Thanksgiving Day

This week I'm readying my home and my kitchen for our big Thanksgiving Day feast. I love Thanksgiving. Good food, football, a fire in the fireplace, a big family, a quiet evening after everyone goes home, whats not to love?

So, sweet hubby is finishing up the painting. Oh, we've been painting the interior of the house over the last few weeks. Currently my living room and dining room are in total disarray. But hubby promises it will be back to normal by tonight. How does this sound for yummy (literally) paint colors? Pumpkin Butter in the living room, foyer, and hallway. Spicy Cayenne in the dining room. Food colors....or maybe Fall colors. Anyway, I'm ready for the painting to be finished.

So here's my menu for Thanksgiving. I'm expecting about 12-15 guests. Yes, I'm blessed with a large family. It makes for crazy fun holidays. I won't be preparing all this food myself, as I have a brother thats a decent cook who will be contributing, as well as the girlfriend of my other brother. But here's what it is so far....always subject to change at the last minute.

Turkey (fried in our turkey fryer. If anyone has any great seasoning ideas for a fried turkey, I'd sure love to hear your suggestions.)

Dressing and Gravy

Cranberry sauce (I'm trying to decide whether to keep it simple or go for Cranberry Jezebel)

Candied Sweet Potatoes (a tradition for my Daddy)

Squash & Zucchini Casserole

Cream Corn (brother's secret recipe)

Green Beans with New Potatoes

Fruit Salad

Homemade Yeast Rolls

Pecan Pie (my great grandmothers recipe)

Chocolate Pie (gotta have something chocolate)

My brother's girlfriend wants to bring a broccoli casserole too, but I'm thinking we don't need it. And, I'm thinking we need another dessert besides two pies. Maybe a simple pound cake.... Oh lawd, speaking of pounds....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Scribbler, eh?

My friend Jennifer, over at www.beaufortlookout.blogspot.com awarded me this cute superior scribbler award. Don't know that I'm all that superior at it, but I do enjoy scribbling. I do it all the time, whether on my blog, or during meetings. :) And, if you haven't visited Jennifer's blog, you should take a look at it. It always makes me feel like I'm at the beach, listening to Jimmy Buffet, and feeling the sun on my shoulders.

Thank you Jennifer!

In the Mood

I don't understand whats wrong with me. I have a bad case of Christmas spirit. This is not like me at all. I usually dread the holidays, mostly the stress that comes with getting ready, like buying presents, planning for family gatherings, etc. I always feel this sense of "rush" or a kind of "harried hurry-ness." And it always bugs me that Christmas is all over the place as soon as Halloween is over. Thanksgiving gets tossed aside for the mad rush of the Christmas season.

But for the past few days I've wanted to Christmas shop, I've wanted to listen to Christmas music, and look at this season's newest in holiday decorating. I've even planned out my Christmas baking. I'm not a baker. I have a super cool KA mixer, that I've used all of about 3 times. I'm scared of it. But Christmas baking? Yep, its on my list. And, I've bought a few presents this week, and organized my Christmas cards. Yessirree, I've got it bad.

I hope its God giving me joy for a holiday season that I've dreaded, with a sense of sadness, fearing that it might be our last with Judy. I've wondered how in the world will we get through this Chistmas season? I've watched all our family, even those who live oceans away, planning to be here for Christmas, to spend it together, with Judy and her family. I've been overwhelmed at just the thought of what this Christmas could mean for us, and how we would handle it.

Yet, in the fear, God has given me joy. Joy for a season, for a babe who came for me, for us, in spite of death. Joy for a babe who conquered death. Joy for a babe, a man, a savior, who longs for us. He's a mighty God, yes He is, who can send joy to interrupt the sadness and fear. Only Him.

This is what it looks like around my neck of the woods this week. Autumn is in full swing in the Blue Ridge mountains of north Georgia. My friend Kathi, at www.lavenderlaceandthyme@blogspot.com and my friends Patt in Nevada and Char in Michigan are all coming in with reports of expected snow. Snow!! No, not in Georgia.

I'm not a winter person. I love summer. And I adore the Fall, up until about Christmas. But then, come January, I'm ready for June again. The dark winter months to me are just cold, wet, and depressing. The best I can hope for is a couple of snowfalls, which means a holiday, for a special playday in the south.

I do love the mountains in the winter, when the trees are bare, and hiking is invigorating. Your breath hangs in the air, and if you are high in the mountains, there might be a dusting of snow on the ground. But after a few days of that...I'm ready for spring again.

Right now, I'm enjoying the cool days of autumn, kissed gently by a warm sun, and the brilliant colors God has painted on the trees. Even through my front door, the colors of the trees outside reflect on the walls of my house. Its pretty cool when God sends us a special little gift like that.

Rock the Vote

I voted a couple of weeks ago, during early voting. I am soooo glad that I did. I read this morning that voting lines started hours before the voting locations even opened up. By 7:00 a.m. this morning, in my town, some lines were almost 100 people long. I hope people will not get discouraged, or tired of waiting in line. Voting is so important, and such a priviledge. This campaign has been so divisive, and so critical. So go out and rock the vote. Be patient, be congenial, and be proud!

Bookworm

My friend Jennifer at http://www.beaufortlookout.blogspot.com/ , knows me well. She tagged/awarded me this cool Bookworm award. How could a bookworm not love this award? Thank you Jennifer.

So here's how it goes. And, I'm passing the love....

Pass this on to 5 blogging friends.

Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56.

Write out the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that...

So, the closest book to me is Dorothea Benton Frank's Full of Grace. I read that this summer but its still laying here on my desk. Page 56, Sentences 5 thru about 11 I think:

"The very first thing that struck me about Sardinia was its landscape. As we circled low and around, preparing to land, I felt like I had been thrown back two thousand years. Huge juts of granite, smoothed by millenia of salt and wind, lurched upward from the earth. Some resembled animals and others looked like objects. The landscape was craggy and arid. I would not have been at all surprised to see herds of goats or sheep led by ancient bearded men in long homespun caftans and turbans navigating the scrub growth and sharp pitch of the hills. Sardinia was biblical, exactly as you would imagine the world looked when Abraham walked the earth."

Now to tag my reader friends...

Sheila at www.lifeatnumber17.blogspot.com (cuz I KNOW what a reader she is)

Paula at www.virginiasweetpea.blogspot.com

Kathi at www.lavenderlaceandthyme.blogspot.com

Cathy at www.cathysoutjunkinagain.blogspot.com

Serah at www.honeysuckleandcupcakes.blogspot.com

It will be fun to see what books people have lying close by.

A True Belle

Southern Belle Award

To my friend Kathi at http://www.lavenderlaceandthyme.blogspot.com/

Kathi, I'm awarding you my first ever Southern Belle award.

Although you are a daughter of the North, the graciousness, the kindness, and dedication to family that you exemplify in your blog, as well as your comments to others make you a honorary Southern Belle. A true Southern Belle is warm as the southern sun in June, and sweet as a Georgia peach. She is as beautiful as a magnolia, and soft as the breeze blowing through the jasmine. Combined with those attributes, she is also as sly and sharp as a fox, with a wicked sense of humor. I know no other belle that is more deserving, and better fits that description than you. I'm mighty proud to know you.