Sunday, November 22, 2009

Sunday Salon: The Calm Before the Storm

Good morning friends! Hope you are all having a peaceful Sunday. I've enjoyed what will probably be the last normal week for awhile. I always find that once Thanksgiving hits, everything kicks into high gear...decorating, shopping, parties, Christmas concerts...so much unadulterated fun that a body can barely take it all in!

I had warm and sunny weather to help me break the hundred mile mark in my 100 Mile Fitness Challenge. I hit 15 miles this week, which brought me to 111 miles overall. During any other time of year, I think I could go on to hit 200 miles by the end of the challenge, but with the kids home next week, and all that raucous fun that I was talking about, I think I'll keep my sights on 150. Feeling pretty good about it however!

A little update on the stinky dead raccoon (apologies to my Facebook friends who already heard this). Right after my husband left for a business trip this week (of course), I came home to find that said raccoon had been extricated from its hiding space by another animal (cat? dog? vulture?) and was strewn across my driveway. After I'd screamed a bit, I realized the problem could no longer be ignored. Let's just suffice it to say that this was a seriously UGLY mess. I had to man up, poured bleach on the worst part of it to remove the smell and the blowflies, and fling it all over the fence into the vacant lot with my shovel. I proceeded to call my husband and inform him that I deserved a present, then spent the rest of the day nauseated. By the way, he did bring me a book (The Monster of Florence), so I was somewhat mollified.

I've been slowly planning my Thanksgiving feast. It will only be the four of us, so it isn't quite the event that it might be were my parents here or if we had friends coming over, but nevertheless a feast it must be. So far, I know that I'll be making my Maple-Glazed Turkey with Sage Butter, my homemade macaroni and cheese (because my kids don't like potatoes), Dawn's Chunky Cranberry Relish, traditional Polish apple carrot salad, and a three berry pie. It's a good start!

I had a very productive reading week. I finished The House at Riverton on audio, which I enjoyed and reviewed this week. I also listened to a WWII memoir called Let Me Go by Helga Schneider (recommended by Melissa at Shhh...I'm Reading) which rattled me. That review will be coming sometime in December. I then started the 20 disc Dennis LaHane book called The Given Day. It is starting out a little dry for me, but I'm going to roll with it for awhile, give it a chance. The kids and I are STILL listening to the Goblet of Fire, with only about four discs left. Hopefully we'll knock this one out this coming week. I continued to get a good start on my Shelf Discovery Challenge books that I will review in December, and read Then Again, Maybe I Won't and Forever by Judy Blume. Then I received another copy of Run At Destruction by Lynda Drews in the mail (this was the ARC I lost!) and I'm diving in to try to get it finished and reviewed by next Friday.

Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving, and for those of you that are participating in the Thankfully Reading Weekend, have fun!



29 comments:

Harvee said...

Busy times! Hope you visit my Sunday Salon

Beth F said...

I'm about 6 miles behind you, so you are now out of sight! Maybe I'll catch up soon so we can walk next to each other and talk.

Sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving. We are having dinner with friends on Thursday and then on Friday I'm cooking a mini-feast for us.

Kaye said...

Wow, you are getting in some serious walking and reading. I hope you and your family enjoy your feast in the warmth. We left a warm Fl to travel to ME where it was 30 degrees and now we are in MA for the week and it is probably in the high 40's maybe low fifties, not bad for New England this time of year.

The House at Riverton was a very good read. I'm glad to hear you liked it. There were some mixed reviews at B&N.

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear about your racoon - that sounds disgusting and I'm bery pleased that I didn't have to deal with it.

Good luck with all the thanksgiving prepartions - I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Susan said...

Lord have mercy, Sandy! Reading your Sunday Salon posts always leave me exhausted! :) But in a good way. They also make me feel like a lazy sluggard. :/

Thanksgiving must always be a feast even the guest list is only the person who's cooking it! My sister who passed away last year, even though she was disabled, always baked a turkey with all the fixings for herself. She was usually too exhausted to eat it and would have to wait until the next day, but she enjoyed smelling the lovely aromas.

Have a wonderful celebration!

Jen - Devourer of Books said...

Oh, your raccoon story makes me *so* glad that my husband doesn't travel for work. Happy Thanksgiving week!

JoAnn said...

What a week!! Let the holiday marathon begin....

Anonymous said...

Your feast sounds delicious! There's nothing like a homemade macaroni and cheese, or three berry pie. I remember when we were only four, or three, and it isn't the same as a big gathering but it is rather cozy. God's blessings on you all as you celebrate together.

bermudaonion said...

Oh my gosh, I want some of that maple-glazed turkey with sage butter. It will only be the 3 of us and maybe our nephew, so I'll probably keep things pretty simple.

caite said...

you remind me that I should be at the store, buying Thanksgiving supplies. We are having dinner at my brothers, but I promised to make pumpkin and pecan pies, corn pudding and my cranberry 'conserve' which is very much like Dawn's except with the juice and zest of a lemon and a cup of nuts added and no pear. although I might add the pear too this year

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I love 3 berry pie. Last night I made 4 berry cobbler (same thing but easier than pie)! :--)

Heidenkind said...

I haven't had a productive reading week at all. Sadness.

I just started listening to the third HP a few days ago. I really the HP audiobooks!

The Bumbles said...

I love the segway from raccoon guts to the Monster of Florence straight into Thanksgiving feast! Yummy.

Ana S. said...

Re: raccoon - go Sandy! You're much braver than I am. You most definitely did deserve a present!

And wow, I am SO not ready for the Holdays craziness to start!

ANovelMenagerie said...

The racoon story... eew! Icky! Glad you "man'd up" and took care of it. Where I live, you can call animal control and they take care of it. Thank God!

I bet your Turkey Lurkey day will be tons o' fun and the food will be great.

Big hugs and thanks for keeping in touch with me while I'm MIA.

Hugs n' such!

Sheri

Cathy said...

Best wishes for your Thanksgiving. We've already got snow. In fact, our satellite internet connection was out for a couple hours today due to snow. It makes for coziness inside. Our kids plan to spend all day with us on Thanksgiving. Maybe we'll play Monopoly.

Hazra said...

The raccoon thing is disgusting! So sorry you had to deal with all that!

Happy Thanksgiving week to you too! Your feast is delicious!

Ti said...

Mmmmm. Sage butter? You don't mind if I stop by do you? I just LOVE cooking for Thanksgiving! We're having all the traditional stuff plus some maple glazed carrots which I tried last week and decided that I had to have them again. It's going to be an eating frenzy for sure.

Kathleen said...

Oh my gosh that raccoon really ended up being a nightmare for you. I don't know what I would have done...same thing as you I guess but I would have hated to clean that up. Why is it that our guys always seem to be out of town when these things happen! Sounds like you have a yummy feast planned for Thanksgiving...hope you have a great one.

Melody said...

You definitely deserve a present after that racoon incident!! Gosh, I'd freaked out if I were you! You're definitely much braver than I am! :D

Glad to hear you had a productive reading week! Can't wait to read all your reviews soon!

Alyce said...

I haven't read The Monster of Florence, but that seems somehow to be an appropriate post-dead-raccoon gift. :)

I'm sorry that you had to go through so much yuckiness to get rid of it though.

Gavin said...

Yikes, that raccoon problem sure sounds nasty. You certainly deserved a present.

Congratulations on your Fitness Challenge and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Alice said...

That raccoon follow-up tale got me laughing so badly I needed to go pee. OMG. Sandy, you're a brave, brave girl! *two thumbs up*

Susan said...

LOL!! I had to comment again after reading The Bumbles' comment...I never even missed a beat when you went from dead, stinky raccoon guts to Thanksgiving menu! That gives you an idea of what I'm used to around here! LOL

Melissa said...

Great job dealing with the stinky racoon! And I agree, you definitely deserve a present for taking care of that mess.

I also can't wait to see your review of Let Me Go!

ds said...

Run at Destruction sounds like the perfect ARC for you!! Triple ick on the raccoon sequel. Have been very tempted by Monster of Florence myself, but will wait for your thoughts if you plan to share them.
Meanwhile, I wish you & your family a very happy Thanksgiving. Your feast sounds wonderful (oooh, sage butter!).

Lisa said...

Thanksgiving for four is not that much less work than Thanksgiving for 14. You don't have to make quite as much of each dish but but you still have to make all of the different dishes. I'm lucky--my mom still insists on doing everything at her house!

Jenners said...

Yikse ... the raccoon fiasco sounds horrific! I seriously would have freaked out. Good job for you!

Your feast sounds delicious. Homemade mac & cheese? YUM!! I went to my son's kindergarten class this week and made cranberry orange relish with them and it was yummy (could have been the 6 cups of sugar they added).

And I know what you mean about things getting a little nuts after Thanksgiving ... it is just a long slide into the craziness that is the holidays!

Jenners said...

Oh ... and you are ROCKING that walking challenge!