Happy ThanksGiving!

I must apologize for never having pictures for this side of my blog.  There's a laziness in me when it comes to that camera!

Now that today is nearly over, I truly hope and pray everyone had a wonderful day with family.  And if not with family, hopefully doing something enjoyable and pleasing.  I know for some, the holidays can be a real season of stress and hardship, something I've experienced myself often over the years I've spent since leaving home at the ripe old age of 18!

As you all may remember, I have only a large toaster oven [my Toaster-Oven Tuesdays have been side-lined due to current life events] and I used it to roast a turkey.  No, the whole turkey did not fit into the oven, but I cut off the wings and legs & thighs - leaving the latter two attached to each other - and roasted them and 1/2 the back in one batch on a rack in a pan, covered with foil.  When they were done, I then did the remaining 1/2 back and the breast.  I cooked them yesterday so that I could do the stuffing today and I cut up the breast, deboned the thighs and warmed them in the toaster oven.  Along with those dishes I had mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans w/butter, deviled eggs, store-bought sandwich rolls cut in half, and I opened our last can of green olives.  For dessert, I had picked up a NY cheesecake from Trader Joe's and a jar of lemon curd which I slathered over the top and Marty, Nick and I had quite a pleasant little feast, and there's plenty of leftovers to last through the weekend!

I'm thankful for my little family, and thankful I am home to be with them and to be able to cook a good meal for them.  I'm thankful I'm here and not up north where there is so much family drama.  I'm thankful for those family members even with the drama but am also thankful I moved away all those years ago and I'm especially thankful that the Lord chose me to be one of His own.

This past week, I learned from my daughter that her baby due in mid-April, is going to be a.....GIRL!  So I will have one grandSON and one grandDAUGHTER.  I guess I'd better seriously consider getting some quilts finished, including my daughter and son-in-law's wedding quilt that I started, ahem, about six years ago, and my grandson is already four and hasn't received a quilt from Grammy yet!  And tomorrow starts the annual Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, so excited and anxious to see what it will become!

May your home be filled with many blessings.

Duck, Duck, Duck

Yeah, I'm watching the Ducks womp Washington.  While I did not attend either school, I am rooting for the Ducks of course, after all, I am a Duck Out Of Water!

And speaking of Ducks, yes, I am here in the wet land again, and hooray, it has been wet off and on.  I've enjoyed that part.  I will most likely be here for another three weeks, maybe more.

My dad had a medical procedure on Wednesday - nothing requiring recuperation time, and it went well and so far nothing appears to be amiss but full results won't be in for about a week.  The very next day we drove over to the hospital where he will, finally be having the surgery on his cervical spine to remedy his previous surgery in the same location, for his pre-op.  I hope he quits complaining after this, but that's highly unlikely.  At his age, it seems he's constantly complaining of some ailment including his inability to regain the 20-25 pounds he's lost this past year, and that he no longer has the muscle mass of a 30-year old.  It's tough to be 81!

I'm hoping to take part in Bonnie Hunter's annual Quiltville Mystery Quilt again this year [watch for any updates at my quilt blog Webs of Thread, if I have any].  At the very least I will be following other bloggers' progress while I print out each week's instructions.  I've already picked up the paint chips from Lowe's and was surprised to see that the yellow one wasn't quite as yellow as my computer monitor made it appear.  I may be stretched to shop my stash for this one, not to mention my not being home, so may end up with some additions to my stash numbers again - oh darn! right?

With this trip north, I brought a box of genealogy to work on in my spare time and I have an embroidery project I can work on too.

Those of you who do, please keep praying for me in all areas as I continue to help my dad, rub elbows with family, and am so very far from my husband, son, and church though all are accessible via the internet.  Oh, and include my dad with his surgery which is for this Thursday, and that he'd be a "nice" patient - his reputation is one of non-compliance, impatience, hostility and a whole lot of 'language'.