I'm going to call this, 'My 2016 Thanksgiving Diary'--cue Soap Opera theme music...

​© T.B. Cooper

Day One of Thanksgiving Break.

Children are out of school so my neice's children came home with the hubby to spend the week with us. So far so good. Except we've all been taking turns passing back and forth a lovely little Sneezing & Coughing Bug between all of our houses since the holidays require two visits per month instead of the typical one visit for birthdays and such. And now it seems to be buddying up to my mom, finally. We shall see how things go... We ended our night with a song and dance performed by, and a pretend dinner served by my granddaughter, her best friend (my best friend's daughter), and my neice's kids. A couple glasses of wine, after what looks like is the start of a 'hard to find time to work' type of week, made this lost day of work, easier to accept.

Day Two.

My neice's children, whom I call my nephew & neice as well, are behaving beautifully, along with my friend's daughter, who is here most days and willingly helps my granddaughter with her farmchores. And what child wouldn't, when at the end of the day they get a reward out of the Chore Box? Normally, my granddaughter gets two small pieces of candy once all of her chores are done, and then on Saturday when the week is over, she gets a bigger more special-er prize, out of the Saturday Box. Normally. Now, since I normally have my friend's daughter -almost- every day, it made sense for me to get a larger Saturday Box, and double the amount of prizes that were in there. Well, the box I ended up using for the Saturday Box, was really the been that I had set aside for emergency birthday presents, called the 'Birthday Box'. Anyways… My nephew caught onto this box o' goodies a few family gatherings ago, when he saw my granddaughter, who is only slightly two years younger than him, get a prize on Saturday for doing her chores. I then made the mistake, of passing out toys and treats to ALL of the kids. Fast forward a few months, and now that they are here, and I have asked him and his sister to help out with some of the chores, like bringing in the groceries for Thanksgiving that I FINALLY got around to going to get… I have now somehow, allowed myself to be roped into rewarding two additional children from the Chore Box, on a Tuesday, which for no justifiable reason, I find myself giving it out on NOT a Saturday… Oh--But their faces… Hard to resist and say no…This could get expensive... Still haven't got much done today. Well, that's not entirely true. I spring cleaned the kitchen, emptied the fridges, grocery shopped... and started nursing my mother who is feeling a little under the weather... sh*t... that's not good. She's my right hand 'man' when it comes to prepping... maybe she'll feel better?

Day Three.

Hubby is off work today. Maybe this will be okay? I have a huge incubator the size of a fridge, on my porch that I want moved to the garage, so I can move a large cupboard-type-thing in it's place so I can have a space to store my canning stuffs & foils, instead of all over the kitchen counters & laundry room. I'm thinking him or my son (or both)should be able to move these- no problem, so I can FINALLY post the Thanksgiving Recipes Part #2 and some additional Pie recipes as well... since, ya know... tomorrow kinda is Thanksgiving... 3 hours later... Yeah, not so damn much!

Guess I'm Hulk-hucking this incubator into the back of the pick-up, driving over to the garage, then over to the back property to load up the 6x3 cupboard... ALL by MYSELF. Men... oh look--- I'm struggling to get the damn cupboard out the doorway and my Knight in rusty armor shows up to save the day and help load it/unload it/and maneuver it into place! Wait--- what's that? He's gonna help me stock it with my relocated canning stuffs & foils? Holy. Poop... Miracles upon miracles...

Except... that it is now almost getting dark and I STILL haven't posted Sh*t since Sunday. Now I'm starting to tense up. Mom is still sick and sounding worse, and I can't let her near the food prep stuff until she feels better. Been making her Chicken soup like I did for the hubby last week... Should probably can some---yeah, right! When?

Oh look... My sister just got home from work, and she'll be home UNTIL SUNDAY!!!! Yay. All Day...EVERY Day... The additional two kids at my house are her grandbabies btw... So I hear "where's my granbabies?" & "ooh, where's my doggie?" like over & over & over in this Uncle Joey from Full House kind of voice... I need a drink, some 'hubby time', and some hot water for the bath. But everyone has had a chance to bathe themselves and all dishes and laundry are done,  and I'm too lazy to boil a pot of water...so it's cold water for me... I'll just pretend I'm warm... ​

Recipe will be posted sometime soon-I Swear!

Day Four.

Thanksgiving for everyone else, except this family--because WE do ours on Saturday!

**So this is what I started posting Thanksgiving morning... This is literally how I was beginning my Thanksgiving Recipe Post/Part #2 that I got up fairly early to get done and posted, without interuptions, since most of the house appeared to be asleep…
**I decided to just go ahead and copy and paste the intro…
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Okay, so you know that old saying of better late than never?… Well I bet some of you are probably not too happy that this is coming so damn late…

Let's see what excuses do I have for you today? How about this site on Monday wasn't cooperating-- to the point I wanted to break the computer itself... Then I had what I could only assume was the stomach flu as my husband had just recently had... Then my mom got sick later on Monday which the regular flu, which I have somehow managed to only dabble with a couple weeks ago-- I had a mild case... Unlike a few other members of my family who stayed sick for more than a few days-- mostly the dry hacky cough and stuffy noses. And for the past couple of days I have found myself unable to even sit at the computer, as I am currently just like a bunch of you guys, trying to prepare for a bunch of family members coming over for a thankful feast. Unlike most of you I won't be doing mine until Saturday, which gives me some extra time to put together any last-minute details. Yet, if there are any of you who happen to not have to make your meal until later, or would like to save this for some time later down the road, whatever the case, I'm sharing it anyways…But ah, today... My mom and I find ourselves pretty darn sick, completely congested, voices almost gone, throats hurting… And I'm busy yelling at my sister who is currently using all of my eggs to cook some damn scrambled eggs for the family… As if any of us eat that crap. Now somebody has to go the store to go replace my eggs, in a town where grocery stores are not open on Thanksgiving--- awesome!F*@ktard.  

Anyway-- Good morning, and Happy Thanksgiving!

(How funny... I totally forgot I was even sick then, too, and about the site not working! Wow. Yeah, kinda scary. I do have a pretty damn good memory, but I'm obviously losing it?)

Let's see... What else happened on Thanksgiving? Oh yeah, remember I said on Thanksgiving we butcher our turkey? Yeah, well this year we didn't. By the time we were finally able to make our way outside, the temperature had already plummeted to around 40° and the sun had already gone down… My mom had been sick in bed all day and I kept going back and forth giving her medicine and cooking her soup… I obviously wasn't going to get my recipes posted, so I had to admit defeat & failure to myself--- an outrageously difficult pill to swallow. ALL of my children were acting up & being A$$holes, EXCEPT my nephew, niece, and friend's daughter. I still hadn't Meal Prepped anything, nor had anybody else helped me… And quite frankly, I was really close to having a nervous breakdown, and was finding it very hard to maintain any kind of composure, so the thought of butchering a creature that I had not interacted with for months (my daughter's the one that takes care of it, just so you know), and still might only weigh a measly 14 to 15 pounds, did not appeal to me at all. I was legitimately crying to my husband, in uncharacteristic hysterics, begging him to make the decision whether we would slaughter it or not, because at that point I was beyond tired of making decisions... Of being in charge-- of anything. So he handed me a beer, cracked open one for himself, and we let Mr. Thanksgiving, free, in the yard.

Mr. Thanksgiving in the front. That's Tom behind him, and Bourbon from the Last Recipe post is Thanksgiving's dad.

Day What? Oh yeah, Five. 

So normally, on the day before 'Thanksgiving', my mom and I do all of our prepping for the next day. She usually cuts and dices, and washes the large mixing bowls & pots, while I bake any remaining pies & desserts & take care of any last minute details. My son usually peels all of the potatoes and my middle daughter usually cuts the potatoes up, but this year she was spending Thanksgiving with the other side of her family...so obviously would NOT be able to assist. Well, mom was so sick on Friday, that she never even got out of bed. I think personally, she was faking it! Just kidding-- she was in bad shape. So, I was on my own. Now, I know what you're thinking, I had all of those family members there (plus my brother and his family on their way), why didn't I just ask the rest of them for help? Because remember the Hulk-Hucking a cupboard-thing? And my hysterics fit from yesterday(Day Four)? I was in no position to tolerate anyone in my kitchen. Period. So not only did I bake all 24 Pies (No cheesecakes-too tired) and two bread puddings (Apple & White chocolate), but I also washed all of the dishes, which is one of my daughter's jobs, cooked Ghetto Pylamani for the family once my brother arrived, And then when my friend finally got off work at almost 7 o'clock at night, I gladly threw back a couple of shots with her & my sister, who I then begged to help me cut the onions, and peel/cut all of the potatoes… because my son had conveniently gone to bed and forgotten to do them. By the time 2 o'clock in the morning rolled around, my kitchen was still a wreck, pies were still cooling... But all 16 other souls in my house had comfy beds and were sleeping soundly… Except me. Both of my two older dogs, female, 15 years old… needed to go potty, but not at the same time, of course! And then apparently it was too cold to sh*t outside, because one of them pooped on the carpet, in the dark, as she walked in front of me… Yes, I stepped in it…twice, with slippers-thankfully! Yes, I cleaned it up. Finally, too tired even to get in the bath, I climbed into my over cushy bed at about three… 

Coconut Cream Pies and Snickers Pie. Recipes will be posted-soon. I swear it!

Day Who Gives a F*@K? Oops... I mean, Day Six?

Finally!! Thanksgiving... My time to shine!F*@k that Sh*T!! Why? Just Why? Tell me... where did I go wrong? I got up at my normal 7:30 on Thanksgiving... my--'I deserve to sleep in' time... So, why the HELL didn't the Turkey (store bought, 23lbs.) go into the roaster until 10:30?!!

Because...

Because I've spent the last 22 years since I left home, trying (and succeeding) to become the "Big Mama" of my family. I wanted that role. I wanted to be the person, the house, the glue--that held all of the family together. Which means when my niece asks for breakfast, I cook up some omlettes for her, my mom (who-feels miraculously better!), my daughters, and her son... because she has NEVER spent the night over as an adult, married woman with kids, and she's a Libra too, so you know how that goes... Plus, you know I have to clean my dirty kitchen BEFORE I can cook the MEAL... And did I mention, that in the middle of all of this, my sexy stud Choco-- my baby boy, my stud-muffin Boer goat--died unexpectedly? 

​Yeah, stress levels were pretty high... BUT, I did decide I'd accept help today, when offered... Semi-bad decision, and I say that with just a touch of sarcasm, in jest... My friend... my dear sweet friend... is a Virgo. Which means she is laid back & for the most part, pretty damn chill. Which also means she moves at a chilled pace... which doesn't compliment my psychotic muti-tasking-hurry, hurry-attitude. I let her wash the dishes... It was kinda like a Spongebob episode...

But I love her anyways, and I was able to get a few extra miscellaneous things done... And-- after the bird and hams went in... I finally got the ball rolling, and everyone left the house for a while to go shopping (and get away from me for a couple of hours), leaving only myself, my husband, my mom, my son, and one daughter behind, to enjoy the silence and growing yummy aromas... Dinner was late... about 6:30/7pm... but EVERYTHING was remarkably good, and everyone was full and happy at the end. I couldn't ask for more! 

So, all in all... it was pretty darn good. I didn't get much posting or writing done... But family was taken care of. That's all I'm living for, is this family of mine-- blood related or not. Extended is just another word for measuring how long my heart strings are. My love is unconditional. My kitchen and home are warm and welcoming. Mission accomplished. Mischief Managed. And all other cool phrases, here.

Well, I have a question before I go... What do you do with your leftovers?
​
There's of course the standard Turkey sandwiches...

My husband likes them with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce... He got two for lunches this week @ work.
​
Then of course, you can just eat a standard plate of food... he got one of those, as well, for lunch.

And then... 
My friend who was over this last weekend, had mentioned something she saw online somewhere, about muffins made out of green bean casserole, or something... and said she though the 'crust' was made out of stuffing. Well, today I had to do 'something' with what was left of the 'leftovers', which wasn't much. So I came up with, and decided to make this...

Here's a quick How to:

Well, thanks for letting me vent!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my Thanksgiving week.

I'd love to hear about how yours was?

Any last minute miracles to remind you what exactly you have to be thankful, for?