Giving Thanks

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend.

I know that I did!

I didn't make the trip to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his family, like we thought that we might do.

We decided that the temptation to make Thanksgiving about the FOOD 

might be a little too much for me.
Not to mention we need to save our pennies.

So we stayed home and kept things simple.

Instead of having one massive day of sanctioned binge eating...

with way too many choices

we decided to have several "normal" meals over the weekend.

1 protein

1 vegetable

and 1 starch

with NO white flour or sugar.

Let me tell you...

I didn't feel the slightest bit deprived.

OK, maybe a little deprived.
I caved at the last minute... 
and sent Bill to the store for a bag of stuffing.

Uggh!

My downfall...

I could have planned ahead and prepared a cornbread stuffing alternative

that would have fit my

no white flour or sugar  rule.

But... I truly thought that I could/would stick to the meal plan.

I even blew my NO sugar with one lousy bite of coconut cream pie...

And I don't even like coconut!

Grrrr...

I had told Bill to pick up a pie when he went to get the stuffing. 
I felt bad that I wasn't making him the 

Strawberry Pretzel Surprise.

He KNOWS I don't like coconut...

he must have thought I wouldn't be temped by this evil sugary desert.

He was WRONG!

I may have slipped...

But I think about the Thanksgivings of the past.

Compared to those my food choices and portion sizes were drastically better this year.

I didn't make the oyster stuffing along with regular stuffing or make the peas and carrots, collards, green bean casserole, creamed onions, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, strawberry surprise, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pumpkin cheesecake that I usually make every year. 
We just had the turkey and stuffing.
Instead of green bean casserole, we had fresh green beans.
Instead of mashed potatoes we had wild rice with onions and mushrooms.
Then Mary and I split some sugar free cheesecake pudding.

I may have stumbled a bit but I didn't come completely off the hinges.

We spent a wonderful day together 

AS A FAMILY.

We prepared the turkey TOGETHER and then sat down for a marathon game of trivial pursuit.

(Which I dominated!)

After the game, we finished up the rest of the meal preparation.

Then once all the prep work done was done

and Bill said that he could handle the rest of the meal,

Mary and I set off to the movie theater to watch

Breaking Dawn Part 2

Which by the way was ...

AWESOME!

By the time we got home from the movie, 
everything for dinner was ready.

All I needed to do was to make the gravy.

(which I made with corn starch instead of flour)

It was a wonderful day!

It may not have been the Thanksgiving of my childhood, 

filled with tons of food and good intentions.  

I may not have been surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents and siblings.

But what I did have was a day filled with laughter, love and cooperation.

I couldn't have ask for more.

We all went to bed that night feeling grateful and content.

Black Friday

We had a lazy morning then it was off to the barn.

I came home to a surprise message from my girl Mary Neva. 

The fact that she had sent me a message wasn't the surprise.

The surprise was that she was on her way here to play a couple nights at the 

Port-O-Call  Gaslight Bar and Grill.

I was so happy that I didn't have a refrigerator full of left-overs that I would have gorged on all day

leaving me passed out and sick not wanting to go anywhere.

Instead I was excited to step out and I didn't even need to take a nap before I went.

(Big improvement fer me)

Ya Hoo!!!

I even took my daughter, Mary out to see her 

GoGo Godmamma.

Neva pull my little sunshine up on stage to sing with her.

Shew...

Mary Elizabeth was beside herself!

Back for round 2 the next night.
Does this look like the face of happiness?

The second night, I didn't have quite the giddy up and go as the night before.

I'm NOT 20 something anymore.

Those late nights put a hurting on this ole gal... 

I don't even want to think about how I would have felt if I had been tilting back the cocktails.

YIKES!

I would have had to crawl into a cave to hibernate for the rest of the winter.

It took me a few days to feel almost "normal" again.

But eventually life at the Marchitelli home 
fell back into a routine.

While Mary did her schoolwork yesterday...
I tried to get some "work" done as well.
I managed to get a few new items listed on my etsy shop.

3 Sunflower Birdhouse Gourds

Look...
They are even signed and dated 
2012 

Wok Horseshoe Bird Bath

These were the only pieces I got listed before we had to head out to the barn.

We switched our regular barn days up a little this week since we had to be at the barn on Thursday to meet the vet.
No surprise injuries...
Thank God,
just a follow up appointment for Phoenix's leg wound and his yearly float.
Well, we got a call from the vet's office asking if we could change our visit for that day instead of Thursday.
We of course said 
YES!
Mary was so excited ... I thought she was going to jump out of her skin.
Squealing... "I might get to start walking Phoenix today!!!!!!"

We cut class short and headed out to the barn.

It was a BIG day for Phoenix

TEETH FLOATED

 Dr. Shanna REALLY loves her work!

She told Mary that if you work hard there are two roads she can choose in life.
To do what you LOVE 
or 
To work a job that allows you to do what you love.

I LOVE IT!
So work hard and do your very best on your school work,
It's important 
and it will help you choose your path.
Thank you Dr. Shanna for the words of wisdom.

Mary was able to get up close and personal.
And really get a FEEL for what's going on inside Phoenix's mouth. 

 BEFORE

Can you see the points?

 AFTER

Now for the news that we are all waiting for...
How is Phoenix's leg?

A little over a month ago...

Yesterday
November 27, 2012

Amazing!
The bottom flap that we almost cut off because we thought it would most likely die...
It's ALIVE!
And completely reattached. 
Now we just need to combat the proud-flesh.

WARNING !!!

This next shot is a little bloody.

It had to be removed with a razor til it was below the skin.
Then we wrapped it back up.
The good news is...
Phoenix is healthy and sound.
And he is released from the vet's care and the stall confinement.
We can start gradually working him back into his old routine.
And even start going back out into the pasture.

Finally ...
he went out for his first walk in over a month.
He was a "little" wobbly and needed to walk off his sedation.

Mary took Phoenix around to see all his buddies.

Today...
he got out and exercise.
Mary took him out to the round pen and he cut loose!
He was so happy to be out of the stall.
He went buck wild.

We are hoping to get him out into the pasture for a little while tomorrow.  
And make sure he is still cool with his old pasture pals.
We don't want him getting hurt again. After a couple days of that... 
if all goes well, 
he may get turned back out. 
Then it will be back to business as usual.

With some gradual exercises, Mary may be back in the saddle by next week.
She is one happy young lady!

Thanksgiving may have come and gone but the attitude of gratitude still remains.