A day late, I know… but we’re not doing our Thanksgiving until Sunday, so I’m still technically on time. And oh man, I am really looking forward to Sunday… we’re going all out, even though it’s only the two of us… a 22lb bird (leftovers for weeks!), green bean casserole, roasted asparagus, biscuits, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, brownies, and mint chocolate cookies. We may have friends stop in later in the day, but even with feeding them… there will still be tons of leftovers. My step-dad gave me a bunch of salad containers (the type you get at the deli) a while back, and I am going to pack them full and eat them for lunches for at least the next week…plus turkey and rice, and turkey soup, and turkey sandwiches…

Yesterday we went to dinner with family, I ate very carefully, and actually need to give my Aunt-in-law props, she knows about my reaction to cloves, and made sure to only put them on one half of the ham… and she made her yams w/marshmallows from scratch, because she wasn’t sure if I could eat the canned kind. I enjoyed the ham, the turkey, the yam casserole, and some deviled eggs and cheese. It was difficult at first, to trust the situation and eat, but she kindly answered my questions about what she cooked everything with, and how she made things… and I enjoyed what I could.

Unfortunately I was sick, and swallowing was difficult, so I didn’t eat much. Went into work today, and had to come home… can’t work in Telesales if you don’t have a voice! It hurts to talk, swallow, breath, move… it’s all in my neck and throat… I do have a bit of a couch and a stomach ache… oh, and the headache.. It’s gross. Luckily I took tomorrow off, and already have Sunday/Monday off, to get better. So Chris and I went to the store and spent the grocery gift card we got from his Boss for Thanksgiving on the rest of the things we needed for Thanksgiving, and then went to Fred Meyer for Wall-E, and Hancock… and came home. I slept until about 6…

There’s enough snow on the ground we have to park down on the street now instead of behind the house, which sucks… but it’s a good thing we did, because some idiot got stuck in the driveway earlier and we had to pull him out. I guess slicks and our driveway are not a good combination. Although Chris said when he took the cars down to the street that my car went straight up and down with no problem, I guess those studded snow tires that cost a fortune were worth it. We plasticed off the windows in my office (it looks tacky, but whatever, its warmer!), and we’re doing the rest of the house tomorrow… looks like the snow showers are here to stay, so we’re trying to get the house warm before it gets really bad. It was so cold last year I slept with a blanket over my face.. We’ve since replaced the bedroom windows (yay for having a glazer for a husband), so it stays warmer… but the rest of the house still needs weather proofing.

Anyways, the entire point of this post was to put up the pictures from yesterday… I will have some more for you in a few weeks too, tomorrow morning we have an appointment with a local photographer who is going to do a shoot with Chris and I. It’s a Christmas present from Chris’ Uncle and his girlfriend (who is my friend), and I’m really looking forward to it. So for now, here is Thanksgiving 2008, Part 1. (you can find the whole set on my myspace : )

I fell off the wagon. Oops. There was a moment when I considered going back and trying to make up for all the posts I’ve missed… but instead I decided to just pick it up from here and keep going. Backtracking will only bog things down more. Sooo… look at my newest baby!

Chris got me this gem for as an early Christmas gift. Next weekend I am going to see my family and friend sin Centralia, and as Nicole is having a baby any day now, and Becky is starting to show… he wanted me to take lots of pictures since he can’t come with.

Good thing we got a big card to go with it, I am already having fun. Behold…

Donna,

This post is for you. I just want you to know my ballot is in my purse, I have a date with the library tomorrow after work to drop it off. Thank you, so much.

xoxo,
Rachel

I am cheating a bit, and posting my menu on Sunday… but I thought I’d jump in on the Org Junkie bandwagon and play along there too!

This weeks Gluten Free Menu Swap is being held by, Angela, at Angela’s Kitchen! She’s picked greens for the ingredient, and I’m not really incorporating them much as a focal point, although we have ramped up our veggie/salad eating now that winter is here and the snow is coming. Snow… yes… in less than a week. Clinging to the last days of fall with fresh produce can only do so much, but I will certainly try.

I love doing the menu swap. It gives me time to really think about what we’re eating. My conscience insists on publishing a slightly healthy list, and then of course, because I’ve purchased it - we must eat it, right? If you’re ever looking for food accountability, this works like a charm. No more rotting veggies or spoiled meat. Ever since we’ve started buying our meat in bulk, meal planning has become much easier - and grocery shopping incredibly cheaper. For this weeks menu all I had to buy was fresh produce, and some herbs… everything else was in my cupboard or deep freeze.

Monday:
Taco meat w/green peppers, over rice.
(with normal taco condiments, such as cheese, salsa, and sour cream!)

Tuesday:
Rotisserie Chicken, in the crockpot… w/hot crash potatoes, and green beans.
(I am combining two recipes, click & click)

Wednesday:
Girls night out for me! PimpDaddyPain will most likely have Grilled Chicken Breast Salad, and I will make myself one when I get home from seeing The Changeling.

Thursday:
Maple & Sage Glazed Pork Tenderloin w/snow peas, and biscuits.
(Recipe from this months issue of Cooking Light)

Friday:
Steak, baked sweet potatoes, salad, and garlic toast.

Saturday:
Pizza and salad!

Sunday:
Roast in the crock pot, mashed potatoes, maple glazed carrots, and brownies!

And there you have it! PDP and I have been bantering over who packs lunches for several weeks now that I’m working again. Finally we decided I would pack lunches, if he stopped eating sandwiches. It makes it so much easier, because now I can pack both our lunches at the same time. We eat leftovers, or salad, and packed veggies… and while he gets a nutty bar and reeses peanut butter cups, I eat a delicious apple and a bite sized snickers. (And what makes packing lunch even easier, is the fact we buy the big tubs of pre-washed, organic mixed greens, all I have to do is throw it in some Lock & Lock with some cut up veggies and I’m done!)

A voice in my head screamed this morning “blog before work, Rachel!”. Obviously I didn’t listen, because here I am… at the end of my day, without anything to say. Somewhere I once read that recapping your day is one of the worst things to do on a blog - it’s not interesting, and the only time it’s useful if you need to testify about where you and what you were doing on such and such a day. Not that I’ve ever had to do that… as far as I’ll admit to here, at least.

Thankfully I didn’t do anything interesting enough to blog about today, as far as you know. *wink wink* I have the next two days off, yay for that, and plenty to do in them. Lately I have been making friends at work, in addition to trying to be more social with existing friends and family in the area. Meaning my days off are actually filled with things to do. As are my days on, actually.

In fact, I have gone to barbeques, birthday parties, girls night out, shopping, and much more with people that I kind of sort of like. Shhh, don’t tell any of them. Surprisingly, I enjoy it. I’m sure a trip through my archives will be more than enough to outline my anti-social tendencies. So this change is big, and nice, and still scary. Thank God for the people who understand, and even more for the people who just don’t give up.

Are you ready for it?

Can you handle it?

Will you comment?

I will blog, every day…

again… at least for November.

Get set, get ready, and wait.

One more day till…

GO!