Our first Thanksgiving in our new home. Sadly the kitchen is smaller so I really had to be creative to get things done. On 4 feet of counter space it's not an easy task. But the turkey is stuffed and in the oven. Not only is there stuffing in the bird but wrapped in foil alongside the bird and another amount wrapped in foil to be baked beside the roaster. We love my stuffing and there has to be enough for another couple meals. Gravy is another dish that there has to be enough of. But making too much can also dilute the great turkey flavor. And I will NOT, I repeat will NOT make packaged or jarred gravy for any meal, no matter the meat. Yuck!!!! And never even a thought on Thanksgiving where everything has to be made from scratch. Well for as long as I am able to do so anyway. 

Yesterday Mark got all my Christmas totes to the porch but we can not find our Christmas tree. I’ll never find one as pretty as that one around here. :(  Then in a box I found the stuffed Santa mom gave me when she moved into her first apartment. That made me happy but cry. I had to stop looking in the totes so as not to spend all day crying. And mess up my eye make up. hehe I am having a hard time, more so now with the holidays. I didn’t spend many of them with mom the last 5 or 6 years, but I still miss her deeply with all the memories. And then phone calls because I can’t remember how I did something or just chat. We also found some old pictures of mom and dad that we had in a collage. The day was a hard one for me. And many more will come.

After running all over Yuma looking for a nice little 5 foot tree I had to settle for one from Target. It is lighted but I won’t use the lights, in fact I may cut them off completely. I don’t like lighted trees I want my own lights. I don’t like the tree itself either, but it was either that of nothing at all. I’m so sad and upset. Maybe with burying the tree in my ton of ornaments I won’t see the ugly tree. I’m so unhappy.  I have no idea what happened to our little tree. I should be thankful to have a tree at all, but am sad that it's not our pretty tree. Such is life. There are ups and downs at every turn.