The Countdown Begins!

Today is the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I am getting really excited for the week ahead! This is the last day that Jer has to work, so I feel like the fun is really about to start! I have my shopping list typed up (in categories, no less!) the menu completely planned and the schedule in place. Tomorrow is decorating day, since Jer will be off work and will have no more excuses for helping me get everything down from the attic. :-) Monday is shopping day and my plan is to go bright and early while Jer stays home with Colin so that I can knock it all out with minimal crowd interference. Tuesday is cleaning in preparation for our guests and Wednesday is COOKING! Absolutely all the prep and every bit of cooking possibly done ahead of time is scheduled for Wednesday...including the all-important chocolate pies. I will have the turkey thawed, dressed and ready to go in the fridge on Wednesday night so that it can go into the oven before the sun comes up on Thursday morning. That will keep me from waking Colin up while trying to cook at the crack of dawn and also allow for the turkey to be done nice and early so that I have time to bake everything else in my single oven. I am actually not stressed at all about the turkey, which is what seems to worry everyone else. I roast a lot of chicken, so I am used to the process and it does not frighten me at all. Those may be famous last words, I am well aware. :-) I am more stressed about all my other dishes and making sure that everything is hot and ready to serve at the same time. I keep trying to remember the little things now...like the rolls (which I almost forgot to put on the list) and the iced tea (which my mom had to remind me of!). My other stress is my appearance, silly as it sounds. My mother wants to take a picture with the whole family for her Christmas cards since we have been unable to all be in the same place before this. I really don't see time in my day to primp, so I think I may have to add washing and fixing my hair to my "night before" list. So to those of you who get cards from my parents, I am sorry in advance for looking disheveled. :-)



Despite how stressful the whole thing sounds, I am so excited! I am having a blast putting all of this together and I feel as though I have been working on my "masterpiece". I have dreamed about doing something like this since I was a little girl watching my mom do it and I can't believe that my time has come. It will come as little surprise to those who know me well that we are holiday nuts in my family and I am giddy with the arrival of the season. Christmas decorations are showing up everywhere, the Christmas station is going full blast on the radio, and I am in Chalna heaven! I am all geared up for our classic Thanksgiving morning of watching the Macy's Parade, eating sausage balls and drinking coffee while the men complain that we are forcing them to watch the parade. I am thrilled to have two little boys running around like mad men, far too many people squeezed in my tiny house, my dad doubtlessly complaining about the fat in my menu and the ongoing cholesterol problem in the United States, and just all the fun and excitement. ;-)



We shall see how I feel the morning after. hehehe!