Thanksgiving 2015

Hello out there! Everyone coming out of their turkey comas and ready to tackle Monday? No? OK, cool. I'd appreciate another day or two of laziness, personally... c'est la vie.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you did, too! A few months ago, when we were trying to nail down T-day plans, I decided that I was not going to travel anywhere (regardless of the fact that family is just an hour away), was going to have dinner at my house, and that anyone who wanted to join us, could. Luckily, our families were totally fine with that "mandate," and everyone came on down to our house! Just the way I like it.

I worked from home on Wednesday, and made a batch of buffalo chicken in the crockpot for easy tacos while we watched the Caps game. My parents arrived just in time for dinner, and after eating, my mom and I settled in for pie night. We made just three pies (some years, we are making 6 or 8!), but they turned out beautifully. C prepped a few of our side dishes that could be done in advance, and we called it a day.

Thursday was absolutely beautiful - sunny, warm, happy. In addition to Thanksgiving, it was my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! We celebrated with crockpot breakfast casserole and mimosas (I am SO CLOSE to getting to join the fun again) while watching the parade. C got the turkey into the oven 20 minutes ahead of "schedule" and we were well on our way to a successful day. C's parents and sister and brother-in-law (K&B) joined us (with our niece - she is getting so big!) mid-morning, and we finished watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while doing a little cooking here and there. We truly kept the menu low-key, and the prep work C did Wednesday night made it even easier.

After the parade was over, my mom and I headed out for a long pre-turkey walk, along with K&B and their dog. We went over to the battlefield trail that I love, and ended up doing a (very, very slow) almost 5 miles! That was more than enough for this huffing-and-puffing pregnant lady. It felt good to move, but I definitely paid for it by way of back pain later in the day. Boo.

We got home, got cleaned up, and finished the last few sides before sitting down to a fantastic feast. I know I've already said it, but I really do love Thanksgiving! It makes me so happy to have a house full of people, with lots of chatter and food smells all day. It fills my little cup right up.

Dinner was followed by football watching and pie before C's family headed home, and we settled in with my parents to watch a movie.

The rest of the weekend was a mix of relaxing and busy - we spent Friday mostly doing nothing but getting the house back in order and watching Netflix, then on Saturday morning I went grocery shopping super early and got a pot of chili cooking in time for a 12 PM kickoff of the VT vs. UVA game. Stephanie was in town visiting family for the holiday, so her, her husband, and the baby came over to watch the game with us. Not only did we get to see a VT victory (12 years in a row!), but we got lots of baby play time, too. So fun!

Saturday night and Sunday morning, I prepped a huge batch of freezer meals for after the baby comes. I will go into more detail later, but needless to say, we will not starve once we are a family of three. Also, my freezer space is totally maxed out - and I have two freezers!

C put up the Christmas tree while I finished the meal prep, and we started getting out some of our holiday decorations. We are keeping it simple this year because otherwise I am afraid we will have decorations up until April! I make no guarantees about my ability to un-decorate the house once a newborn is involved. We do have a few things out, though, and I will add a few more items in the coming weeks. I adore this time of year and can't help but want to have the house reflect all the cheer! We will decorate the tree later this week - for now, we are just letting the cats get readjusted. They are settling in nicely... until the ornaments come out!

I braved the cold and rain to run a few errands I'd been putting off all weekend, and C made us turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwiches for dinner. They were a delicious, fresher use for leftovers that can seem very heavy, and they hit the spot. We are slowly making our way through the piles of leftovers we ended up with... A few more days and we will be good to go! I should have done a better job of sending the family home with food, but I did not, and the majority of it ended up in our fridge. Luckily, it's delicious, and it's a great way to extend the holiday just a little longer. Until the next one!