Nascar and Thanksgiving Preparations

It's hard to believe, but another Thanksgiving holiday is upon us! Like most every holiday/major event that happened this year, Thanksgiving kind of snuck up on me. Suddenly the other night, my husband and I began talking about what our plans for the holiday were going to be, and I became overwhelmed by holiday-itis. For whatever reason this year, I've been dreading the rush of the holiday season. Possibly this is due to being so busy on a regular basis with homeschooling and the daily process of keeping a halfway calm and collected home (and I do mean "halfway"). Whatever the case, I protested vehemently when the Hubs suggested inviting a few people over (my husband is Cajun, which means that "a few" people can range from five to twenty five individuals), not wishing to endure the anxiety of planning a large meal and pulling the whole party together in enough time to actually enjoy some of it myself. My fear had subsided a bit by last night, however, and I agreed that having a get together might be fun, though I made him swear that he would keep the guest list to a reasonable minimum (yeah, right). So, here I am, browsing Thanksgiving recipes on the internet (I have tons of recipe books but am not interested in pulling out several different books in search of recipes suitable for the holiday), and finding quite a few that sound yummy and shouldn't break the bank. Finances being what they are this year, we need to be careful how much money we spend on Thanksgiving, so that we have enough for the holiday shopping. I have yet to purchase one Yule gift, and possibly will begin tonight online after our little one is safely tucked into bed (if I don't fall asleep myself, which is usually what happens). Since she is now five years old, shopping for gifts with her in tow is dicey at best. She is no longer at the age where she is oblivious to my purchases, and it will be difficult to provide her with any surprises (or to perpetuate the Santa Claus myth) if she is with me, seeing everything I'm buying for her. Some things were so much easier when she was very small!!! But, I digress. I now have recipes for yams, stuffing, mac and cheese, the dreaded green bean casserole (I'm probably one of the only people in America who isn't crazy about this dish), and apple crisp stacked neatly on my very messy desk, waiting to be materialized into actual food. I daydream for a moment, thinking about how nice it would be if I could wrinkle my nose and magickally poof our entire Thanksgiving dinner into existence.... Alas, real magick doesn't work that way. I don't know what's wrong with me-I usually love to cook for other people. While I'm very grateful this year, I'm just not into all of this madness-a touch of laziness, perhaps? (Gasps audibly.)

The Hubs and I attended a Nascar race yesterday, the Ford something or other. While I can't remember the name of the event, the race was lots of fun. Having grown up with a Dad who restored old cars and made a living doing auto body repair, I have a love of automobiles that runs straight down to my soul. I love hotrods and fast cars in general, love how they work, how they sound, and (in some cases) how they look, all shiny and sparkly and revved up into bad- assedness:



Okay, so that last adjective is not a real word, but since I'm an artist, once in awhile I find the need to create my own words. No sense in using the same old, well-used ones all the time... I'd been skeptical about attending a Nascar race, thinking that watching cars speed around a track over and over again would get boring rather quickly. However, I was hooked by the energy and the noise and the smells from the moment the first green light flashed indicating the start of the action. The sound of all those motors being revved up simultaneously, then the music of tires on track combined with engines being run full on was mesmerizing. When it was finally time to leave (we had a child to pick up from the babysitter and a dog at home to let outside, so we left the Speedway early to avoid the crazy traffic), I was a bit sad. We heard the results of the race on the radio as we were driving home, tired and happy and smelling a bit like exhaust fumes. (I'm kidding about the last part, but we were tired and happy.)

Well, off to write my regular shopping list and attempt to get out of this house. Monday has somehow slipped out from under me and I've hardly any time left to accomplish anything at all today!

Have a blessed Moonday!