Thanksgiving Time Update

Our Thanksgiving is just going to be Michael, Sami and I. As usual, my employer gives us a fresh turkey that is raised here locally – so it has never even been fully frozen. We got them yesterday, and last night I prepared a salty, herb-laden, apple juice-based brine which I will soak it in overnight. Then we're having a variation of green bean casserole where I use fresh green beans, shallots, mushrooms, and a cream sauce with homemade herbed croutons on top. I'm also trying a new recipe this year to make a cranberry upside-down tart (yes, I made that up) for dessert—we'll see how that turns out. And of course we have to have the traditional mashed potatoes and I'll make gravy, along with fresh-baked dinner rolls.

We're looking forward to it, because it is the rare day that none of us have to be at work or school – in our normal "everyday" lives, Michael and I never have a day off together. So holidays are especially precious to us.

Sami just lost her second tooth this week. It was one of those that had been loose for weeks, but she couldn't bring herself to pull it. Well, last Friday it turned and got wedged kind of sideways in the socket and looked just awful. So Friday night she decided she would let me pull it. We got all set up with a cloth full of ice chips in case it bled or hurt a little. Then I got a linen cloth so I could get a better grip on it. But when I got hold of it – expecting it to just barely be hanging on – I could not budget that thing. She started crying and freaking out, and made me stop.

Then later that evening, she decided we'd have another go at it. But this time she was going to try to pull it herself. Well, that didn't work either. She lost her nerve. She had herself so upset and worked up that at that point I said, "Honey? Maybe it just isn't ready to come out yet. Just keep wiggling it with your tongue, and it will loosen up and fall out on its own and then it won't hurt." So she went for 4 more days like that! Then Tuesday when I picked her up from school one of her friends came running out of the building ahead of her and said, "Sami lost her tooth at lunch!"

I asked Sam how it happened, and she said it was pretty wiggly and she just reached up and pulled it out herself halfway through eating a Cheetoh. She said it bled quite a bit, so she took herself to the school nurse where the nurse helped her clean up, and gave her a little treasure chest box to put the tooth in to take home. And of course we did the whole tooth fairy thing that night.

.............

Sami is still loving first grade so very much. She is reading at second grade level, and LOVES to read. I'm so happy about that – always hoped she'd enjoy reading as much I as do. She has just discovered chapter books, and thinks she is so very grown up to be reading books with chapters just like Momma reads.

We're having our coldest day of the season today – it is supposed to get down to 5 degrees tonight. Brrr! We've been lucky to have such a late onset of cold temperatures. It was a really mild fall. Wonder what winter bodes? Today is overcast, and the cold front will move in here a little later in the day.

I'm terribly looking forward to cooking and hanging out with my family tomorrow. Hope all my friends and family have a lovely day as well.

Hearts and Flowers

So that was a long break from writing.

Sami was super-duper (her current favorite superlative) sweet on Mother's Day. She builds up anticipation for "events" like that for days on end. Michael has begun his new work hours, so he leaves at 7:30 at night and gets back home at 9am. (I know. That's a whole other story.) So there was no one to help Sami put together her gift for me. But, all on her own she had found a little purse/tote bag thingie that she associates with fun days because her Subway meal came in it the day we went to the Butterfly Pavilions and had a picnic all together. So into the bag she puts my gift, and about 6 or 7 handmade "cards" she's been creating over the past couple of weeks. And she had it all ready before I got down from upstairs. So she must have worked on it a little the night before. But! She wouldn't let me open it until Daddy got home from work.

On Saturday while we were all 3 out together running errands, I made Michael take her to TJ Maxx because they always have a nice selection of well-priced sterling bracelets. I wanted him to take her to buy something for me because I knew she was so excited. I mean really. I practically did everything but walk into the store and buy it myself. But what do you think he allowed her to come out with--oh, he freely admitted it before I ever even saw it. What.

A large heart-shaped pendant necklace. I only rarely wear necklaces. Love, love my bracelets. Love my earrings and rings. But necklaces only occasionally. And beyond occasionally to never is when I wear heart-shaped jewelry. Just not a fan. And Michael knows it. But he cops to what he's allowed. Then... he tells me how it went down. Sami found the necklace, and one with a small heart on it. She wanted the small heart to be hers, and the large one to be mine. And Michael said when he gently tried to tell her it might be kind of big, she said, "That's perfect for Mom because she has a big heart!. Err, that's what he said she said. Sounds a little suspicious to me.

Anyway, it's awful but I'll wear it enough to make her feel good about it. And of course I appreciate her sentiment. But my real joy was all the homemade drawings and cards. Then at the very end of the gift unveiling, she ran into her sun room and brought out a pansy potted in a miniature watering can that her teachers helped her mak (that I saw days ago but pretended I hadn't). I really loved it. And just a few minutes later I was fondly placing it in my kitchen window sill... when she showed up and asked if she could keep it in her play room because she really liked it. So I handed it back over. :-/



Also...

With Michael on his night shifts now, I actually want Sami to sleep with me in our bedroom. I'm just not fond of not having Michael here at night, and I like it better if she's nearby so I can put my hand on her head in the night If need be. I have weird freakish what ifs about someone breaking into the house and coming upstairs and getting between me and her. Sigh. I'm so weird.

Anyway, so the first night I conned her into sleeping with me by telling her I'd move her to her bed when I came to bed. But I didn't. She was ticked off with me in the morning. So last night I did heft her up (she's pushing 45 pounds, and she's bordering on being too big for me to carry if she's sleeping and not helping hold on) and wobbled her into her room and tried to lay her gently on her bed without breaking my back. All well and good. Went back downstairs to pack lunches and whatnot.

A little later I hear her at the top of the stairs kind of harumphing and half-assed crying. So I go up the stairs to her asking, "Honey! What's the matter?!" And I can tell she's not really awake. And so I'm following her around as she goes into our closet and through our bathroom and into her bathroom, and then back to our bedroom and throws herself onto our bed. And there the harumphing stops and she immediately fell back to sleep. I went and got her "B" and "Kitty" that she sleeps with, and her pillow. And covered her up. And left her there when I went to bed later. So this morning when she wakes she's all uppity with me about that I didn't move her again, and I get to tell her the whole tale. Which made her smile.