Ahhhh the 'mental health' day!

We decided as a family to take one of these today and stay home - all day. We didn't go to church or even get out of our pajamas until like - just before noon. It was fabulous. What a weekend.

Our turkey on Thanksgiving was done 2 hours ahead of time. Can you frikin believe it? That NEVER happens to me. All I can say is the Reynolds cooking bags - WORK - our 24 lb turkey was done in 4 hours. Not kidding. We were all running around like idiots trying to get everything else ready for dinner. Which actually ended up being lunch. It was hysterical. No one got pissed, not one got angry - maybe a little testy but that was only because I think I counted 6 people at one point in my small kitchen - but everything came out great and we had a lovely time. I am just so happy to have had a house full of family. If you would have told me back in May that this is the kind of Thanksgiving I would be hosting, I'd never have believed it. How blessed I am.

Now, some of you who follow this blog closely may be thinking 'did they use the turkey PJ shot when he went turkey hunting for Thanksgiving?' That makes sense doesn't it - well, no. Here's why - I've never eaten wild turkey before, and this thing, once plucked (ew!) is pretty small. I've also heard wild turkey is pretty gamy (sp?) - soooooo, it still lives in our outside freezer, happy and frozen as can be. PJ says he wants to make a 'turkey pot pie' with it. Let's just say I won't be pushing him out of the way to get the first bite of that. Have at it hun. I'll take the Butterball thank you very much.

We did the Thanksgiving thing, had the honor of having PJ's dad stay with us for a couple nights which was nice, then we all went to the light parade in town on Sat. It was so much fun - cold - but fun. PJ and I have done this since we moved here and it's so small town and cutesy you just want to puke. We love it though. We're getting really good at going now too - where to park, what to bring, where to sit, by next year we'll be old pros. I think everyone had a great time - it was us, Sean and Joe, PJ's dad, my mom and Britt (who stayed the whole time up here at a hotel). I have to say, I got very accustomed to seeing my mom and Britt everyday. I loved the feeling of them coming over to our house in the morning and hanging out. I could get used to that. (hint hint mom? kidding) I did love it though - I wish we lived closer.

So today it was just us, and we took down our fall stuff and put up all our Christmas stuff. My energy wasn't the best this morning, but better as the day progressed. My joint pain is still really unpredictable, I'm trying to just go with the flow. I don't know if Advil helps - sometimes I think it does, other times not. Strange.

I usually have this sense of urgency in putting up the decorations, but today, I was just relishing in pulling everything out, and mostly sharing it with Madeline. She is just starting to really get this, and to see her face and decorations came out of the boxes was so cool. Seeing this through her eyes this year is going to be awesome. Ginger is starting to say everything now - she said Grandpa to PJ's dad while he was here and it was just the most precious thing. She of course was into everything she wasn't supposed to be into - and I would hear PJ behind me as I was decorating saying "No Ginger No - put that down! Ginger No -" and I just giggled to myself. I thought 'this is the only time we're going to experience the holidays in just this way with our kids - just this way, right now - and I absolutely love it'. I know it's frustrating, but I try to look at it now through Gingers eyes - can you imagine? She goes to take a morning nap and wakes up to all this glitz and glamour! How does she NOT touch everything!?! I would.

I think I'm healing pretty nicely now. I've learned to change my own dressings now which is really sceevy but fine. The wound itself is changing, healing, which is good. And this is the first week I don't have a dr appt since, shit, I have no idea how long. So happy about that. I've been a good doobie about tending to my dressings, so hopefully it's doing what it is supposed to be doing. At least it's starting to LOOK like it's healing, where before it just kinda looked the same all the time. Taking a shower is very strange though with an open wound. So sceevy. Blech.

Sleeping in the bed now, which is getting better each day. Still not able to sleep like I used to but getting there. So our entire house changed due to us finding the perfect spot for the recliner out in the living room. It's like our entire furniture balance shifted to accommodate this one, very important piece of furniture. Who knew how much weight the recliner carried, eh? Especially this one, it is C O M F Y! Even the dog seems to be fighting us for this precious, now public spot in our living room.

So PJ and I spoke this evening and we decided to ask Nancy to help me out in the mornings for Mon, Tues and Wed of this week, then I'm going to go it on my own. Can you believe it? I think I'll be ready. This would put me at almost 6 weeks after my surgery. It feels like everyday I get stronger and stronger. Just the other day I went to take off my surgical bra from the back - I was like HEY! Look at you! (hadn't been able to reach around like that, then just out of habit, I did) It's amazing the habitual things we as women do that we don't even realize we do, till we can't do them anymore. It's almost like I didn't know I couldn't do them until I started doing them again after a reprieve - if that makes any sense. From putting on a bra, to your shower routine, to getting dressed. So many things.

We were also able to see a wonderful old friend of mine this weekend. Wait, he isn't old, we've just been friends a long time. Anyhow, he and his wife were here from NY and they took time out of their short stay to drive up north here and visit us. I was thrilled. He was the first friend I made when I moved to NY and he has just been an amazing part of my life. PJ and I were blessed enough to attend his wedding just weeks before we moved back here. We still keep a picture from that on our fridge. In any case, he and his wife were most kind to me through this process and it was so awesome to get to share some face time with them. Well, between my children hogging their attention - when did Madeline stop being shy? I kinda miss that.

All in all, I can't complain once about Thanksgiving. I am so blessed to have the things I have, the life I have, the family and friends that surround me. What a gift I've been given to literally soak in each moment of this life. And I'm not saying this like it's some corny lyric in a song - I think the only way you can honestly say that you can do this, is when your life has been jeopardized in some way - and you take that way and come face to face with it - look it in the eye - then you get it. I've had so many people try to discuss this with me, bond with me, say they 'get it' - and I appreciate the effort. But unfortunately (or fortunately) they just can't get it. I wish everyone could, without having to live through this process. Life on this earth would just then be continually amazing, for everyone.


God Bless