Preparing for Thanksgiving

I've been trying to get things ready for the company we are having for Thanksgiving - setting up the extra table & chairs, thawing out the turkey, polishing the silverware, getting some cookies baked and so on. I tend to get stressed out when we entertain, but this year I've tried to get past that stress by preparing early. There always seems to be something I forget every year - but hopefully I have all my bases covered.

I'm planning on trying something new this year too - it seems there are tons of recipes and buzz going on lately about cooking a bacon wrapped turkey - and it is supposed to keep the turkey moist when cooking. Here is a link to the recipe. Hopefully it will turn out!

My favorite time of the year

It is really is starting to feel - and smell - like fall here in Texas - and it's my favorite time of the year. I guess there are just certain things this time of year that really remind me of growing up in Minnesota, like the smell of crisp night air, falling leaves and cinnamon apples. I have such great memories of my Mom's cooking - and since we had a huge apple orchard behind our home - most of the baking & cooking revolved around apples. She was always baking apple pie, making apple sauce, apple bars, and whatever else she could think of with the crop that those trees produced. I try to treat myself to my favorite tea whenever I can - and there is nothing better in my humble opinion to take me back to those special memories than this:

New Kitchen

I love the look of the finished new tile floors, back splash and counter tops in the kitchen. It took longer than we had planned, and eating out got a bit old & expensive, but I'm very thankful to have it all completed. Perfect timing for the 12 people we are planning on hosting for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I do need to re-decorate a few things - the old tired blue accents have got to go - so guess what will be on my Christmas wish list this year ;-)

Getting some work done

While the contractors are working on the kitchen, I've been working on my Christmas cards. Still a lot to do - for both things - but it's coming along - and progress is being made. We'll be eating out for the next few days - but it is looking good so far.

I have about 10 cards done - but I need about 30 more. I love stamping, and have a big selection of stamps, but I kind of got away from it in the past few years. Lately it's been so much more fun doing it using my Copic markers. I took a Copic 101 class last June - and learned so much. I feel just like a kid again who went off to school with a huge box of brand new crayons.

More R&R

I wish R&R means rest & relaxation right now, but unfortunately, for our family recently, it means repairs & renovations. We had ANOTHER water damage event 2 weeks ago - the culprit was the hot water heater in the garage - and it leaked under the wall and into the breakfast nook area in the house and damaged the wood floors. So, we are in the middle of replacing the floors (thanks to our insurance company once again), and also decided to upgrade our counter tops to granite in the process.

We had planned to do that in the future - but with all the work going on - we thought we could get it all done in one shot. We have a great contractor who has helped us in the past - and we were thankful he could help us this time as well. The hardest part was deciding what color of granite to choose, but after a few discussions, Jeff settled on exactly what I wanted - imagine that ;-) I'll post pictures of the finished project once it's completed - but here is a photo of the granite "we" picked. I can't wait for it all to be finished.