Good morning! Happy weigh-in day.

I wasn’t so sure how nice the scale was going to be to me today since Bridget and I went on a mother/daughter date last night to see Catching Fire.

We had been planning this night out for months. It included a dinner out at the Mellow Mushroom followed by some window shopping at the outdoor mall where the temperature was a whopping 8 degrees.  We bought our tickets at a theater that has assigned seating so we didn’t have to stand in line forever. We went all out and ordered the balcony seats where we shared a cozy leather love seat and snuggled under a blanket Bridget shoved into my purse before we left (genius). Since we were “VIP” we had a waitress bring us hot chocolate and popcorn (minus the butter). It was a perfect way to watch a movie on a freezing night.

However, popcorn, pizza and hot chocolate aren’t usually the best things to ingest before having to do a public weigh-in. So when I stepped on the scale I was surprised to see that I weighed in at 182.8. 

This week has been a tad bit rough since Penelope was so sick. It entailed a lot of sitting around the house and not getting anything done because she was super clingy.  I didn’t workout once. It was awful. There was so much that I wanted to do but I couldn’t do it.  I was feeling so antsy the entire week.

She’s on the mend now so I’m hoping to get back into my workout routine. I’ve got five days before the family arrives for Thanksgiving so I’m hoping to eat super clean until then to counterbalance the debauchery that is bound to take place during the holiday.

When Brent got home from work he built a fire and we turned on some Christmas tunes. We couldn’t help it! It just felt appropriate.  I cozied up under a blanket and searched the internet for recipes to get ready for the big day. Brent and I discussed what we must include in our feast and argued over what we should eat while we watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.  We also argued over which kind of green bean casserole we should make, I say the healthy kind with freshly made fried shallots and he says the kind made with condensed soup.

During my search for recipes I stumbled upon this list of things to do to prepare for Thanksgiving ahead of time, I found it very helpful. I’m pretty sure it’s from Martha Stewart. That lady is beyond anal retentive and I’m pretty sure we could never be friends but I’m grateful for the advice anyway.

I was glad I stumbled upon it because I bought a twenty pound turkey and I need to start thawing it out today! I plan on getting as much of a head start on the holiday preparations as I can so that I can enjoy the family when they are here. I’m one of the few who absolutely adore their in-laws. I just can’t wait to see them!

We live far away from our family on both sides. During the past five years Brent has had to work during the holidays so we usually end up having an orphan Thanksgiving with friends on a random day that everyone can come. It usually turns out to be a very Charlie Brown-ish event due to the fact that Bridget and I always insist that everyone dress up like pilgrims and Native Americans. It started out as a way of giving her something to do while I made the Thanksgiving meal. However, it always adds an extra element of festivity so we do it every year now. We usually fight over who get’s to be the Native Americans because the Pilgrims are boring.

Even though we didn’t have any family around in years past we still managed to instill the elements found in a true American holiday.

The awkward family photos..

The uncle who had too much to drink…

The bickering…

But most importantly the love and laughter that comes from spending a holiday with people you care about.

Our Thanksgivings aren’t usually something you would find on the cover of a magazine but they are usually something special nonetheless. I’m so excited to spend some time with the people that I love and create more memories of tacky holidays to come! That being said, I better stop blogging and get back to making preparations…

Do you have any strange holiday traditions?