A recap of the last few days.....

Today finds me simply devastated on a level previously unknown to me.......but I simply refuse to talk about that at this time. Ultimately - the world is GROSSLY unfair, in more ways that even seems imagineable.

I do want to catch up on the joy of the holidays and some quality time between me and Nathan.

Tuesday afternoon my Grammy and Grampy came in to town. It was great to have them come to our house. The house is C-L-E-A-N since my primary job description seems to be CEO, CFO, manager and every other title you want of Stewart Household, Inc. We also have decorated for Christmas.....and this girl loves the holidays. In Greenwood it is no white Christmas.......but that is ok. It really has been warm-ish, but that is the way the weather is down here - what I consider "the south"......haha! As much as I hate to say it, being from the land which is still in the "lake-effect" area......they get NO snow here. What a different a three hour drive southward makes.

Tuesday I had white chili in the crockpot, but for whatever reason it wasn't quite "done" by the time we were getting ready for dinner. We had a negative experience at Papa Johns recently and they had sent us a free large two topping pizza to "apologize." We decided to "cash in" on that....and it was well worth it!

Grampy is doing awesome following his surgery....sure he still limps about a bit, and I am sure it is tender....but he seems to be on the mend. He doesn't use a cane or a walker or anything. He seemed back up to his normal, bad-boy self! Grampy and I went out for a bit and shopped around a little. Then Grammy and I also went to the mall for a bit. We looked around the mall, and enjoyed the Land's End part of the Sears! Grammy even treated me to a pair of shoes.....and they are COMFY!

Wednesday we shopped until we dropped. It involved a good deal of Starbucks! (In case you didn't know.....a gingerbread latte from Starbucks IS Christmas in a cup.........) We enjoyed dinner at the German American Club in Greenwood.....a totally fun German restaurant that is totally like driving 10 minutes, driving in to a park area....and then arriving in Germany.....no plane ride req'd. Then, we got to go over to Marty and Ken's and got to meet Marty's lovely parents (who had come in from Idaho for the holidays!) It was great company, conversation, and of course dessert!

Wednesday I made Thanksgiving preparations until what seemed like morning. I went to bed.....then got up and got food ready.......

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning and had chocolate cherry coffee cake (prepared from scratch, the previous evening - by me!) and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It is kind of goofy to say, but in some way, I felt very much life life was coming "full circle" as my grandparents enjoyed the Macy's parade in OUR living room. When I was a kid, Thanksgiving WAS watching the parade at grandma and grandpa's while Grammy slaved in the kitchen!

For lunch, we had a table fully set with my good china.....all of it. I insisted on serving everyone.......the only bad thing was that in the process of the hard work.....somehow everyone else ended up showered and in nicer clothes...while I worked in a junky pair of pjs, messy hair.....and my ancient glasses. I was far from a beauty queen, but the food was GOOD.

I prepared the following menu:

Sparkeling grape juice
Apple salad
Turkey breast with a "flavor" (also made by me!) under the skin
Mashed Potatoes and gravy
Stuffing - FROM SCRATCH......yes SCRATCH (feel free to be EXTREMELY impressed!)
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls (frozen, but baked and warm)
Pumpkin/cream cheese pie
Apple Cranberry Pie - with homemade crust

Yes, it was a TON of work.......Yes, it was 100% worth it. I let Grammy do very little.....goodness knows the lady has done more than her fair share over the many years. However, I did let her do a few of the bigger dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher while I took a shower.

The funniest part of the day was when Nate and Grandma tried the dog treats I had gotten for the dogs......they thought it looked like human summer sausage.....it was not, and evidently did not taste like human. So, you may ask, what did Nate learn from this situation......don't listen to Grammy :) - this may lead you astray!

Friday and Saturday Nate and I enjoyed some of what Indiana has to offer. We spent Friday in Bloomington.....a fun drive and a cute downtown area. Saturday we packed ourselves and Hans up in the car and ventured to Turkey Run State park about an hour west of Indy.....almost in Illinois. We hiked....yes HIKED.....all three of us, for about three hours. This is remarkable for two reasons:

1.) Jen doesn't hike......I am lucky to even go outside half the time, I am not really what they call "outdoorsey."
2.) Hansy (the 17 pound DACHSHUND) dragged Nate and I around that park for three and a half hours. He had the greatest time EVER. I have had him for 8 years and I have never had that much fun with him or laughed that hard at him. He loved every minute of it.....and exhibited an amazing amount of energy and excitement for an 8 year old dog....(which is darn near 60 in human years.)

I think that is all for now............