Prepping

22 lbs of meat is defrosting in my refrigerator. I gave my potatoes a trial run last night for the hubs and I...new recipe that actually will NOT make it to the table Thursday. Sticking to what I know, which are good ol' fashioned mashed potatoes with tons of butter, sour cream, garlic, and salt, which are clearly low fat. When you are cooking to impress my normal consciousness of nutritional value goes out the door. I'm all kinds of Paula Dean up in here.

And I have to be, you know why? Because ALL of my grandparents are coming. The matriarchs of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners will be there, including my own mother. My dad's mom, God love her (or something), is always one for a comment. You know, the subtle dig with the high pitched voice and smile to tag along just to let you know it was okay, but not quite right. My mom's dad who I absolutely love, we call him Captain Rick, who will drink straight vodka with lime the moment he arrives only to either continue to comment about how good the food is or say nothing at all. Which again will signify success or failure. Then my Nana (mom's mom) is coming who is essentially Betty Crocker. No seriously, she is. And her house is always spotless, bushes trimmed to perfection, everything with her outfit coordinates, mother f'in pressure is on. Then as mentioned my parents who are both damn good cooks, and of course my brothers. I'm not worried about those two, the fact that they are not going through the drive thru to eat that day nor spending their own money is considered an all around win for them. Plus, I'll have beer and wine - for free. Another win.

Please pray, light a candle, something for my turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, cornbread, and rolls. The cranberry is coming straight out the can so if that screws up the store brand distributors can suck it.

Okay so in all seriousness, I am thankful. Very thankful to have family close enough to pay a visit, thankful for my brothers coming into town, my parents, my husband, my daughter, my friends...my list goes on but the point is BE thankful. Take your moment wherever you are and reflect on what you have. Time here is precious and no matter what bullshit or hardship circulates in our lives there is always time to stop and give thanks. We put our Christmas decorations up early this year so that our house would be all the more cozy when everyone is over. We just started putting the tree up and I caught this:

and NOTHING makes me more thankful.