A Saturday All to Myself

I did bet to sleep in, thanks to Sam keeping the pets quiet. It was snowing when I woke up. Ugh. But, Sam had a fire going, which seems to make things better. I started a pot roast, which is bubbling away in the oven presently. I usually make my mom's recipe, but Sam wanted to try Alton's recipe. We altered it, of course. I like having a saucy pot roast with veggies. We'll add carrots, potatoes, and parsnips. And serve it over noodles.
After the Thanksgiving dinner, we were all sitting around the table chatting at my sister's house. Sometimes, my sister will lead the conversation by asking my folks some questions about their childhood or early life. My mother always sang silly songs with her sister, who is now gone. So, my sister asked her to sing some of the songs she sang with Aunt Jean. My mother explained that most of the silly songs she knew were taught to her by her uncle. Being of Scottish decent, they were mostly Scottish songs. So, my mom started up one of her silly songs and then out of the blue Dustin joined in. He knew all the words of a very long silly Scottish song. My mom had sang this song to him when he was a very little boy. It was a special moment to hear them singing at the table for everyone.

A Good Day Off

My goal today was to clean the chaos that used to be my kitchen, get the pets all in order, and work on laundry. The kitchen: pristine prior to making dinner tonight. Pets: pretty good. Laundry: not sul bad. But, my main goal really was to relax and knit. After all, it's my last vacation day for 2007.
I've finished the Fuzzy Feet for Caitlin. I'm not going to bother taking a picture. Like the dog sweater, it will be much more exciting to see them modeled on the recipient. And thanks to Ravelry, I've cast on for a shawl. So, I spent most of the day relaxing and knitting.
The weather has gotten cold just in time for the holidays. I've really been enjoying wearing my hand knits. In particular, my socks.
Thanksgiving went smoothly. While my sister cooks the turkey for the family meal, I cook one for us. I bought an organic turkey from Whole Foods. I don't know what came over me when I was there. But, I bought a premade brining kit. Never again. I will always make my own brine as I have in the past. This one was too salty and too sweet. I didn't care for the way it flavored the meat at all. I've found that if we take the skin off, it's not so strong. But, it still made my gravy taste funny. It's a shame, in my opinion. The skin is my favorite guilty pleasure. And an organic turkey ain't cheap. I did do one thing different, thanks to Barbara. I took it out at 150 degrees. So that it would be at 160 after it rests.
I made taco soup for dinner tonight. Though, I've modified mine to something that is totally different. We use ground turkey and V-8 for starters.
No OT tomorrow! Maybe I can even sleep late.