Christmas Wishes...

What do you want for Christmas?

J: a Wii, a grown up scooter, a game for my DS

S: High heels that are this high (about 3”) and a dress that comes down to here…my ankles…a ballgown…and no straps…it just is right across here (apparently one that defies gravity).

So, if anyone stumbles across a strapless ballgown with matching heels for a size 4T, let me know.

A Thanksgiving dinner unparalled...

For the past four years I have enjoyed a big family Thanksgiving dinner in Georgia with Grandmommy and Granddaddy, Grammalou, Grandpa Mike and a big loving family that I successfully merged myself and my girls into since meeting Michele and Andy several years ago, before getting J (and them getting their L). This year the girls and I hit the road and went to Kansas City for turkey day.

Check out this gorgeous turkey - you can practically smell it.

Beautiful and the perfectly seasoned stuffing peeking out the end of that turkey. I am a stuffing girl - dressing is good, I'll eat it...but nothing as yummy as the real thing cooked inside the turkey.

Mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, homemade cranberries, the classic green bean casserole, rolls warm from the oven. There is NOTHING like a great Thanksgiving dinner! ...and this was nothing like a great Thanksgiving dinner.

2:00 Dinner was planned to be ready...the big fat turkey wasn't done. It was a big turkey.

3:00 Dinner was expected to be ready...the big fat turkey wasn't done. When you cook it with stuffing you need to add 45 minutes.

4:00 Dinner should be ready, don't you think? ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. The oven is on, right? Right temperature...let's break out some spinach dip.

5:00 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. Is the temperature inside that turkey going down?

6:00 Time's up - isn't it? ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. Was there a brownout condition in the kitchen or something?

6:30 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. Isn't something open today?? Oh yeah - let's get something

7:00 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. All the side dishes were on the table and Uncle J returned from the grocery with what can only be described as 'turkey disks' from Swanson.

8:00 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. We had finished our excellent collection of side dishes, had a bit of turkey disk - to simulate the essence of turkey - and moved on to the pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

9:00 ...beeping...beeping coming from the meat thermometer. We have a turkey!! So below you see we have an aunt, a cousin and J & S carving up and nibbling on 'leftovers' - 20 pounds of leftovers. 20+ counting the stuffing - it was delicious, worth waiting for!

Look over at the half carved turkey picture and check the foreground. That green can is Vernor's ginger ale and the glass has the last few drops of a 'traditional' concoction of Vernor's and eggnog. Sounds a little disgusting at first, but I gave it a try...mmmmmmm.....a very frothy light eggnog drink. For those of you outside the Vernor's belt look for it in the 'upscale' softdrinks at your grocery store and you may find it. The recipe is a 50/50 mix.

You know, when you don't make your own turkey dinner you sometimes miss out on the traditional day after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches. I knew that staying at my brother's over Thanksgiving would afford me those 'next day sandwiches'...I was not disappointed. In fact, they may still be eating them.

Simply nothing like Thanksgiving dinner memories...

To intellectualize or not to...

I have noticed a difference in how I respond to my girls when they ask questions. When it is J, I give a detailed answer...not just telling her what time it is but answering with the history of timepieces. I have found I have to, as she typically has a dozen follow up questions. The more information I give her at the start, the higher the likelihood I will give her enough to think about. With S, I tend to take the question and give her a one word reply. What time is it is either a number (1:00) or an event (lunchtime).

I recently thought I was shortchanging S…not giving her the full intellectual challenge that I do know that she can handle. She is a smart little girl, I needed to start making an effort to give her more info. Even if she isn’t the question machine J is, she needs to be afforded the same opportunity to collect facts into her brain.

For example -
S: That Truck says 53.
Me: That truck says 53 because it is 53 feet long. See how much bigger that truck is than our car…

This morning the weather was setting up for nasty here. There were flash flood warnings and tornado watches. So the ride to school was peppered with weather questions.

J: You mean it’s going to flood.
(shades of gathering the animals time…)
Me: No they are talking about flash floods. Lots of rain in a short period of time that the ground and drainage systems can’t support.
J: What is a flash flood anyway?
Me: It happens when so much rain comes so quickly that the normal flow of the creeks or the water running into the drains gets backed up and the water overflows into other areas like roads. Remember that time we were at WalMart and it rained so hard and fast for a long time…remember when we went to the car and some of the cars around the parking lot had water way up to the middle of the tires because the drains were not draining the water fast enough.
J: oh yeah – I remember
S: yea - I was wearing my red shirt with the sparkly stripe and….

Maybe, just maybe, S is not yet craving the fact-filled responses…or at least not the facts that I keep in my head.

Topics still to blog... Thanksgiving dinner, KC highlights, Christmas Wishes, Panda naming ceremony