Thanksgiving week!

I seriously can't y'all.  I just CAN'T!!!

Yes, that is what you think it is. Sigh.  This one is slightly feral but he has tried to come in my house!!!  I know it's not the cat's fault and I feel bad for it, hence the food.  I can't just watch it starve in front of me.  Thankfully this one is a male I believe so it won't be delivering any little surprises.  Still.....  I just can't handle any more pets.  Oddly enough, he's almost the same size as Deme so they are about the same age SO I have to wonder if they are littermates or is it a coincidence.  No vacancy!!  The inn is full!!  Move along....        

Thanksgiving week has always been one of my favorite weeks of the year.  The week off was nice, but it always meant holiday prep!  It always seemed Thanksgiving week was the last quiet week of the year as it was leading up to all the fun back to back Christmas festivities.  This year, so much is cancelled though....  no Christmas parades or festivals.  No band or choir concerts.  Looking at the calendar, Christmas Eve is a month from today!  I haven't done any shopping at all yet and I'm clueless on what to get for the kids this year.  Teen girls are hard to buy for especially when they don't have much interest in girly things.  

Thanksgiving has always been low key and once again will be just the four of us.  No schedule, no rushing, no stress. We'll eat when dinner is finished cooking and there's no waiting on anyone.  My turkey is brining.  I made a few of the sides today and will make the rest tomorrow.  I know some who get up at 4am on turkey day to start cooking?!?  No thanks.  I like cooking but I also like sleeping!!  

I always cook a ton of food and we have leftovers for days.  And of course, leftover turkey means turkey and sausage gumbo here in Louisiana!

Turkey, ham, rice dressing, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, cranberries, dinner rolls and pies of course.  Pecan pie, lemon pie, cheesecake, and cookies.  

How about all of you?  Whatcha cooking?  Eating out?  Is anybody still having a big family Thanksgiving?  

Once again...

Just before Halloween, I mentioned that Valerie had been sent home from school and required to quarantine for two weeks due to playing badminton with a classmate who tested positive for Covid-19.  Of course she was fine and she returned to school last Wednesday, November 11.  Thursday a couple of the band kids were sick and tested positive.  On Friday (the 13th of course,) I get the call that she had to quarantine for two weeks again.  Y'all, she was back at school for TWO DAYS!!  Val said every few minutes they were calling someone to the office to send them home. We heard there were about 500 kids quarantined.  On Sunday, the school board made the call to just close the entire school for two weeks.  So everybody is virtual until after Thanksgiving.  Crazy times, indeed!!!!  (So far, so good with Val and she isn't having any symptoms.) 

Deme the Mamma cat will not ever be a mamma again.  She had her spay surgery last Friday.  Poor girl had quite a rough time of it.  She looked so sad and I know she was in a ton of pain. I felt so bad. It's been ages since I've had a cat fixed that wasn't a tiny kitten.  Deme didn't eat or drink anything for four days after the surgery.  I decided to force feed her with a syringe so that she wouldn't completely dehydrate. She lost so much weight so fast that I could feel her spine again. On day five, we were going back to the vet and she finally ate a few bites of food.  Thankfully she's perked up a lot and is playing with Gizmo and eating much better.  

My Christmas decorations have been UP for over a week and the tree is lit!!  I figured we could use a little cheer around here after the year we've had.  Slowly we are getting set up outside for the light show.  Hopefully we'll have it on by Thanksgiving.  

Anyway, I'm looking forward to next week when both kids will be out of school.  No schedules and no routines.  I can sleep late (or as late as the cats will allow.)  I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the four of us and I'm sure I'll find some Black Friday deals online.  

Hope all is well with all of you!

Happy Halloween!

 We had a fairly quiet night.  A few friends joined us (in spite of Valerie's quarantine status.)  Val's fine by the way and is rather ticked that the girl who tested positive is off at a campground for big Halloween festivities with her family who also were exposed.....  she's stuck at home for almost no reason and the girl who is actually sick is not??   Anyway, the kids went trick-or-treating and we stayed behind to hand out candy.  While we had a good number of kids out, it seemed like a much thinner crowd.  It definitely was spread out and they weren't coming in droves like previous years.  We also didn't have the usual crowd standing in front of the house watching the light show.  Today is going to be clean up and picking up the yard decorations because Christmas is around the corner...  Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!