Recovery

Thanksgiving at our house was fantastic, fun, and filled with great people and good cheer. We had 106 guests come over throughout the day, and my wonderful partner, sisters, brother, nieces and nephews helped everyone feel welcome.

And man, did we have the food! Four turkeys were sufficient -- in fact, we still have some left over which will make for good turkey soup and other "eats" for the weekend. We did, however, manage to give every guest a full plate to take back with them when they left, so the amount of leftovers is minimal.

Our special guest was very entertaining, and truly enjoyed his visit with our neighbors. He brought a contribution of pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes that he made himself! Our guests brought many varieties of foods, as well. I was good -- I just nibbled a little bit throughout the day, but didn't overdo it.

One of my visitors once owned and operated a western store in Oklahoma, but relocated back here to the east to be closer to his family when he sold the store. He presented me with a new pair of black Dan Post Black Vegas Cut boots -- the toe is in ostrich, the rest in leather. Man, they are very dressy and great looking boots! He said that he noticed I wore boots like that when I visited with him this past year, and thought I might like them. In my research, I found that the boots had been discontinued in 2007, but he found a pair at his old store and got them for me. What a terrific present! I'm sure I will enjoy them.

The only challenge I had throughout the day was my back. It went into spasms on Wednesday night -- an old problem I deal with from time to time that lingers from my more active skydiving days. I had to take a lot of aspirin throughout the day. I was moving about as slowly as some of my guests.

But that didn't deter from the fun, joy, and cheer throughout the day. We have great neighbors who helped out, by loaning space in their driveways for extra parking -- one of them even went out several times during the day to direct people on where to park. How nice! My niece played the piano for many hours, which we all enjoyed. I have no idea what games were on the TV in the basement media center, since I don't really follow sports at all. But my partner who knows sports stuff ensured that the "game of the moment" was tuned in.

Today my partner and I will be cleaning up -- though my family did the majority of that last night before they left. The inside of our house looks as spotless as it did when we began. Just a trip to the dump with about 15 trash bags of bones and garbage. For my "green concerned" friends, we have 28 boxes of recyclables, so we will put less into the waste stream than we've done before.

While today is "black Friday," with lots of folks going shopping, I am staying home (except for the trip to the dump). My partner, bless him, is out at this minute taking advantage of a sale at a crafts store. He is getting some artificial flowers to put at my Mom's grave tomorrow. She would have been 91 on November 29 had she been alive. He is always so thoughtful. I'm so glad that they got to be closer before her death ten years ago.

Well, on to returning the house to some semblance of order, and perhaps some well-deserved rest. Thank goodness, too, I have the day off from work, so we don't have to rush too much to get things done.

I'm glowing with great memories of a wonderful event, and thank my partner, once again, for his help as we prepared, conducted, and recover from this once-a-year extravaganza. I will post pics of those new boots soon!

Life is short: show those that you love that you love them!