It’s going to be a busy time. And I’d like to leave my house somewhat clean so we don’t have that to deal with when we get back.

I can’t believe it’s December already!

If the laundry didn’t get done today, it’s not the end of the world (especially if we all still have some clean underwear). A couple of dishes in the sink aren’t going to ruin my week. A messy desk (for now) will not kill me.

So tonight I went out to dinner with a bunch of incredible ladies. We had amazing food and great (and often hilarious) conversation. And I really needed that. Like I said, it helps me gain perspective. To remember that I need friendships like these to get me by.

There are more nights like this planned. I am looking forward to them. Building relationships with other women is so important to me and I’ve been letting it slide for far too long. We all need a support system. It’s about time for me to work on things for me. How about you?

I guess I’ve only had a couple of “I’m posting because I have to” posts – and that’s not too bad.

Tomorrow’s going to have to be a catch-up day. Still need to do some cleaning to make up for the holiday. I did the bare minimum in the kitchen and it sorely needs my attention.

To say it’s not ideal would be an understatement. So here we are, still trying to remap the living room and dining room to give us a little more open floor space.

I keep going back and forth on things, trying to find the optimal arrangement. It’s driving me crazy. Unfortunately, I don’t think it matters which way we do it. All of the options have drawbacks. Shall I sit with my back to the room and TV? Let part of my L-shaped desk hang out into the room?

It’s tough when you have such limited options. But we’re going to try some new things anyway and see how it works out. Our dining room will be a little less usable, but our living room will open up a lot. That’s good for the son and his ability to play. And I’ll have room to do my yoga. (I hope.)

What do you do when you have a limited amount of space to work with, no budget, and can only rearrange to try and make things better?

But it turned out okay. Everything was hot except the carrots, which were a little cooler than I would like. But everything else was good.

The turkey was awesome. The breast was incredibly moist and tender. In exchange, though, the dark meat was a little pinker than I would like. We didn’t cut any of it off of the bone anyway (for the main meal), so I’ll heat it really well before serving it in another dish.

The family loved the food, so I consider that a success. It can only go down from here, right?

I ran to the grocery store today to get some last minute things. Milk, marshmallows, whole cranberries, stuff for green bean casserole (I wouldn’t care if NO ONE ELSE in the house liked it – I would still make it), whipped cream for the pie, and some more rolls. Here’s the crazy thing, in the grocery store I normally hate. No, really, I can’t stand it. But today they had a great big Thanksgiving display right at the front of the store. Most of the stuff I needed was right there. Right there! I almost fainted! Within a minute of walking into the store I had over half my shopping list crossed off.

I practically did a happy dance right there in the aisle. It’s the little things, y’all.

The house is clean. We have a few more dishes to wash in the morning. The turkey doesn’t need to hit the oven until about 9, but does need to come out of the fridge much earlier. So we’ll still be getting up early. But here’s what’s great about all we have to do. Much of it can be done at a leisurely pace. A little chopping here, a little sautéing there. I will not put pressure on myself, no matter how long our menu is.

And I actually made up a menu to help me remember what we need to do. Otherwise, I’ll forget the carrots or corn or something. Our menu:

• Turkey (duh)
• Dressing (duh) (cooking this in the crock pot)
• Gravy (DUH)
• Garlic & basil mashed potatoes
• Glazed sweet potatoes (recipe from my beloved Better Homes & Gardens cookbook)
• Green bean casserole (cooking this in the other crock pot & finishing off in the oven)
• White corn
• Brown sugar-glazed carrots (another recipe from Better Homes & Gardens)
• Rolls (simple brown-n-serve – doing the other rolls at Christmas)
• Pumpkin pie

I think that’s everything off of the top of my head – because I’m too lazy to walk into the kitchen and double-check (hey, it’s chilly in here & I’m snuggled under a cover on the couch).

I am cheating and using boxed stuffing because I still need to have my mom teach me how to make hers. But I’ll also be sautéing onions and celery to add to it. And lots of sage (I absolutely cannot have turkey and gravy without sage dressing). It really tastes pretty good that way.

Are you feeling ready for tomorrow?

But when you’re cleaning and rearranging rooms in your house, you really see it. Our dining room looks awesome. It’s only temporary, as we’ll be doing some more shuffling after Thanksgiving, but right now, I’m just enjoying it. We removed some furniture for now. And it looks good. Like, insanely good. If we got rid of half our furniture, it could stay this awesome. And I’m really tempted to get rid of a ton of stuff just so we can keep it this way.

I am so over being cluttered and crowded.

I still have to clean the kitchen and bathroom. That’s on tomorrow’s agenda. And I really hope I remember to check on the turkey and make sure it’s thawing quickly enough. I have a feeling we’re going to have to immerse it in water to thaw it the rest of the way. Even though it has been in the fridge since Saturday, it’s still super cold. Like cold enough the innards are probably still icicles.

Everything is starting to come along nicely. And yes, I’m pretty happy about that. How’s your holiday progress going?

I needed to get some laundry done today, which I did. Yay! Last night I made stock, and this morning I finished it off (boiled it down a bit) and put it in the fridge. So that’s done. It’ll be used for gravy and dressing (oh yeah, I already mentioned that).

I still have a lot of cleaning to do. We need chairs for everyone. And to put the big table together. The menu is not finalized. I’m not even sure what time I should start cooking on Thursday!

The good news is, I got most of tomorrow’s work done today. And that means I have time to work on the house. Clear out some of the clutter. Make some progress.

I really need to feel like I’ve made some progress. *sigh* Tomorrow I think I’ll look for some carrot recipes. And sweet potatoes, too.

Hoo boy, it’s going to be a crazy week. Our place is tiny, as I’ve mentioned numerous times. So we have to clear out the dining room and see if we can bring up the bigger dining table from downstairs. And I just realized that I don’t even have a tablecloth to cover the old, scratched surface of the table (it was my parents’ table when they got married, and it has two leaves to expand the table quite nicely).

And I need to clean. And vacuum. And make up a menu. And cook. And hubby may have to work Wednesday and even Thursday. We’re not sure yet.

I’m going to work ahead as much as I can. I’ll cook the sweet potatoes a day ahead and just reheat them. I could probably do the same with the mashed potatoes (but I love them fresh). I’ll be heating the dressing in the crock pot, so that’s not a huge deal. Tonight I have a chicken carcass in the crock pot to make broth, which I’ll use in the dressing and gravy.

Rather than make rolls, we’re just going to get some heat and serve. I need to do that tomorrow. And figure out where we’ll get enough chairs. And get some more milk. We have plenty of butter.

Whew. This is why I’ve never had Thanksgiving meal at my place. Did I mention I need to clean? Looks like the next several nights will be filled with rearranging, deep cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, and trying to see if any of our friends have some chairs we can borrow.

It’s going to be a long, crazy week. But it will be so nice to have the family together. We haven’t done that in a while.

I’ll try not to stress too much. No one expects it to be perfect. They’ve all been over so they know our house is crazy. And crowded. But I think we can do it. Hubby helps, so at least it doesn’t all fall on my head. He’ll be right in there with me.

How’s your week shaping up?

And tomorrow marks two years since our son came into our lives. He’s an amazing kid and I love being his mom. I’ll of course have to talk about him on his birthday, right?