Thanksgiving Is Upon Us!!

 Toward the end of October I begin mentally making my Thanksgiving "to do" list. This year the list is particularly long......
1. Finish painting the outside of the house In Texas, the temperature is still in the upper 70's.  Yes, I know....I'm blessed! I have been painting for awhile now. But, it didn't help when after I had made such good progress, I decided the color was all wrong. I had to start painting all over again!!

2. Clean, clean, clean.....no, not the everyday stuff, but the deep, get sweaty and sore type of cleaning. I've already got a start on this endeavor. Yesterday I cleaned my daughters Eun-Hye and Christine's bedroom carpet! I've been meaning to do that for quite awhile! Yea, it's done!! Now, will anyone go in their room Thanksgiving Day??? Probably not! But, Eun-Hye and Christine appreciate the freshly clean carpet!! That's all that matters!

3. Get my recent college bound daughter Suzanne's room ready for guests!! Do you remember that Suzanne is a freshman at UT Austin???? I have to move another bed in her room, and since she took all her "stuff" with her, I'm thinking I need new bedspreads and a nice lamp in there!! I'm always looking for a good excuse to spend money and decorate!

4. Hopefully, I can paint Taylor's room. That would only take one day if Soo-Jin could help me. Taylor's room is painted an icy, cold, piercing azure!! My husband, Tim, frequently proclaims, "Never, never again paint any wall in the house a screaming bold color; muted hues is the way to go"! Ordinarily, I wouldn't bother to put painting his room on the Thanksgiving "to do" list, but this year nineteen of my twenty-two children plus one son-in-law and two or three "significant others" will be home. Taylor's room is going to substitute as a guest room.......He loves to sleep on the family room sofa with his Cairn Terrier, Radar, anyway!! They watch tv together....late, late into the wee hours of the morning!!

5. I desperately need to hire a cleaning company to come clean the cathedral ceiling in my dining room. This chore is a necessity. I have such a hard time cleaning the cathedral ceiling. Even with a ladder, I just can't reach it. Recently, I decided hiring a professional would be the way to go. My dining room is actually the "den". But, we use the den as an extra large dining room. We have to, you know!! There's so many of us!!

6. Then, there's all the shopping. We consume three twenty pound turkeys. That is a LOT of turkey. Then, there's all the fixings!! I plan on buying a turkey a week until Thanksgiving arrives. I bought the first one last weekend. I'll buy another one next weekend.....and then the next weekend!! I'll start cooking the Monday before Thanksgiving. Many members of our family comment that Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday!! (not tooo much pressure, right!) ..So, the actual dinner needs to be Wonderful!!

My mental list is exhausted!! I will probably think of something else soon, but heaven knows I don't want to think of one more thing!!! Will I get everything accomplished??? Probably not, but if I at least get the front of the house painted, and get through half of my list, I'll consider myself as much of a success as I could possibly be. With so many of our children grown, it is only at Thanksgiving and Christmas that we are all in the same place at the same time......even if for only a few hours!!!
My husband cries when he says the blessing over Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. He and I are counting our blessings, and we have a lot of blessings to count.!!!