Another Thanksgiving Over and Done

It's Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend and another Thanksgiving is over and done. It was a really fun Thanksgiving and overall, a great weekend with a nice blend of fun, productivity and relaxation. After the craziness of hosting Thanksgiving, there were lots of naps. LOTS of naps. Clean a little, nap, do a little schoolwork, nap, clean up more, nap...repeat.
It was the first Thanksgiving that Jack and I were ready for our guests at least an hour before they arrived!!! It was sort of a miracle. It helped that I hosted a little playdate with Sally, Ellie, Teri, Caylen, Henry, Britt and Brooks on Monday after school. That gave me the impetus to clean over the weekend which lightened my cleaning load for Wednesday.

Henry, Ellie and Brooks

Sally, Ellie and I participated in the Hall Family WBTL (Wednesday Before Thanksgiving Lunch). Jenny hosted it at Houlihan's. Nice chance to relax amid the preparations.

the crew

Thanksgiving was fun. Hectic, but fun. Lighthearted and lots of laughs.
Sally, Matt, Ellie and Otto arrived early so that Ellie could nap and Matt could take Otto out for a long walk to burn off some energy. Jack, Sally and I talked about our profound Thanksgiving memories. Hard to pick just one...top picks: Tommy and  magnums of Taittinger, even when he was so impaired with his brain tumor; Mike and Marmar's last Thanksgiving(s) in 2011- who knew that both would leave this earth less than a month later? We got all of that heaviness out of our system before the festivities began.

We were very excited to have Matt's folks join us this year. Bob and Mary were a great addition and we hope they want to make it a new tradition.

Ellie is happy Grandma Mary and Papa are here

All in all, it was the most fun Thanksgiving we have had in a long time. Jenny texted me at 9:30 to see what time all the kids left. Here was my response:

still going strong at 9:30!

However, this Thanksgiving  we did discover a rather disturbing fact (disturbing to Jack, at least!); relish trays are a thing of the past! Jack takes great pride in buying items for his relish tray and alas, no one ate much of anything from them. Pumpkin pie isn't much of a seller anymore, either.
We will adjust!

election night

This is a big night.
It's almost 11pm and we are still following the returns for the presidential election.
By all accounts, Hillary Clinton should have had this won early in the evening. Everyone is beyond shocked that it wasn't a slam-dunk. There have been so many sound bytes and spins this whole election cycle. Who do you believe?
But what I would love to blog about right now is the fact that my husband is an election junkie. World Series? Super Bowl? Tonys? Oscars? Those hold no candle to how much an election night means to Jack.
Jack loves a good political race, win or lose. Jack knows more about our government and elections than most elected officials.
I think it started when Jack got tickets for his family to attend the Republican Convention in 1972.
Even if it was for the Democratic convention, I wouldn't love him less. Insert smiley face here.
I love Jack's passion for our country and his knowledge of our government.
Oh. My. Goodness.
What a night. No matter what happens tonight, history has been made. First female president or an outsider president.
God bless America!