Mood:  bright

I am trying to be deeper and grounded during this wildly busy season, but honestly, I just can’t seem to be as serious and focused as I should probably be at this point and time of the year. With last Thursday’s meeting behind me and a short two day week before I am off for five days, I am finding it hard to keep my mind on my work. Yes, there is the second biweekly payroll to review, correct,  approve and post. Of course, I haven’t done my monthly journal entries yet. The final invoices for the federal draw down of funds, well, that’s only 90% complete. I still have the afternoon and tomorrow to complete them, so I am not worried.

What’s distracting me really? Well, I need to go shopping tonight for Thanksgiving dinner. Matt’s given me the $15 coupon from his work that pays for the turkey and such, so I need to go to Dillons (Kroger) to spend it not to Aldi or someplace else. I wish they would have just given him a check rather than a gift certificate, but alas, they must think that people would blow it on cigarettes or booze or something other than food. Oh well, that’s $15 I don’t have to spend out of my own pocket – so step away gift horse so I don’t go probing for cavities. Still, putting together a shopping list is what’s distracting me. I don’t know if Joey’s girlfriend is coming to dinner. Joey said that he was and she is attempting to get the night off. I do not know what Tony is doing for dinner on Thursday. As he and Crystal will probably be getting divorced, I don’t think he is going up to Nebraska. I shouldn’t make that assumption, but Matt didn’t ask him to dinner. I would lay odds that Matt doesn’t want Tony’s “girlfriend” to come. With the children there, it would be inappropriate for a still married man to bring his “girlfriend”.

Anyway, I wanted to keep dinner simple. Okay are you laughing right now? Anyone that truly knows me would be laughing right now. See, this is what’s hard. How do I not go all out? I am going to make a turkey (my favorite item at Thanksgiving) with my apple-onion stuffing (Kyle’s favorite), cream cheese corn (Michelle’s favorite), green bean casserole (Matt’s favorite), my famous mashed potatoes (Joey’s favorite), and my homemade red grape ginger cranberry sauce (my 2^nd favorite). When I asked Kaitlyn what her favorite was, she just meekly said, all of it. I don’t think she is totally comfortable to tell me she loves X item because then I’ll want to make it for her…like candied yams. I am not making them this year, nor am I setting out vegetable crudités. Dessert is going to be my homemade pumpkin pie and pecan pie with real whipped cream, served with mulled apple cider or hot buttered rum; rum for the adults, cider for the minors. Yes, folks, that’s not all out Thanksgiving. Oops, I forgot I am making rolls too, but I am not making any cranberry or zucchini bread this year, and like I already said, no candied yams, no baked beans, no carrot cake or cranberry ginger ale. Well, maybe cranberry ginger ale punch, if the kids want it, but if they want sparkling grape juice instead, I’ll go with that. I have been very tempted to make sugar cookies, the cookie cutters are down and they are tempting me. Away, you mechanisms of delicious cookie goodness! I have these adorable pumpkin and turkey shaped cutters that I would love to make cookies with, so then I could frost them decorating them with our names and place them on each person’s plate so they know the seating assignment; too corny or too cutie pie? Edible name tags, you see? Okay are you scowling at me now?

So, I have Wednesday off with the children and we are going to clean the house, bake the pies, and maybe the cookies, and make gingerbread houses. We aren’t going to decorate for Christmas. I actually asked Matt if we could skip all the crap this year since we are going to my Aunt’s house this year and he said yes. Joy!.

I haven’t purchased the children’s gifts yet as I don’t know what their grandparents are getting them and do not want to have duplicates such as the case with Kayla last year. Did you get that, Dad, what are you buying the kids?

As for my presents, they are sitting in huge boxes in the game room. I don’t know if Matt is going to wrap them or not. Matt’s presents are all here, I believe. I need to double check on that. They are sitting on the pool table still in their boxes. I need to wrap my gifts for Linda – I’m her secret Santa. No, I am not worried that she’ll read this, she hardly knows I exist and probably could give a rat’s butt about what I would say on a blog. She’s the big boss lady, why would she care about me.

Lunch is drawing to a close, so I better post this essay before I lose track of time and the office nosy comes snooping around our doors to see if we are working.