Thanksgiving 2018 and Hello December!

Thanksgiving dinner

This year, our oldest daughter and family planned to cook Thanksgiving dinner. We were in charge of an appetizer and pecan pie. Ten minutes after her husband had put the turkey in the oven, the oven had an electrical short and no longer worked. Luckily, we live about a 25 minute drive from them, so they brought over all the dinner items and cooked it at our house. It was a wonderful dinner. My favorite dish was the Brussel sprouts which she stir fried a bit, then squeezed a fresh lemon over the dish and garnished it with walnuts.

Birthday girl modeling her birthday vest

Miss K made the gravy and Miss J made the pumpkin soup. I love it that they like cooking so much and how great that both their mom and their dad encourage each to stir and prep when they cook.

While dinner cooked, Amanda and I made our shopping plans for Black Friday. We have risen early and been in line for a store opening for many years. This year, we met at 4:00am and had completed our shopping by 7:30am. We have decided that the bargains are still there; but, that they aren't as great as they once were nor are there as many bargains. Still, it is a tradition the two of us share (and the youngest daughter when she is in the country) and a tradition that I look forward to each year.

Two days after Thanksgiving, Miss J turned five years old. We gave her a bike and a vest. She loves riding her bike and soon she won't need the training wheels! She wore her vest to school the following day. She loves kitties and was tickled to find a kitty on her vest! She and her sister were invited for a sleepover which was so much fun! Watch for a future post to share about our activities.

Birthday girl showing the kitty on her vest

I made progress on all of my November goals. I did quilt the square in a square border and the sashing. I'll share a post soon. I'm still undecided on how long to stay for the Birmingham quilt show so I haven't made hotel reservations. I'm still working on the machine embroidery for a quilt project; but I like the progress I have made. I'm also understanding more about the machine settings which is helpful!

Before I usher in the last month of the year, I need to say goodbye to November! In November, I trained 12 people in Basic Life Support (280 YTD) and 15 people in Lay Rescuer CPR (41 YTD). I have trained a total of 516 people so far this year!

For December, I plan to continue quilting the next section of the mystery quilt. I had hoped to finish it this month; but, I don't think that will happen. I don't have a specific idea of what to quilt in the next area. I do trust the quilting pattern will develop as I work through stitching steps on a couple sew alongs and gift items.