Thanksgiving dinner....a success!

The long weekend is over! It's so hard to get back into the groove! I want more time off!! :) But it was a great weekend! We were VERY busy, so it flew by even faster than normal!
Wednesday evening we cooked and cleaned!! We even got off work at 2, and we were still cleaning until after 10!!! But we got it done!! We had a small panic attack
with the turkey…..we took it out of the fridge on Wednesday at about 8 just to make sure it was thawed…and it WASN"T! It was still frozen on the bottom! So we put it in cold water so we could at least work the neck out and the giblets. By the way, turkeys are really gross!
Anyway, we left it in the water until we went to bed at midnight. It was almost thawed when we went to bed, so we figured by morning it would be ok.
We woke up at 8:30 on Thursday to get the turkey in the bag, and into the oven!! Once we got it into the oven, we showered and got ready.
Then we basically just had to sit and wait until 11 before we could really start preparing the rest of the food. That was probably the worst part!
We got started on the mashed potatoes, green salad, and everything else at 11:30, and my parents showed up at 12:30. My mom brought
lots of goodies and a couple gifts!! Things started getting hectic after they arrived! It was fun, but a little overwhelming!
We got all the food prepared and into the oven right when Trav's parents and grandfather arrived at 1:30!
We broke out the appetizers and the wine and chatted while the food finished cooking! Everything was ready right at 2, so we loaded all the food onto our buffet table and
finally sat down at the table!! It felt good to sit and I was starving! I had been smelling the yummy food cooking since about 10, so I was ready to eat!
We talked and ate for an hour and 1/2! Later we cleaned up and then sat down for dessert! The Clarks left a little after 5pm.
My parents stayed and we watched a movie until about 9. All in all, I'd say it was a successful Thanksgiving dinner!!
After all the company left, I looked over the ads for the day after Thanksgiving sales! Air and I strategized a plan of attack, and I set my alarm for 3:45 to get up and start the shopping!!
I didn't get much sleep that night because I wasn't tired until 11! I rolled out of bed at about 4, threw on some clothes, and was ready right when Air pulled up.
We got to Dutch Bros for coffee at 4:20, and to Gottschalks at 4:40 where we stood in the 28 degree weather waiting for the doors to open at 5!! From then on it was a madhouse of shopping and standing in long lines to get all the deals from 5 - 10am!!
At 10 we went to the house to pick the boys up and head to Salem. We didn't finish shopping until 3!! My feet were VERY sore!
We got lots of good deals though, and had a great time! We finished off the day with a nice meal from The Olive Garden! Yummy!
Trav and I headed home and watched a couple movies before turning in at midnight!
Saturday we slept in until 11, when we got up and headed to my parents house. I helped my mom at the shop until 3, then we all headed to the Willamette Valley Vineyards
for a wine tasting they were having. We had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful view from the tower there!! We enjoyed almost all the wines, and Trav bought me a bottle of a delicious white!!
We headed home at about 6:30, and got ready to meet up with Monika! We hung out and talked until a little after 2, when I finally turned in for the evening!!
Sunday we slept in until noon and started right in on the chores!! We had a lot to do, since we hadn't done much since company left on Thursday!
I have been enjoying turkey, cream cheese and cranberry sandwiches, and mashed potato patties! And rolls! Yum!
Oh, and I have been LOVING all the Christmas music!The season is here! This weekend Trav and I are going to pick out and cut down our tree! Then we will decorate it and get the house and Chirstmas'd out!!