Sneaking a quicky...

(HA! I bet you've had those quickies a few times in your younger years...)

Well I had to sneak up here to type a quick message, since no one else is quite awake yet and Pete is out with his son Nathan to pick up his car from the state inspection place.  It is peaceful for a short time, and I am thankful for that.  A house full of people--mostly in their 20's--can make for a chaotic day.  It is nearly impossible for me to think straight, and keep the place halfway clean.  I will be glad when Thanksgiving is over and done, and we can have a quiet Christmas with just the 2 mom's.

I'm not much of a gourmet cook, as you well know, but we are doing the usual feast for Thanksgiving: a turkey, homemade sausage stuffing, made-from-scratch cranberry orange relish, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole with brown sugar and marshmallows, and green bean casserole.  Oh, and they all seem to like pearled onions in a white sauce too.  Of course, I store-bought the pies, since I'm no good at that sort of thing.  Maybe someday I'll sign up for a class on how to cook, bake, and all that stuff, but for now, they will just have to PUNT, and like it.

Pete's kids have been here since Monday, and sometimes they bring along too much drama for my taste. I told Pete, "I ain't nobahdy's ding-dang mama, so I do NOT need to have any DRAMA." They have the usual sibling rivalry issues, plus the fact that Pete makes them WORK every time they come visit, which is annoying.  I keep telling him they won't come back if he keeps making them do this stuff.  He's got them out in the garage, sorting everything and going through it, condensing and storing it all out in the barn.  Unbelievable.  I'm still working on going through all the Christmas stuff that we've accumulated, (we won't need any Xmas cards for 20 years).  So it's been a real "fun" time so far.

SIGH.  Why do the holidays always suck so bad each year?  I hope yours will be much better than mine.

Florence acted strangely yesterday...she told my mom that "a person knows when they are going to die." My mom asked her what she meant, and Florence said, "Our time is just our time, and we know exactly when our time is up." My mom said, "Don't talk that way..." but Flo insisted, "I know it is my time." My mom said, "You're starting to tear up, Flo, and that is going to make ME cry, so STOP talking like that!" But it caused my mom to be extra watchful of Florence yesterday.  She was fine, but it was strange, even for her.  She didn't sleep most of the night, and when we suggested that she take a nap, she said, "I don't want to sleep the rest of my life away."  Gadzooks.  I don't know if she's just a loon, or if it's a prophecy.

Part of me wishes I had stayed single.  Seriously.  I had some stress, sure, mostly due to financial worries, the cost of living, and having no support group/family/friends around me in DC for so long.  But, I could come and go as I pleased, I could eat whatever I wanted WHEN I wanted to, and I could choose NOT to do the dishes, or NOT to vacuum and clean the house if I didn't feel like it, and nobody CARED.  I could buy whatever groceries I wanted to buy, I could watch whatever I wanted to watch on t.v., anytime I felt like it, and I didn't have anybody else to worry about except ME and my DOG.  Life was much simpler then.  I miss that simple stuff.

(Speaking of simple, the trivia question I mentioned before, "what song was inspired by Lake Tahoe?" was "Sweet & Simple" and that is probably my MOST FAVORITE Journey song of all time).  I was way off with "Liberty."  I really had no clue about that one.

So, to sum up the month of November:

1. I am all done Christmas shopping.  Everything is wrapped and labeled, and ready to be shipped. This was NOT an easy thing to accomplish (as it used to be) because I have to babysit two mothers every day, who are high maintenance. I've mailed the items to my sister in England already, and today I'm mailing my "African son" Ben, his gifts, to Ghana. (I found some "snow in a can" to send him, as he's never seen snow before in his whole life)!
2. Our Christmas newsletter is done, (worked on it yesterday), and now it's ready for printing and mailing along with Christmas cards, which I will be working on next week, after all the hullabaloo of Thanksgiving is done and gone. Stamps are already bought.
3. Pete has been working 12-18 hour days, and wonders why he's so tired all the time. But he's busy running around trying to do things like paint the barn, clear the garages, sort stuff, etc.
4. The road-side holiday sign that I've made is ready to be put out in front of our house, along with all the other decorations that I plan on using for around our front door area.
5. I have just managed to get all our Xmas stuff in the attic above our porch, for easy access.
6. Every morsel of food for the Thanksgiving feast is bought, and ready for preparation and eating.

I think after this week, I will probably curl up into a fetal position and not leave my bed for a month.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and don't ever get married my friend.  Seriously.  Just live in sin with me for a few hundred years, and let's leave it at that, okay??

Bye for now.

Love, Rebecca