“Even nothing cannot last forever.”

What a week. Mostly good, some not so good, but overall, I'd give it a thumbs up. Turkey, short work week, and family? Kinda hard to complain too much about that.

My Thanksgiving dinner turned out phenomenally well, save the cranberry jello...don't make that ever. Ugh. But, the rest was just wonderful. My turkey smelled amazing the whole time it was cooking. It may have stayed in a smidge too long, since it just fell apart, but it was juicy and delicious. And my rolls...oh, the rolls! I found a recipe for Amish dinner rolls that called for mashed potatoes in the dough. They were the lightest, fluffiest rolls I've ever had, let alone made. Fantastic. I did get a bit sad, missing the holidays past that I'd spent with family, but since we were getting together over the weekend for some birthday celebrations, I didn't let it put a damper on the day.

Although I had to work on Friday, I still had a great weekend. After work Friday, I headed to Waupun to spend the night at my parents' with Jackson and I got to spend the day Saturday baking and crafting. I made my parents a pumpkin pie, since they didn't get one on Thanksgiving this year, and I made a 2 layer white birthday cake for Colten. Since my sister Suzie was making my mom's birthday cake for the party Sunday, my mom didn't get a cake on Saturday, so I instead dubbed the pumpkin pie I'd made the Birthday Pie. After dinner on Saturday, I couldn't find any candles in my parents' cupboards, so we improvised. We used a match as the candle, and it kind of worked. It's the thought that counts, right? Right.

I'd decided to make a lot of my Christmas gifts this year for family, and I got 1/2 way done with Lily's present on Saturday, as well. It's gonna be so cute!! I'd hoped to get more done, but I just ran out of time. On Sunday, Suzie and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen; she was getting snacks ready for the party and had to make my mom's cake, and I made 4 pizzas for lunch. Mmmm...such good food!

As I was rummaging around in one of Suzie's cupboards for a mixing bowl, I noticed that they had a dehydrator just sitting there. I asked Suzie if she or Mike ever used it and she said "maybe once or twice for jerky", but it otherwise sat unused. I told her I was in the market for one, but wanted to test one out before I splurged, so she's letting me use it for a bit to see if it's something we'd want to invest in. I already told Jackson that we're going to make some fruit leather this week, so I hope it turns out! Going to try it with some homemade applesauce I have canned, and flavor it with some of my canned grape juice. In my head, it sounds like it will work out well, so we'll see!

One of the sad parts of this weekend was that my sister Cherie and her family weren't able to make it, and it just wasn't the same. My niece Laurel is away at college, and Cherie's family drove down to Missouri to spend the holiday with her. They even brought the fixings to make a Thanksgiving meal at the hotel, and that just makes me happy. Who asks to make a turkey at a hotel kitchen? My sister does. And since most of us haven't seen Laurel since she left for college in August, we decided to do a video chat with her today before she had to go to work. My mom bawled, as she always does, which made me and Suzie cry, as well. But, it was really great to be able to talk to her and see her today. My family is just great. :)

Right now, Jackson and I are finally home and resting on the couch (and watching Mythbusters) after our long weekend. I'd hoped that we'd have gotten home sooner so we could do some more decorating, but now we have something to look forward to for Tuesday night. Monday nights, Jackson has cub scouts and that's something his dad does with him, so he stays over there every Monday. Since I have every Monday night free, I started volunteering every other Monday. This week is a volunteer week, so I won't have time to do any decorating on my own tomorrow night, either. Probably best; Jackson would be a bit upset if I'd do too much without him.

Other than that, I've had a lot on my mind this week, but that seems to be the norm lately. I've also run into some writers block, so I've been reading more to keep my mind from wandering too much. Neil Gaiman helps with that, but I've also been having some really weird dreams...and I normally have weird dreams. American Gods inspired dreams, though, are REALLY weird. I should really keep a notebook by my bed again so I can write some of my dreams down when I first wake up. Tonight, I totally will. Well, if I remember.

Ok. Notebook by the bed already. Decided I'd just do it so I can't say "oh, man. Why didn't I do that???" again. Also realized that Jackson's sheets are still in the washing machine and NOT the dryer...which also means that all of our laundry from this weekend is still in a heap in the basement and is not in the washer. So, I should probably do that. I think I'm also going to write a bit tonight, too, since I feel chatty and kind of serene...maybe I can work on another short story since I've officially given up on NaNoWriMo for the 2nd year in a row. Karen Fail. Oh well...at least I tried. And I'll try again next year, too. One of these years, it will work out, though. I know it. I'm an optimist like that.