Barely three months

The holidays are a way to remind us that time goes by. Jason and I both commented that it seemed like we had been here far longer than three months. It is partly because we are so busy that there is little to mark the time. We commute, work, and sleep Monday to Friday. Saturday we run errands and try to spend a bit of time with each other. Sunday we look at real estate and try to fit in some time with friends. Then we both complain that we have to get up early again the next morning. We were both more than happy to have a few days to kick back and relax.

Jason and I had a wonderful, quiet holiday over the course of two days. Thursday was spent with Julie, a friend from graduate school, and her boyfriend Rick, who came out for the day from Boston. Jaosn and I spent the morning in just a few minutes too late land. Jason had the turkey boned (leg bones still in, but the bones from the chest cavity were gone). We laid the turkey out in the sink to facilitate stuffing. We ran a number of pins down where the backboned used to be to hold in the stuffing. When we flipped it over, we realized that we would need pins where one typically needs to close the turkey up as well. Fortunately, we were able to find some turkey pins in the drawer and were able to secure the stuffing. Now, there was only one problem. The turkey pan that had not been used for at least a year now needed to be washed before we put the turkey in it, but the turkey was in the sink. We moved the rather floppy turkey onto another pan and washed the turkey pan. After placing the turkey in the now clean pan, we realized that we forgot to put strings under the turkey so that we could lift it out after it was cooked. You get the picture. At the end, the meal was wonderful. We just do not make turkey often enough to remember all of the things that we need to do when we make turkey.

The day after Thanksgiving was a day of visiting. Shaun and Lisa were at Lisa's sister's house in West Hartford for the holiday, so we went down to visit for a few hours. It was good to catch up and just spend some time together. The boys even got to play with some power tools. Lisa's brother-in-law Alan is a talented craftsman. He renovated most of the kitchen and had a number of projects in the house that were on his list. It was unclear to me why something needed to be cut then on the table saw, but all seemed to be happy with the process. When they had to head off to the airport, Jason and I headed north to my sister's house.

My sister had to work on Thanksgiving day, so we celebrated with her and her family the next day. We decided that we would all be having enough turkey, so Jason and I picked up a beef tenderlion to go with all of the side dishes that we brought so that my sister would not have to cook. We had a blast with the girls who get cuter and more fun every time that we see them. People were out putting up their holiday lights in the unseasonably warm weather. (It was in the 50's which is quite balmy for November.) After dinner, we watched The Grinch and sent the girls to bed (which did not make Siobhan happy at all, social child that she is).

As you can tell, it was a few days of relaxing time with good friends and family and wonderful food. What more could one want for the holidays?

The rest of the weekend was filled with the usual activities-- errands on Saturday and house hunting on Sunday.

Next weekend we are off to NYC to spend some time with Karan and Kusum before they are back in SD full time.

happy eating season to all!