Thanksgiving Success!

I'll get to my food in a bit, but our Thanksgiving was just wonderful!  It really started Tuesday evening at our annual Thanksgiving service.  I love hearing what everyone is thankful for each year.  We followed this up with our annual youth bake auction.  There were so many great treats and our auctioneers did a great job pushing the prices up.  Our youth department raised over $3,300!  Les and I bought Oreo Truffles:

  

and Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

We got home and stayed up waiting for Leksi to arrive.  While we waited, I made two types of muffins.  I spent much of Wednesday prepping as much food as possible.  I sent Kim a tempting picture of my dressing:

Les made his double layer pumpkin pie:

 

 

I was up early on Thursday morning and got my turkey going in the crock-pot.  This is the same kind of turkey I bought a couple of years ago, Jennie-O Oven Ready Turkey Breast.  As I mentioned, there wouldn't be room in my oven so I followed the directions for slow cooker.  Just add one cup of water, put the completely frozen turkey in, and cook on high for 4 hours.  I also added some chicken broth for a little extra flavor.

I also baked my peach cobbler.  It was the only thing that needed to bake at a higher temperature, but it didn't need to be ready at the same time.  It was still warm hours later when we were ready for dessert.

 

I started putting everything else in around 10:45.  Everything was going along great for about the next hour or so when my oven started smoking.  Unfortunately my macaroni and cheese boiled over and made a mess!  It was on the bottom rack, which was good because it didn't boil over in to anything else, but I suspect that is exactly why it boiled over!  We opened some windows and let everything finish baking.  Here is the spread:

Everything was SO good!  Yes, it was a lot of work, but I loved doing it.  This is the first time I've gotten to do this and hopefully won't be the last.  Leksi had told me she doesn't like dressing and I told her she didn't need to eat everything.  But she tried it and said, "This is the best dressing I've ever had."  Kim said it was one of the nicest Thanksgivings she's ever had.  My heart was as full as my belly!

Leksi turned 20 on Saturday.  Last time she was here, she told me that her skillet is kind of a mess and Wednesday morning she mentioned it again.  It was a simple gift, but we were happy to get it for her!

Rodney served in the Air Force, so it was fun to watch him and Leksi bond over their shared experiences.  It really was a Thanksgiving success - on both the food and family scene!

P.S.  As far as my oven goes - it's clean now.  My oven has two cleaning settings - Steam Cleaning and Self Cleaning.  For Steam Cleaning, I just poured a cup of water in the bottom of the oven and turned it on.  The steam helps everything soften up.  It wasn't enough, so I then used Self Cleaning.  I went for the full 5 hours and it worked like a charm!  The oven heats to a very high temperature and I ended up with ashes at the bottom of the oven.  Once it unlocked, I pulled the racks out and let it cool.  Then all I needed was a wet rag and everything wiped up!  No chemicals and Brillo pads required.

Spring Cleaning

I know I've been pretty quiet over here.  I've been busy spring cleaning.  We had to dig up all our Canna lilies, that's all 24 of our Canna lilies!  They are loving where they are, so much that they decided to keep on growing, moving into our yard.  They are now in pots and we're hoping that will keep them contained a little better.  The plan going forward is to thin them out each year, removing old roots, and watching them grow some more!

 

In addition to gardening, I also washed all the windows inside our house, plus the outside of all the downstairs windows.  Les will do the outside of the upstairs.  The windows were in desperate need - we spent two years redoing our landscaping so there was a lot of dust, dirt and grime.

 

 

 

Les has other things on his list.  That includes replacing all the handles on our showers.  The insides were corroded and we had trouble turning the water on.  They are working great now!

 

Yesterday I started in on my kitchen.  I took everything out of every drawer and cupboard.  My dining room table is now covered with things ready for Goodwill.  Does anyone really need three crock pots?   I'm getting rid of glasses and vases, along with a lot of miscellaneous pots and pans.  I also put any expired food in the trash.  I really don't like doing that, but when I say "expired" I'm talking expired in 2003!  Yes, it was past time.

I have to say, it's hard work but so satisfying!

Cleaning House

Is there “junk” in your life? What kind? How do you get rid of it?

I decided to use Friday's prompt today because I spent all day yesterday cleaning house.  Tuesday is my regular cleaning day, but everything got a little extra attention because  Les' dad and Lance are arriving before the grand McBRAAM departure on Saturday.  When it comes to cleaning house, the final thing I do is light a candle.  I want my house to be clean, but I do not like the smell of cleaners!

The big thing on my to-do list while Les is gone is going through closets and cabinets.  Since he started working in Hawaii in 2013 we have let a lot of stuff accumulate. I threw our collection of maps away yesterday - some were as old as 1983!  Shoes, clothes, books, etc. will be going in donation boxes.

Of course there is other junk that accumulates.  Les taught a Sunday school lesson last month about forgiveness.  We can't let unforgiveness pile up in the closets of our lives.  Forgiveness is an intentional act.  Even when forgiveness is not requested, we need to forgive in order to get rid of some of the junk in our lives.

It isn't easy to get rid of emotional junk.  Just like cleaning house there are things you have to get rid of over and over.  Old hurts sneak up like dust bunnies and we have to get the vacuum back out.  But Matthew West's song called Forgiveness has this powerful line, "The prisoner that it really frees is you."

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those who don’t deserve
It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just too real
Takes everything you have to say the word

Forgiveness, forgiveness

It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you’ve got a right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying set it free

Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what its power can do
So let it go and be amazed by
What you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you

Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

I want finally set it free
Show me how to see what your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Jet Lag, Domestic Recovery, Fall Envy, and Puzzle Prayer Time

I have several things to blog about that will take a bit more thought, but I wanted to pop in today with just a few short thoughts:

We flew home on Friday night.  Les needed to be in the office the entire day on Friday, so we took the red eye, leaving Honolulu at 11:10 p.m. and arriving in Los Angeles at 7:40 a.m.  Those flights are painful!  I think I slept off and on for about an hour and Les got about a 20 minute catnap.  We crashed as soon as we got home, spent Saturday afternoon unpacking and, unfortunately for Les, repacking.  We were in bed by 9:00 (6:00 Hawaii time) and slept straight through until our alarm went off at 5:30 Sunday morning.  Les had to fly three more time zones east for a conference in Philadelphia this week.  So while I'm dealing with a three time zone difference, he's dealing with six!  I got a text from him this morning letting me know he had won a drone, so it wasn't all in vain!

After getting Les off to the airport, Sunday was filled with church with a nap sandwiched between services.  Pastor White preached two fabulous message and Sunday night's was off the charts!  I finally made it to the grocery store yesterday, along with the dry cleaners.  Today is Domestic Recovery Day Two while I clean house and do laundry.  I don't have too much laundry since I washed all our clothes in Hawaii on Friday morning before we packed. 

While I'm cleaning, I'm trying to decide if I want to bring out my Fall/Thanksgiving decorations.  I usually do this mid-September, but we were gone.  It has been in the 90s every day since we got home, so it's hard to get motivated.  Maybe I'll put them out by faith!  I've yet to have pumpkin spice anything.  I'm envious of those who are enjoying beautiful 40 degree Fall mornings, but won't be when 40 is their high in a few months!

Finally, if you have not read the latest post on The Ballestro Blog, you need to!  It's one of the neatest, sweetest posts ever!  Click here now!

Spring Cleaning and Snakes!

I've been doing a little Spring cleaning today. Going through old files, 401(k) statements from 2005 and older, music, maps, and just plain old junk! I've made dozens of trips to the trash and recycle cans in our backyard. I had finally finished and was going to sit in the sun for a little while. I had my Diet Coke and a magazine, stepped out the SAME door I've been using all morning and saw this:


That is my Welcome mat in the corner of this picture. Welcome does NOT include snakes!




As you will see by his tail, it is not a rattlesnake, but it still gave me the chills!



This is a 3 foot wall, so it is well over 4 feet long.






If it had really been doing its job, I wouldn't have found this at the bottom of our pool:


Never a dull moment!