Pardon me sir, but could you spare some Turkey?

For the last month I have been reading articles in women's magazines that contain recipes for what to do with all of that leftover turkey.

What leftover turkey? We cooked a 23lb turkey yesterday. We used one half of it for dinner yesterday and as of right now, there may be enough turkey for two more sandwiches. You know what that means don't you?

We cooked another turkey today.

Sad, isn't it? This is our family's spare turkey. We made it just so that we would have leftovers.

So, if you are in the neighborhood and are hungry...come on by. Guess what we are having for dinner tonight?

You got it! Leftovers!!!!

I would be willing to bet that by Monday there will only be enough leftovers to make a pot pie out of dark meat.

Picture Perfect - Everyday Thanks

Picture Perfect this week is about giving thanks for the ordinary. This shouldn't be your friends, or family...not really a sentimental post, I think, but a thank you to the things that help get us through the day.

Here is my photo contribution to this weeks' theme.

(pardon the dust!)

Our computers have become such a daily tool in our lives, it is a wonder how we ever lived without it. I recently read a blog by Wicklowmick about the various tools he used before computers and I did a little self recollection. I don't think I have ever used a manual typewriter. One of my earliest jobs was with the Executive Vice President of Temple University. I was a "student assistant" and I did some light typing. I hated it and became very good at the "correction" feature. I remember that we also had a dedicated word processing machine that I was eventually trained on...and then the desktop computers. The first word processing software I used wasn't a windows product it was WordPerfect. Mail Merge and I were close friends.

Being a doctoral student as well as I teacher, I use my computer every day. So do my students and I often have to spend time explaining why it is plagiarism to cut and paste paragraphs from the Internet. Good thing there is Google. I just cut and copy portions of their homework into Google and search for the real source of their assignments.

For me, it means always having a backup. I was speaking to the mother of a friend who got her PhD in the 60s. She talked about the typing and typing and typing some more...then of mimeograph copies of all that was typed hidden for safekeeping all over her house. She had a copy on her - AT ALL TIMES, a copy in her home office, a copy in her campus office, a copy in her car and...this is the best one! A copy in her freezer. In case of a fire. I guess the contents of your freezer don't burn!

Nowadays we are told about having two external hard drives to back up our dissertations. I also plan on emailing portions of it to myself. That way it will always be "out there."

In addition to the Word Processing applications...and the cheating capabilities of the Internet, there is also social networking. I am reading an article right now on this topic and how it impacts "emerging adults." I think we are all pretty much emerged, but isn't it interesting that this little laptop has given birth to

• new forms of cheating
• new forms of creating
• new forms of friendship
• new forms of frustration
• new forms of research
• new forms of procrastination

And with that, I am going to head back to my homework!

The Master Plan for Thanksgiving

My daughter just woke up. She spent part of last night getting sick. It wasn't that she ate something that was bad, it was just that she ate too much. This was her first Thanksgiving where she had to eat two dinners.

She and Travis ate at our house at 2:00 and then they went to Travis' house to eat again. I guess this is pretty indicative of where my life is heading. Now that my children are getting older I have to share them with others. I know it is normal and unavoidable, but I realize I was in a really bad mood yesterday and I am blaming this realization for it.

So....since Mad was up at the wee hours, she texted her aunt, Fred's youngest sister, who is 24. Liz shared with her the THANKSGIVING MASTER PLAN for eating two meals with two families. According to the plan you eat a little Turkey and one starch at one house with plenty of water, then a little turkey and a different starch at the other house. The WATER IS KEY. Pie is a no-no.

Sigh. No pie? Glad I only have one house.

I wonder what the Christmas plan is....

Happy Thanksgiving

glitter-graphics.com

Well, I stayed up late last night and made two pies:Mincemeat and Blueberry (first time from scratch) and three loaves of fruit bread (a pumpkin and cranberry for Mad to take to TBs house and a cranberry for us).

Fred has stuffed the 23 lb turkey and it is in the oven for the first stage of the roasting process. We are making a second turkey after this one comes out so we have enough for leftovers...how sad is that?

Hope you are all enjoying your time with family and friends! I will spend most of today studying, writing and eating. Finals are next week and this long semester will be over. Boy am I thankful for that!

I am also thankful for all of you!

Have a great day!

Yes, that's our 23lb Turkey running for its life!

Retro-post - More bars in more places...

Do you know the AT&T commercial where the "bars" are hidden in the background somewhere....like this...

Well, Owen has taken this commercial to heart. We were walking to the grocery store the other day and he made us line up in height order. Then he says..."More bars, in more places!"

On Saturday, his birthday, we were in the sitting room, chatting. I asked to see his feet, and placed mine along side of his. "Oh my gosh! Your feet are bigger than mine!"

"Wait," he said, and got on the other side of where I was sitting...."We have to do "more bars."" Fred was sitting at the computer and Freddy was in the other room, so we lined up for a group shot. (*Madelaine was out with Turd Boy, so her foot is not in the photo)

Just for the record...my, small, dainty foot is the one on the right. Also, please note how hairy my 14 year old son's legs are (2nd from left). I think he will be shaving soon!

Retro-post - Happy Birthday Owen

Happy Birthday (Saturday the 22nd) to the baby of our house!

Owen is now 12. At this time next year, I will have 3 teenagers. Then in May 2010, I will be back down to two.

Do you think the 7 months of having three teenagers, all living in the same house, qualifies me for Sainthood?

I think it should.

Retro-post - Webkinz

I meant to post this...well, about a month ago. But my camera was out of batteries and then I forgot and then I had to put away the Halloween decorations. But here are some shots of Owen's Webkinz dressed for Halloween.

Demonata Pug

Skullduggery Chiuaua

Fang the Pug.......................................................

and lastly, the Frog Prince.