THURSDAY 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Hope everyone got to their destinations safely; still no word on whether Lisa and Chas made it to Arizona without too much hassle.  Yesterday's storms in the Midwest and other parts of the country no doubt added to the airports' already stressful holiday travel issues.  Our weather seems to have left, and even the cars that weren't scraped off yesterday are doing a good job of losing their snow cover as the temps are in the 40s.

I got up early enough to leisurely read the paper and take my shower, and then I parked myself in front of the TV to watch the 88th Macy's parade at 9:00.  Mom, who grew up in NYC, still remembers that November day in the 1930s when she got to watch one of the early parades out the window from the warm comfort of "someone's" office instead of down on the street with the rest of the crowd.  I was perfectly content to watch on TV from the comfort of Mom's couch while I worked on my needlework.  

What I did miss was the usual aroma of roasting turkey wafting from the kitchen; I didn't get to enjoy that until this afternoon when we arrived at Andy and Sandy's house for the festivities.  Everyone made it, and there were 18 of us: Andy & Sandy, Ivy, Ed & Charlie & Harry, Allen, Rachelle & Bob & Jonathan, Lisa & Eric and Virginia & Jared, Lucille & Dave, Mom, and me. FYI Mom was not the oldest one there (by a fair margin); there were four nonagenarians, ages 90, 91, 92, and 95 celebrating with us today.  We feasted on all the usual fare, and a very good time was had by all.  I tried not to overeat - but it was hard with all that delicious food!

Lisa and Alex called to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving (from Chas's parents' house in Scottsdale) but Tom hadn't felt well enough to leave the house and join them. When he called me a little later he sure sounded miserable.  Poor guy.

I'm spending the night here, and once everyone left I helped Andy & Sandy with the cleanup.  (That's when my kitchen skills shine.) We had all the food put away, pots & pans washed, first dishwasher load run and put away, tables and chairs back where they belong, etc. by 10:00.  Sure beats waking up to a dirty kitchen!