Pies and Sports and Turkeys and Trees

And that sums up this Thanksgiving weekend.

My Thanksgiving break officially started at noon on Wednesday. Grades were done, paperwork was filed, and I was off to enjoy a few days before our next term begins. I ran a few errands: The post office was easy and sane. The credit union was horrible. Let's just say their customer service is really, really bad. As soon as I pay off my car, I'm never doing business with that particular institution again!

Anyway, I dashed home, grabbed my stuff and headed for the parents' house. I had a pecan pie to make. My luck continued to be not so great. It took three tries to get the crust just right. I felt a little like the three pigs must have felt. Luckily, things improved. Dad and I went to the OSU basketball game against UNC-Charlotte. The Beavers won! And we got to see one of my favorite past players. AC Green was sitting court side, and I wonder if it's odd for him to be back at Gill, seeing his banner hanging from the rafters.

Thanksgiving was the family dinner. My sister and brother-in-law hosted. We talked and watched football. Our number was 11 this year, and we ate very, very well. In addition to the traditional turkey feast, we had four kinds of pie. Leftovers of both turkey and pie were to follow us for days.

Mom, Traci and I made our Black Friday run. We were up and out the door by 4:45 to pick up some gifts. It was short day for us this year. We were home by 1:30, and I crashed. The rest of the day is pretty non-existent.

Saturday is our traditional "Get the Tree Day." Mom's tree has to meet specific requirements in size, shape and variety. We ended up at a u-cut place run by my 8th grade math teacher. It's always a little odd to run into my old teachers, even many years later.

Sunday evening....the tree is decorated. Wreaths are hung and I have to decide how much more of the Christmas decoration plunder to haul out of storage and unpack. But not tonight. I have homework to do.

Christmas!

It's a frantic time of year filled with family, friends, food...festivities. There! I finished the alliteration. :)

Anyway, back to the Christmas. Mom, Dad and I spent Christmas Eve afternoon baking pies and putting together other yummy stuff. We headed to my sister's for Christmas Eve where we ate, played games and opened the one present we allow ourselves. My youngest niece and I tracked Santa on NORAD. Each new destination was carefully sounded out by her third grade reading skills. It was fun.

Christmas morning dawned somewhat early. The prime rib had to go into the oven by 7:30, and who can sleep through the smell of delicious roasting meat. More presents were opened. Kitter spent the morning attacking the piles of wrapping paper and playing with a new catnip mouse. Family started to arrive around 12:30. More presents were followed by the arrival of more family. Dinner went on the table at 2:00 or so. We stuffed ourselves to the gills on prime rib, mashed potatoes, veggies, bread, and salad. Many of us napped wherever we collapsed, to be roused later by the sound of Mom's beaters frothing whipping cream for pies. We ate some more. All sorts of things were covered in conversation. Family member trickled out much the way they had arrived hours earlier until it was only Mom, Dad, me and the Kitter. Clean up was done and it was pretty early to bed for all of us. It was a very good day.

Cookies

Since they cancelled school in my district today I had to find something to do on my unexpected day off. There was a whole list of chores I should've tackled. Instead, I chose to spend a good piece of the day in the kitchen. I made seven dozen cookies. Love the cookie gun! I'm not good a cut-out cookies. They take way more patience than I seem to possess. And I made my favorite peanut butter fudge. It's a recipe from my maternal grandmother that my mom has made every year for Christmas. It's a good thing I've made it several times myself. I discovered that my candy thermometer needs replacing. Thank goodness for Betty Crocker; I had to test soft-ball stage the old-fashioned way.