Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! (Just barely.... it's a little after 1 a.m.) Bean woke me up early this morning. I think she decided to do the Cha Cha Slide and have a party in my belly. So, I'm waiting for her to settle down so I can go back to bed. I've also got my feet propped up. I was on them most of the afternoon and evening getting ready for today.

Yesterday at Memaw's, I made an apple tart salad and homemade banana pudding from scratch. I was going to cheat and use pudding mix, but there was none to be found so I broke out the double boiler and got started. Riley loved helping. Especially with eating the 'Nilla Wafers. The pudding turned out great and, I have say, much better than the instant kind, but now I totally understand why no one makes pudding from scratch anymore. Back at home, I made a few more things for our dinner tonight, including macaroni and cheese, au gratin potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and a strawberry shortcake all from scratch. Plus a glazed ham.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the turkey in the fridge. It's still thawing. My shopping ran a day late because of a rough day with Bean on Tuesday. We're having a couple friends over this evening for dinner and Ryan thought we should have a turkey too. I know we'll eat the bulk of our meal at Memaw and Grandad's, but we also wanted to have our own dinner here to start some of our own traditions. I told Ryan that we might have to make our turkey Friday, but he smiled and reassured me that I'd find a way to make it for this evening. Then he offered to cook it. Needless to say, I've been online learning everything I can about thawing turkeys and shopping on the day before Thanksgiving will not be a new tradition.

Bean is all over the place and I'm again reminded of a scene from "Aliens". On Tuesday, I was conducting business as usual and cleaning the breakfast dishes when she decided that I should sit down, right now! I was floored for a little while and ended up having Memaw come over to keep Riley company. There was no way I was going to be able to keep up with his morning activities. I was fine a little later and back to normal. It's such a comfort having Memaw and Grandad so close! I'm really going to miss them when they leave for Mexico for a month. However, I do have "Team La Bean" in place, spearheaded by Janet, in case of emergencies - or just to have lunch!

I'm looking forward to the rest of today. I know it will be bittersweet for Ryan, as the first Thanksgiving without his dad, but also the first with his son. I remember last year, Gary came over for breakfast and I made buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy for him. It was my first attempt at both. I put way too much pepper in the gravy, but he was a sport and had two big helpings. When I promised him that next year I'd be less liberal with the pepper, he applauded my efforts and lovingly told me that everything had been just perfect. And it really had been. It was a wonderful morning for all of us. I know he'll be missed today, as he is everyday.