Gobble Gobble

Ahhh Thanksgiving! Today is my absolute favorite day, let along holiday of the year. I awoke, as I do on may days, when the sun hadn't even thought about coming over the horizon yet. The house was quiet and gave me time to reflect on everything I am most thankful and grateful for. I let the minutes tick by and decided to see if I could catch the start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Satellite and by golly I could. So with my feet kept warm by sock monkey slippers (a great gift courtesy of Kami from a few years ago) and a fleece blanket wrapped around me I sat in the living room next to the crackling fire drinking coffee with cocoa enjoying the same parade I've always managed to watch year after year since childhood. There was something very comforting about watching the festivities. I can remember always getting up early as a child to catch the start of famous parade and an hour or so later mom and dad joining me down in our basement with their own mugs of coffee or cocoa. Its a tradition I just can't get past. It definitely made me miss spending Thanksgiving with my family though, but I'm trying to stay lighthearted today so I wont go there in this post. So as I'm typing this I have a break in cooking. The stuffed turkey is in the oven. The pies are already baked and cooling (apple, pumpkin, and mince meat... I couldn't resist). Jello salad is setting up in the fridge. All I really have left to do is mashed potatoes and gravy and green bean casserole. I am definitely a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving day meals. Mom and I would always go all out even if it was just the three of us having the meal together that afternoon. We couldn't help ourselves I think. Each time we'd start to plan out the menu we'd remember things we liked and would just keep adding to it. Cooking would take hours but it was so much fun and so rewarding in the end... not to mention the weeks worth of left overs that always resulted. So if you can't tell today is a happy day and I do sincerely hope that you are all enjoying it where ever you are as well. Love and God's blessings to you all.