Feeding My Soul Week - Our Thanksgiving Feast!

Since we were at the Cowboys game on Thursday, we pushed our Thanksgiving feast to Saturday!  Matt was in charge of the turkey, the headliner for the feast, while T and I made side dishes.  Deviled eggs were made early for grazing while the real cooking magic started.  We made cranberry sauce from scratch from a recipe we acquired from a retired Texas schoolteacher - can't go wrong there! Next, we made our traditional sweet potato casserole, which is truthfully more of a dessert.  We followed that with a green bean casserole, which while not fancy, is a must have.  This summer, Matt's mom finally handed down to T, her sister's long-awaited recipe for Bacon-Corn.  This is an uber-decadent recipe for corn cooked with truly law-breaking amounts of butter, sugar and bacon.  We finished it all off with macaroni and cheese, stuffing and pumpkin pies.

The Headliner!

Almost done...

We each sat with our well-earned  plates by the fire and gave thanks for the things that matter - family and health, our strong pack.  The pups shared in the feast, each with a third of the enormous turkey neck and some gizzards.  With their sensitive snooters I can only imagine how alluring the kitchen must have seemed.  It was only fair that they share in the feast!

Arwen's Pack Thanksgiving feast - canine edition  

This was the first of my consecutive vacation days, spent with the people and dogs that matter the most.  And although we cleaned as we cooked, I was in no rush to clean a single dish.  But now several days later, and many leftover turkey sandwiches later, I never want to eat turkey again.  Maybe next year we can continue the Maine tradition of Thanksgiving lobster, ordered from our favorite wicked good lobster purveyor, the Lobster Pound in Portland...

Tom the...Lobster?

Please don't forget, we're in the last week of collecting items for the Military Dogs and their handlers in Kabul for the holiday care packages.  If you'd like to send some cheer along, please see my post here.

Feeding My Soul Week Starts With Football

I've been on vacation, a long-overdue break.  It's been over a year since my last one, and I was in desperate need of some soul galvanization.  When the days start to rush together and you start forgetting what happened on what day, you start to feel disconnected, empty even.  I'll admit, I was limping towards this time off from work.  Although I work at something I love, and take pride in, the hours are very long and there aren't a ton of external rewards.  Caring for a patient, nursing them back to health so they can eventually go home to their loving families is my primary reward.  Rarely do I hear "great job", or have financial rewards given to me.  Then there's the stress of when things go wrong and a patient doesn't get well.  These things can be trying.

Poor Fenway's first days of quarantine at the clinic

So finding that internal, self-guided reward has been a goal of mine as of late.  It's that old "work hard for the peace of mind that you've done your job well".  This incentive requires self-motivation and confidence, both of which tend to be in short supply when you work 12 hour shifts and barely see your family.  Needless to say, I'm glad for my break.

Tweaked!!

So what have I done to feed my soul this week?  There's been plenty going on, so I'll start with Thanksgiving itself...

Matt was given tickets to the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving which was an experience for sure.  As a Redskins fan, having been born and raised in DC, I was feeling a bit Benedict Arnold being at Cowboys Stadium.  But I got over that pretty fast, seeing what an enormous architectural megastructure it was.  A fun time was had by all, and the game was close and exciting!

Cowboys Stadium - the old stadium can fit inside this one 8 times!!

I've never seen so many men holding camera phones in my life!

These guys were ready to party the old school way

Uh oh.  Flag on the play

Halftime show with Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull

The real reason for Thanksgiving

Please remember it's not too late to send some holiday cheer to Military Working Dogs and their Handlers.  If you're interested in sending a care package, please see my post here.  

Wishes

I am a very lucky woman.  For many reasons, really.  I have a wonderful, albeit quirky family.  We are a bit like The Osbournes, but less rich.  We are all healthy - even the furry girls.  I have a job that I truly enjoy - what could be better than helping new fuzzy kids everyday?  I am healthy.  I have good friends and people that love me.  I laugh more than I cry.  I am happy.  And, I have 5 consecutive days off all to myself!

What will I be doing, you ask?  Well, cooking is high on the list, as Thanksgiving is a couple of days away.  We're doing the big turkey festivus as T hasn't had a traditional Thanksgiving with us in many years.  It's predicted to be chilly here, in the 40's, so we'll probably have a fire going, too.  I'd like to clean.  Yes, this does actually bring me joy. Nothing like a clean house to feel organized and uncluttered.  Well, maybe not uncluttered, but clean.  I'd like to see the new Harry Potter movie, and do a little shopping.  Not too much shopping, though (see aforementioned "Osbournes but less rich").  I'm considering making home-brewed beer.  The new TV show "Brew Masters" featuring Dogfish Head Brewery has inspired me to brew some yummy beer.  I brewed some long ago, but it's been many moons since then.  I'd like to work on my short stories and maybe settle on one to see through for a completed novel. I want to play ball with Nyxie until she's exhausted, rather than when I have to rush off.  I want to rub Arwen's belly until she falls asleep.  I'd like to go to the gym and not have to stare at the clock so I can hurry to the next thing.  There never seems to be an end to the "things".

Most importantly, though - I want to spend time with my family.  I want to have a few days of no "things".  No appointments, no work, no clock-ins, no stress.  I want to be able to have a conversation with Matt and T and not have my mind wander to what needs to be completed, and by when.  These are my Thanksgiving wishes.  Do we wish on Thanksgiving?  Well, since it's my time to do what I please, I say we do.  I wish for family, plenty, and laughter.  And I wish this for you, too.  Much love to all my blogging buddies - I am thankful that you all choose to share your lives with me and my pack.  You are loved and thought of more than you know!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!