HAPPY TURKEY DAY, ONE AND ALL!

Personal Pumpkin Pies	The Spread
Did you get it ALL, Mama?	She insisted the cheese plate be closest to her
Can I eat it NOW, Mom?	Not waiting any longer!!
Cheers, Mommy!	Watching The Haunted marathon on Animal Planet

As for us, we made it through.

I woke up late today, sandwiched between two steamy little bodies who'd snuck in before the sun rose, all of us exhausted from Bubba's coughing and grunting and random bursts of "OUCH!" at his stinging prickly throat all night long.  So I took a poll, and we unanimously agreed to skip our regular morning leche and instead lounged in bed watching The Haunted marathon on Animal Planet for a couple of hours before finally springing down the stairs when suddenly I realized that I couldn't smell the turkey anymore.

Lovely new safety feature on my oven, turns out. Auto-shut-off.  Nice.

But everything made it to the table on time, regardless. That's the great thing about Thanksgiving. It's all day long.  Whenever the bird's ready, it's turkey time.  So, everyone gave thanks for all our blessings. Everyone used their manners, gobbled down their pie, and even cleaned off their place settings. And everyone managed to control their coughing, sneezing, sniffling, and moaning -- for at least an hour.

Then the kids and I spent the rest of the evening snuggled on the sofa, nursing our throats with herbal teas and finishing the last leg of The Haunted Animal Planet marathon.

Quiet. Uneventful. Comforting. And perfect.

Hope your Thanksgiving was everything you needed it to be, too.
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