Life has been wonderfully, happily, busy. My birthday was the nicest I have had in a while, as I spent it first with Jack, and then the next day with Mandy, Matt and the children. My cousin’s Janet and David, also came, which just made the day even more special! Mandy and Matt worked really hard to make a lunch of shrimp corn chowder, and grilled chicken and steak tips. Also salads and wonderful, big, baked potatoes! And of course, my favorite chocolate cake with butter cream frosting.
But the best of all, was that I got to spend the day with Mandy, Matt and their kids. Savannah is now five and a half years old and incredibly grown up. I remember thinking that I could hardly wait for her to grow up so we could have real conversations. She tells me wonderful stories about her life and what she likes to do. She just lost her first tooth and proudly smiled all day to show me!
She enjoys dancing, singing and playing. Oh yes, and she likes dressing in dresses every day. She really is a girlie, girl!
Our darling Quinn is growing so fast. He will be 2 in March, and I feel like he is way ahead already. Physically he runs, jumps, and plays with toys that require manual dexterity with his hands. His vocabulary is broadening, and he speaks pretty clearly. And probably the most important thing about Quinn, is that he has a fabulous sense of humor! During dessert, he wanted to feed me my birthday cake. Oh yeah, when this kid smiles and laughs, my heart melts!
Sunday, Jack and I just hung out and did really productive things like take a nap. It’s funny how it goes, but the closer I get to sixty, the more I find that a one hour nap recharges my batteries.
Monday was the day. Shopping for Thanksgiving. We took our time getting things together for our trip to the grocery store, and headed out about 11:30. We entered the grocery store and the first thing we saw was real German Marzipan Stollen! Two boxes immediately flew into my cart and on we went!
They had beautiful fresh turkey’s for 89¢ a pound. We flipped them around until Jack found a 14 pound bird that had nice full breasts! As I am a while meat fan this is crucial! I also got extra turkey necks so I can make my own home-made gravy! I got my chestnuts. Real, uncooked, chestnuts. I will soften the shell, then roast them in the oven and then peel. These little gems will be added to my stuffing!
Vegetables and potatoes jumped into my cart, and before I knew it, I’d filled the grocery trolley with all my Thanksgiving food, while visions of recipes danced in my head.
We drove our car up, around, and behind our house to unload all the food. Neither Jack or I could have handled the number of trips up and down the stairs to unload the car. This worked, and the groceries got put away!
Today I start Physical Therapy on my neck and Wednesday is my cooking day. Pies and stuffing will be made, and potatoes and butternut squash peeled and chopped.
That’ll make Thursday that much easier for the Cook…Me!