Oh my...Thanksgiving is in less than 2 weeks!

How did this happen? Seems like it was summertime only yesterday. Eeeek! Don't get me wrong - I lurve the holidays, it's the most wonderful time of year after all! I am even beginning my holiday decorating planning...but then ::light bulb:: first comes Thanksgiving & we are having my husband's family over this year. OmgOMGomgggggggg. I have to cook all.that.food. I'm actually a grown up, lol. Not that I have never hosted parties at my house - actually, the house of Dennifer is quite the party spot, but having all my ILs over is a completely different story. I love them, they are cool, but it's still stressful anytime family is over the house & half of them are scared of dogs, which makes my life that much more difficult. I mean really - who could be scared of this cutie?


He's harmless - wouldn't hurt a fly. Well, maybe a fly, but he'd just be trying to play. He is literally the sweetest dog in the whole wide world, or maybe I'm just a wee bit biased?! Anyways, I feel bad for him when they come over b/c some of them tend to freak out over any little move he makes - harmless as it is. I don't blame them - they just aren't used to animals as pets & being in the house & being treated like children...it's just how it was where they are from. One time I even went upstairs with him & refused to come down if they were going to be weird about the dog. I know - I took it it a little over board that day, haha. Here's how I feel about animals when you have guests over - I don't mind gating him when a lot of people are at the house & moving about or eating, but once the crowd starts dwindling down or if you are staying at the house overnight - I'm sorry, but I'm not locking him up the entire time someone is staying at my house! However, we have moved past their fear of dogs & they even like him a little now, so my current biggest concern is: the food & finishing our Master Bath project!!!

Okay, so I'm not sure how much assistance our guests (possibly including a few of my family members) will be chipping in to help with the meal, but here are a few things on my list:

Turkey (w/cranberry sauce) of course - but the big decision here is fried or roasted?! I hear fried is amazing & I have never had it, but you have to fry it outside & it's cold & I am not experienced frying something that large & would rather not burn down my house this year, sooo yeah. If we did fried, it would be purchased from somewhere & heated in my oven. I need to figure out how much that would cost & then I guess we will decide.



Next, side dishes - I am thinking of the following (warning - yummy food pics below):

a nice green bean casserole

homemade mac & cheese (yum!)

homemade stuffing

mashed potatoes + gravy

candied yams

potato salad

hot dinner rolls

And...for dessert, my Hubby's aunt is making her delish famous banana pudding

& if I'm up for it, I may throw in a pumpkin pie.

Just thinking about all that food makes me sleepy! Now I need to go beg my MIL, mom & possibly step mom to help me cook, lol. Am I missing any Thanksgiving staple food here? Do you have any good recipes for any of these dishes? I am most scared of the stuffing & turkey. :o/

Oh & the MBath project is going well. Last night I finished painting the cabinets, woot! Those were a PITA especially since Dizzle's hair is flying all around the house, so it kept getting onto the drying cabinets. We also ran into a bit of a problem trying to find the molding/casing for the mirror framing project, but now that I realize just how close Thanksgiving is, we just need to make a decision & go with it. I need this house in order when everyone gets here in 2 weeks (plus I'm hosting a candle party next weekend).

Here are the things we still need to do to finish up the bathroom:

• Buy the mirror framing materials, prime/paint it & put it up
• Sand, prime (where needed) & paint the trim around the bathroom
• Sand, prime & paint the vanity frame
• Install the new faucets
• Caulk tile areas in shower that need touch ups
  
• Steam & put up the new shower curtain
• Clean out under cabinets, put down contact paper & organize stuff into baskets
  
• Clean entire bathroom

Looking at that list makes me feel like we have more to do than we even realized...and so little time to do it. Eeek! Time to get working this weekend. After today, lol. :oP