Whew!

I managed to survive Thanksgiving. Actually, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. My mom and dad arrived on Tuesday afternoon and settled themselves into my 12 year old son's room. I had spent most of Sunday and Monday scrubbing the house, and it was ready for guests. My son's room is perfect for overnight guests. It is huge and it has it's own full bath. My mom and dad brought a bunch of stuff with them, but it was mostly consumables, like turnips and wine. They were only here for an hour or so before I was able to escape for a hair appointment. My hubby took the whole week off and I had to take advantage of the chance to get my hair done without taking my 9 month old. By the time I got home it was too late to cook so we did the Chinese thing. After dinner my mom, my 6 year old, and I made the cranberry bread and the sweet potatoes. If anyone wants a great sweet potato recipe, mine came out great! We even managed to do it all without fighting, the wine was flowing already! Day one down, no casualties.

On Wednesday we had some errands to run. My mom and I trapsed all over town picking up last minute items. We were not alone. I think everyone within a 50 mile radius was out on Wednesday. We managed to go to the bank, Walmart, the liquor store (for more wine), Linens 'n Things, and to the butcher to get the 22+ pound turkey. BTW, I highly recommend a fresh turkey. They are much better than the frozen kind and you don't need a whole shelf in the fridge to defrost it for three days. I just throw it in the cooler with a bunch of ice and it is fine until the next day. Once we were done with our errands we came home to start baking the pies. Again, my 6 year old pulled out his apron and helped out. He looked so cute. We made 2 pumpkin pies, 1 apple, 1 apple/cranberry, and 1 coconut custard. Way too many pies. Then, my mom and dad agreed to sit for the boys and my hubby and I went out for dinner and a movie! It was so nice to have some alone time in the midst of so much family time. We saw the new Bond movie and it was great! We got home in time to say goodnight to my parents and watch just a bit of TV. It sounds like another good day. But, around 1 am the baby woke up, screaming. He proceeded to scream and cry most of the night. The only way he would settle down is if I held him. I got almost no sleep, but no biggie, I didn't have anything going on the next day.

Finally, at around 6 am I gave my hubby the baby so I could try to get a little sleep. Around 7:45 I hear a knock at the door. I looked at my husband and mumbled, "There is no way your parents could be here this early." Then I heard the knock again and stumbled down the stairs cursing the whole way. I open the door and what do I see, my sister! She flew in from Colorado and rented a car. It was a complete surprise. I kept saying oh my god until my mom came to see what the problem was. She was convinced there was some sort of tragedy. Once everyone got done squealing with delight over sis's surprise, we were up. I started to get to work on all the food while my mom made coffee and breakfast. The in-laws showed up at the much more reasonable noon hour. From that moment on, it was so crazy. Gifts, hugs, food, drinks (and more drinks) until late that night. On the bright side, not one real fight.

Everyone was finally gone by Sunday afternoon and life began to return to normal. The kids and I started to put up all the holiday decorations. On Monday I cleaned the house. And now I can breathe again. Well, until Christmas anyway!