The Day After....

Whoever invented elastic, I love you oh so very much! I am using your invention right now and probably for the next couple of weeks. Yes, I did what 99% of all Americans did yesterday-EAT TOO MUCH! It was soooooo good though:) We had the big feast here at our house. The last couple of years I have gone to Florida for Thanksgiving at my grandparents house but my husband could never come because he had to work on the Friday after. Last year I decided that I don't ever want to spend another holiday away from him so I promised him I would host it at our house from now on. Wish I could convince the Florida bunch to come here but that probably won't happen so we had our family that lives here over. We ate, then we ate and when we were done eating, we ate again. When everyone left, we ate again. This afternoon, guess what I did? Yep, I ate again. Therefore, I love the inventor of elastic. For if it were not for this invention I would be wrapped in a bedsheet stuffing myself with the remnants of pecan pie. Come to think of it, that isn't exactly a bad thing, is it?
Anyway, yesterday was a blessing as I got to spend time with my family whom I love very much. Lots of laughs were shared and I just have to give a big shout out to my husband and my twins. I could not have pulled off this dinner without them! Hubby made sure we had a cooler full of ice, my thanksgiving newspaper (for reading after dinner on the couch while I looked like a stuffed tick!) the leaf in the table and so on. My son did ANYTHING I asked him without so much as a whimper. My daughter really shined yesterday. She made all the appetizers by herself and helped me so much with the prep work and cooking. She is going to be quite the catch for some lucky man....MANY YEARS FROM NOW! We prepared all the food except for mashed potatoes provided by my inlaws and my mom brought her cranberry salad that I adore!!! Only one hiccup with the cooking really though. My turkey was a 24 lb'er. Yeah it was HUGE!!!!But it was on sale and I just couldn't pass it up. I was figuring it would take about 8 hours to cook so we got up at 3am to put it in the oven. My husband woke back up at 5:30 to go hunting and came in and woke me telling me that he thought the turkey was almost done! There was no way I was leaving that warm bed again until at least 7 so I told him he was mistaken and I rolled over and went back to sleep. I checked on the turkey at 7:30 after I did the morning chores and ....the stupid thing was done!!! How in the heck does a 24 lb turkey cook in 4 1/2 hours???? My son kept calling it the miracle turkey. I told him the miracle would be keeping the thing warm until 3pm (dinner time) without it being as dry as sawdust! I thought about calling everyone and telling them to come over at noon but there was no way I could get my homemade rolls done and get the house straightened up by then so 3pm we waited. About noon, hubby carved it up (wasn't too hard, pulled on the bones and the entire turkey fell apart!)and buried the meat in the juices. Needless to say, it wasn't piping hot but it was good regardless. The best part was just having so many people that I love, sitting around the table just being together. My little granddaughter was there and she just brightens up everything. Unfortunately, I never even once brought out my camera. That's typical me, too busy enjoying the moment that I forget to capture it. Oh well! Last night I told my family that I am taking today off. No cooking, no cleaning (okay I did vaccum) and I am going to sit and read blogs as long as I want....Mission accomplished!