Thanksgiving...Again

We were up at our usual 7 a.m. hour this morning, so we could be ready to leave for our trip to Daughter's house, about two hours away, by 9:30 a.m. I had time to do a session on the treadmill, although I skipped my resistance workout.



It was cold this morning, with predictions for possible snow showers later in the day. I took books on tape with me, forgetting that the van has a CD player, but no tape deck. It would have been a good day for Christmas music, too, but I didn't think to take any CDs. So we entertained ourselves with conversation, instead.



Mother's topic of conversation, of course, was her new kitten, which, like all cats, is very curious, and explores every corner of the house. Mother is in the process of removing things from tables and counters that the kitten might break. So far, the kitten hasn't told Mother what her name is, though Mother wonders if it might be Dora, for Dora the Explorer.

Mother found out, too, that Kitten likes the bathtub, which she frequently plays in, but she definitely doesn't like the shower, and she's terrified of the hair dryer. So she scurried out of the bathroom while Mother got ready for the day. But as Mother was walking down the hall afterward, she looked back to see Kitten right at her heels.



On the way to the other town, we saw a flock of hundreds of Canadian geese feeding in a rice field. Hubbie stopped, so I could get out and take several snapshots of the birds. Even with my telephoto lens, though, I couldn't get as close as I would have liked, and thanks to a very dark, overcast day, plus strong wind that prevented me from holding my camera still, the shots I got are only adequate.



We arrived at Daughter's house in plenty of time to visit before other family arrived. By 12:30 p.m., everyone had arrived, and lunch was ready. Fourteen of us...nine adults and five children...enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn casserole, hot corn casserole, asparagus, and jellied cranberry sauce (that hadn't been dropped on the floor), plus delicious homemade crescent rolls (a specialty of Hubbie's ex-wife, who was in attendance).



I brought a jar of pickled asparagus that I'd bought a few weeks ago, hoping I could eat them in place of olives and other saltier pickles. But I don't like the asparagus. However, Daughter and Ex-Wife do, so I left the remainder of the jar with them.



For dessert, there were several kinds of pie...pumpkin, pecan, chocolate, and the cherry one that I brought.



After lunch, I took group pictures of the kids, at the request of Daughter. I'd taken my laptop with me, so we were able to preview the shots, and take more pictures, until we got what we wanted. Now I'll have the photos printed, burn a CD of them, and send them to Daughter.



Mid-afternoon, we were ready to head home. It hadn't snowed yet, but there was a little sleet, and we didn't want to be on the road after dark in bad weather.



Before leaving town, we stopped by a discount warehouse store and picked up a few items, including a package of four flavors of apple cider mix, fresh fruits, and a large package of pecans for Christmas baking.



The trip home was uneventful. The Canadian geese were gone from the rice field, but as usual an egret was feeding in a rice field, and all along the electrical power lines, hawks kept vigil over the fields, looking for small prey.



We arrived back home around suppertime. I'd been very careful about what I ate at lunch, so I was ready to eat again. I fixed myself turkey bacon with scrambled egg substitute and low-fat cottage cheese, and had a slice of yeast bread with the meal. Hubbie had a sandwich, made with ham brought back from Daughter's house.