving, but it looks the same out today. Snowing like crazy, cold as a pile of day-old dog crap and YUK! Gloomy. I hate gloomy. So I mixed up some of Grandma's molasses cookies today with the kids. We'll bake them after dinner. One of my fav cookies and it's not even chocolate. My uncle and I use to fight over them at Grandma's, since we LOVE them the most of everyone, lol...no really. They are just for US! :-D hehehe I'm desperately trying to shake some of the wintery cruds and frustration. I've did have some success in Black Friday Christmas shopping in hopes that help. Getting 500 bucks worth of stuff at Kohl's for $180 and then getting 40 bucks back DID make me feel a touch better about the season! :-D Made me a little more cheery! Ok, off to to some odds and ends around here, including work on a few more loads of Mt. Foldmore that has taken over my bed. If not I truly expect a "Maaaaaaaammaaaa!! I have ZERO underpants!!" from Monster Man at shower time this evening. Not underwear-- underpants. He loves that word. Go figure.

Old man winter

... is waking up and showing himself. Just a little roar today, only about 3 to 4 inches. The only thing good about this picture is the fireplace and hot chocolate on the stove!! Hehehe!

Shoveled the drive, swapped laundry a few times, played with the dogs and kids in the snow, built a fire and made real hot chocolate.

Grocery trip here in a bit and I'm calling it a day!! and I've had enough for one day!! :-D

Hump day

I feel like hump day...like I fell off the wall. Forget the king's horses and men, I don't think a miracle would put me back together at this point. **Spoiler** Bitch fest to follow so move on now if you like. **Disclaimer** I think Auntie Flo is knockin' which could explain bitch fest.
No wait...winter sucks no matter what stage of brain rot hormones have induced.

Snow, cold, winter- Ugh. I hate gloomy, cold days. I just want to stay in bed and do not a dang thing.
Work- Not happenin' - No time. No desire. Checkbook in about 12 stages of panic. Must remedy soon.
Kids- Driving me insane. Griping and fussing about everything. Wonder where they got that from?? Not helped by the fact that Mr. FixIt is out of town AGAIN. Thankfully he'll be home tonight.
Critters- New pup is growing like a weed, 43 pounds on Friday and now as tall as Benny Boy. She lost both her baby canine teeth this past week, and has outgrown her expandable collar. Ben must be feeling jealous of her new items because he destroyed her squeaky lamb toy.
Ripped limb from limb, like a fleece and squeak plastic slaughter all over my back yard.
Family- Canceled our Thanksgiving gathering at my sister's. We've been running like crazy, Mr. FixIt out of town a lot the last few months, and I don't really feel up to it. Mr. FixIt agreed we should stay home, relax and have a holiday to ourselves.
House- Somewhat scary at the moment. Have put off cleaning kitchen and vacuuming the house all morning/day, now T-minus 45 minutes to Monster Man's dance class. Crap.
Self- The elliptical laughed at me as I walked past it this morning. 'nuf said.

How many days until spring???

Lookie here!

Yes, I'm slack and I haven't posted at all. Nablopomo??? HA! yeah, RIGHT! That didn't happen, LMAO!

Though I have uploaded some new pics, so here...enjoy.

Remember and Give Thanks

Remember the fallen ones who gave their lives for our freedom and
take some time to thank those who are still with us for giving their time and service.

Veteran's Day folks, don't forget.