I just wanted to write a quick note this morning.   I want to thank all of you who take time out of your day to stop by this little blog of mine.   I never would have imagined 7 1/2 years ago how many wonderful people I would meet through this blog and how your support, especially this past year has kept me going and keeping one foot in front of the other.  I knew I had to get up and get out of bed, because I have many readers who fix their cup of coffee and hit up my blog before they even begin their day.  It’s give me purpose.  It’s given me love.  It’s given me support.  And for that I am forever eternally grateful for all of you.

Last Thanksgiving my Mom brought Boston Market to the hospital for us to eat.  My brother did a guest post about his famous potato soup.  My twin sister filled in and wished you guys a Happy Thanksgiving from me.  And I got to spend another day with my step-son before he left the day after Thanksgiving, which also ended up being the day we brought Tony home for hospice.

And I am thankful for the nurse who decided to shave Tony even though I thought it was pointless at the time.  He was so gentle with him and he looked so good after he was done – I don’t think he’d had a shave for six weeks before that!

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So today my Mom is coming over.  I am so thankful for her because last year she gave up the trip of a lifetime that she’d been planning for over a year in order to stay home and be with me.  That gesture still amazes me to this day, and I am forever grateful for you Momma.

So this is going to be a little eclectic Thanksgiving this year because while I have mentioned that Hannah is somewhat of a picky eater, she LOVES Asian food.  That and Mexican food can keep that girl happy for a very long time.  So she is actually making this soup.

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So the crack part of this soup?  Fried chicken skins!  My daughter literally bought a whole package of chicken thighs at Aldi for $3.83 just for the chicken skins.  After she skinned the chicken she looked at me and said “I hope you can do something with this chicken because I am not going to eat it.”   Love her.

Jacob?  His family tradition is ravioli.  So that’s going to be a side dish.  Since it’s just the four of us, I bought a fresh turkey breast and turkey leg.  While it’s a bit rainy our high will be around 55 degrees so I think I can handle that.  Other than that – the traditional stuff , mashed potatoes (which I am going to have my Mom make because hers are awesome), stuffing, green bean casserole, carrots and pumpkin pie for dessert.

So from me to you, thank you for being there for me this past year.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and you have a four day weekend like I do.  I don’t really have much planned other than switching out my desktop computer, cleaning the basement – you should see our basement.  As we were settling in getting the upstairs all decorated our mantra for most everything we didn’t know what to do with was “just put it in the basement!”   I am dog watching my SIL’s dog – he’ll be arriving later today, so having three dogs will be interesting.  I do have baby gates, so if they all don’t behave, they will be blocked from the remodeled living room.  And on Sunday our twin friends D&D are coming over for lunch.

I think it will be just the weekend I need as we ease into the one year anniversary of Tony dying.  Next Wednesday will be one year, and while I will never not miss him, I think it’s time to close that chapter of my life and put myself first with my health and exercise.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.  I had my diabetes appointment yesterday, and while all my numbers were fine except for my blood sugars (eek, my A1C jumped up to 7.4), he thought I might be a perfect candidate for a clinical trial for a new medication that works in conjunction with insulin.  I have six appointments from December through February, and if after all of those results I qualify for the year long international study, I would get all my medication, text strips, etc. free for a year!  And while I have insurance, it’s not free, so that would be huge.  And of course, he always likes to sneak it into every appointment I have “you could really stand to lose about 30 pounds.”  Yep, I know that.

But here is the miracle of miracles.  Last January 10 I weighed in his office and yesterday when I got on the scale – I lost 1/2 a pound.  And while you are thinking “how the hell is that good news?”  Well, it’s because had I not exercised at all, I could have easily gained 40 pounds in a year as I ate through my grief.  So I’ll take that as a win any day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  I’ll be back tomorrow with my recipe for ciabatta bread.  It was so good and didn’t last very long in the house. 

Don’t forget, you still have time to get your nut recipe to me – the contest ends of Sunday.  You can get the details here.

Hugs!