keeping it together

I haven't done this much around here in weeks if not months. In the short time Bill has been gone, I've started cooking for Thanksgiving, painting the hallway and recovering the kitchen chairs. This is a short list, however the work involved with each project is huge...especially with 3 kids. I realize plenty of moms have 3 or more kids and do big projects all the time, so this is not special. But my point was it's a lot of effort and my body is tired. I've finished the chairs and they look great! The hallway is half done and I'll hopefully get that finished by tonight. Thanksgiving dinner is still a work in progress: 8lbs of sweet potatoes boiled and peeled, 6lbs of shrimp boiled and chilled but still unpeeled, 10lbs of homemade mashed potatoes all cooked and in the freezer...just need to be warmed up; cheesecake baked and in the fridge, 19.6lb turkey in the fridge and will hopefully be thawed by Thurs morning, still need to make the stuffing...I'm making that from scratch this year with white bread, carrots, celery, and onion. 2 pies worth of apple pie filling ready and in the freezer...just have to thaw and fill the crust, 2 pumpkin pies will be baked today along with that stuffing. Cami helped me make 2lbs of cranberry relish the other day. I'm doing cheese, pepperoni, and crackers, shrimp and cocktail sauce, Brie and pepper jelly, maybe deviled eggs, and maybe stuffed artichokes for appetizers. I seem to be having a hard time tracking down artichokes! Gonna try Stop and Shop today when I go for my green beans. Instead of green bean casserole, I'm doing fresh with olive oil and garlic/diced tomatoes. All this work will be worth it when I see my smiling family squished into my tiny home patting their full tummies. On top of all this, I start training for my half marathon in Feb. I'm hoping all the extra exercise will help with the stress of this years holiday. Since we were fucked in the ass repeatedly with extremely expensive events this year...cash is tight. I'm going to do my best but I'm certain my head will explode. I've never been hypervigilant about gifts but this year I will be setting a firm limit on my spending. Usually I buy what I want and get it all shipped out and boom. done. So for now, I will be drinking a lot of wine, vodka, and Irish Coffee...I'll be drunk from now through Xmas morning so come on by and join me!