A Day In My Life

Jay and I spent Thusday night (Thanksgiving) in the kitchen after I got off work, then picked up where we left off on Friday morning. We prepared our traditional Thanksgiving feast, and both of my children, Lauren and Adam, were here, plus Dylan and his dad (Keith, Lauren’s fiance) and a friend of Lauren’s were here to share with us. Everyone ate as much as they wanted, and we have plenty of leftovers, so we won’t have to cook again for a while. Lauren has her engagement ring, and is going to be married soon. She’s not chosen a wedding, so will likely go to a Justice of the Peace. We’ll see.

No, not the kind computer users get nervous about. I’m talking about the real deal: Toll House Cookies, made from scratch. I’ve just made a batch, and they are all ready for company on Thanksgiving. I’m going to freeze them until the day before our feast. I’m giving a dozen as part of a holiday gift exchange at the office in the first week of December, but they will easily store in the freezer for up to eight weeks. I used the recipe from the back of the bag of chocolate morsels, but if you don’t have one, you can see the recipe at the Nestle’s site.

It was a bittersweet day. Yesterday, November 4, was our seventh wedding anniversary. I had to work my normal 8 hour shift during the day, but did not have to work late. I was working, and got thinking about the wedding. That led to thinking about the videotape of the wedding that we have. And that led to tears. My late grandmother stood in for Jay’s mother (who couldn’t be here from West Virginia) to light the candle for Jay that his mother would have lit. My mother lit the other one for me. Thinking about my grandmother made me cry, because November 4 is also the third anniversary of her funeral. Fortunately, the tears didn’t last too long, so I was able to keep working.

Welcome to November. Already we’re beginning to plan for Thanksgiving. Menus to plan, shopping to do, baking…it’s one of my favorite times of the year. This year as we’ve done for the last couple of years, we will have our holiday dinner not on Thanksgiving itself, but the day after. I have to work on Thanksgiving Day, but I have an earlier shift than usual, so when I get home, there will be time to do last minute prep for the next day. I am so looking forward to having family here. Lauren, her fiance Keith, and Dylan will be here, and Adam may get to come if he has time off. My parents will be invited also. Jay’s family is in West Virginia, but they will be here in spirit, I’m sure. I’m thinking of doing extra baking, for Christmas gifts. By the end of the month, we’ll be planning our Chistmas decorating. The girls (Duchess and Darla) have been really good about not wrecking the decorations; a well placed spray bottle helps curb their tendency to poke their noses into everything and wreak havoc in the process.