Thanksgiving!

It has been about five days of unpacking, shopping, cleaning and cooking. I can't believe I made it to Thanksgiving with all my hair and fingernails intact. Suffice it to say that there were late nights, lots of dust and oily newsprint residue everywhere. Our recycling bin is packed to the gills with carefully flattened boxes and rolled newspaper.

It was a holiday to try the best of us, but I am surrounded by the best family, so we took it in stride.

Mom got a touch of the flu earlier in the week so she didn't arrive until Turkey Day. That might have been for the best because the shower is not ready yet. Oh, and the kitchen counters have not arrived yet so there is no plumbing. I have a lovely porcelain sink serviced by a five-gallon tank for incoming water and a one-gallon bucket under the drain.  I try to catch most of the water in a basin before it reaches the drain then dispose of it in the toilet. There is running water and a drain at the bathroom vanity so we are not completely roughing it. I owe a HUGE thank you to Janet and John for carrying the bulk of our dinner dishes upstairs to wash in their kitchen.

My brother fetched my Mom from Lindsay (thanks for driving, John!) and then picked up his own family in Newbury Park. Lillie made the vegetable placecards to prove that we were all at dinner on Cashio Street. We enjoyed roast turkey with two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, spinach, roast acorn squash, fresh cranberries, olives, pickles, home-baked crescent rolls, crudite and assorted appetizers and real pumpkin pie.

It was a feast to remember. The leftovers will be yummy, too.