Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We are hosting a small gathering for six for Thanksgiving this year and preparations are, um, well...sort of underway.  We have shopped and Kevin is picking up our fresh turkey from the butcher shop tonight.  The house is still kind of a mess because we ground to an almost complete halt on any form of housework after the pumpkin carving party.  We should be able to get that all done tonight.  Maybe.

Anyway, our menu is going to be the basics but I am trying a few new recipes for some old standards.  Thank you internet for your bounty of available recipes and reviews!  Instead of just plain old pumpkin pie (don't get me wrong, I love it but want to try something new) we are having Honey Phyllo Pumpkin Pie.  Instead of the back of the package cranberry sauce I am trying Spice Scented Cranberry Sauce.  And because I have an ice-cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid that needs to be broken in still and some straight from a Tahitian market vanilla beans waiting to be used we are making Vanilla Ice Cream.  I am also going to make a pear, pecan, blue cheese salad with maple vinaigrette for dinner.  We have never had a salad on the Thanksgiving dinner table before and I think we need one item that is fresh and not entirely drenched in butter or grease.  But just one, let's not go crazy.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are and whatever you find yourself doing tomorrow.  

Six Months Ago ...

...I was here.  With the dark days and the wind howling and the rain pouring down I like to look at this picture and remember the warmth of Bora Bora, the fresh coconut water and a wonderful, relaxing perfect honeymoon with my sweetie.  Can I go back now?

*Our hut was the third one in from the right.  No, it did not suck.

Barbie's Dream Hearse

I passed this vehicle on the way to work this morning.  Why, oh why, don't I have some event planned where I need a limo?  I think I am going to have to create an event of some sort just so I can rent this bad boy out some day.  This would have been perfect for our wedding.

Bits and Pieces

• I have been running again.  I managed to get out there four times in the last week including running Sunday night at 9:00 because I promised myself I would run last weekend.  Kind of proud of dragging myself out there for that.  My pace is slow and the runs are challenging right now but I am so happy to be out there running again and being consistent. My legs feel a little noodley at the moment but I know that will go away soon. 
• I also went back to yoga class on Monday for the first time in almost a year.  Man am I out of shape.  Simple poses I had no problem with a year ago were really difficult.  My muscles were shaking in some poses and I couldn't hold a lot of them for the entire time.  My muscles are a delightful combination of tight and weak right now.  All the more reason to keep going to yoga class I guess.
• We finished the floor and more or less put the house back together to host the pumpkin carving party, then we lost all momentum and have done very little of the other things that need to get accomplished.  We are hoping to have the remainder of the baseboards painted, nailed, puttied and touched-up by the end of this weekend.  Then we can hopefully work on getting Kevin's office unpacked so we can get the crap from his office out of my office so I can get my office back.  Someday......
• "Walking Dead" anyone?  We started watching it this week and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Everybody seems to think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread (sliced brains?) but I don't know.  It is poorly written and formulaic but I still can't stop watching.  Kevin, being a zombie freak for probably 20 years, feels the same way but is much more enthusiastic about it.  He is the Barbara Mandrell of zombies: he was zombie when zombie wasn't cool. 
• There is a lot of baking in my future and I am sooooooo excited.  I haven't done any baking in awhile and I am getting the urge again.  Luckily, this coincides with the opportunity to bake three cakes in the next week and a half.  Woo-hoooo!