Happy Thanksgiving

This holiday is one where people like to share the time with their families, eat heartily, and prepare to shop on black Friday. We, on the other hand, have no relatives in town, and haven't for quite a few years, so we carry on a slightly different tradition that we have come to look forward to. As "orphans" we have our "orphan" Thanksgiving dinner at our house each year (only missed one year recently when Linda and the boys traveled to California). At our celebration we have our local family and other "orphans" join us. We truly appreciate having John and Ginger Carmichael (our closest family in Colorado) help us and join us to celebrate. We can usually get them to bring a ham, since Ginger is not a turkey fan, which gives us more than enough food. I will make my usual mashed potatoes (is there an 'e' in that word? spell check says yes) that have been getting raves for years. The key is lots of butter and some cheese and garlic mixed in. This year we are joined by our friend Clay who has been orphaned by his wife and family this year, and we are also inviting our neighbors who may not brave the snowy roads to go to their condo in ski country (as planned) so they may or may not join us. We are also looking forward to a potential visit (maybe for desert?) from our good friend Tom after his dinner with his family.

Altogether it looks like we will eat well, gain back some weight lost, but most importantly we will get to spend some quality time with our local family and friends, while giving thanks for those things we are most thankful for.