Forgive the long hiatus in blogging, but I've been caught up in pre, post and Thanksgiving festivities (and then today had to catch up from the festivities by getting "write" back to Nanowrimo).

Thanksgiving was an amazing affair, from my point of view anyway!  The fun started on Wednesday night with 17 of us gathered for some festive mexican chicken soup and a delicious salad (prepared by Shari).  Our friends, Tom and Renee' joined us for the pre-Thanksgiving feast even though they were hosting their own Thanksgiving the next day at their house.  I wasn't cooking on Thursday and knew she was, so I thought she could use the break on Wednesday.  It was a great party.  (That Meredith makes a mean margarita!)

The only near disaster of the day was that Uncle Stretch got lost (I accidentally gave him the wrong address since the online mapping program doesn't show our house yet).  He took about 2 hours to get us tracked down but he got here and the party was more festive for it

We were the happy recipients of four (count em 4!) floral arrangements from Erik which made the house look so elegant.  There were tulips, lilies, irises and a basket of mixed flowers, all in different containers.  Thanks Dude!

Thursday was surreal in its effortlessness.  The chef and two servers arrived around 10:30 a.m. and we all were able to sit, circulate, and enjoy each other's company while sampling some delicious hors d' oeuvres.  Then a lucious Thanksgiving buffet was served at 2:00.  Dishes magically put themselves away and no guests had to spend hours at the sink.  I was so relaxed I could hardly stand it!

The highlight of the day for me (other than Lynne, Ken and Jessi joining us from Santa Clarita and Dean & Donna coming up to round out the family contingent) was sharing the strips of paper where everyone stated one thing for which they were grateful.  Sometimes hokey works.

Oh, and it was fun listening to Dad and Uncle Stretch describe their childhood home and finding out why he's called "Stretch."

By yesterday (day 2 off of Nanowrimo) the crowd had dwindled down to Dean, Donna, Erik, Bob, Dan and I.  We had a nice day and then prepared a burnt sacrifice to welcome Deanna and Tim to the house.  (Note to self: when it says not to have the bottom burners on at the same time as the rotisserie, take the advice to heart.)  We managed to salvage a great dinner out of the center of a roast and a chicken.  And we laughed a lot!

Today, it's cleaning and writing.  I got in my words by about 2:00 AND got the barbeque back as close to normal as it will ever be.  I'm at 39,750 words with 6 days to go.  That's just over 1700 words a day.  I can see the end in sight!

Thanks to all who made the trek North or South!  Good memories were made!

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