Thankful

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays. It requires nothing of anyone other than having a good meal with loved ones. With holidays like Christmas the meaning sometimes gets lost in all the presents and revelry but Thanksgiving remains pure and unscathed by captialism.

My week-end began well. I had Joe, Lisa, Greg and Auntie Carol over for dinner. I made tortelini in a goat cheese and pesto sauce and Southwestern Corn salad and spiced pear layered dessert. Greg brought a bottle of white zinfandel and we had a great night catching up.

Saturday I woke up early so that I could pick up a bottle of wine for dinner at Frances' parents house that night. She was kind to invite me to join her and Adam's family celebration. I was surprised to find out that the LCBO actually opens at 9am on Saturdays. Who would have thought? I made it there and got my shopping done quickly. In addition to the wine I picked up a bottle of Champagne to have mimosas with brunch at Auntie Carol's.

I walked over to the bus stop and waited for the bus to take me home. I waited and waited and waited. I pulled my book out and sat on the bench and read while I waited. The bus finally comes and it drives right past me!!! I was SO annoyed! By this point there wasn't time to wait for the next bus so I decided I'd just walk home. When I got home I realized it only took me 15 minutes! Next time I won't bother with the bus.

I made it to Auntie Carol's right on time. Pat had beat me there but everyone else came after. Auntie Carol made a leek and cheese torte, ham, a tomato and cucumber salad and her famous scones! For dessert it was an apple cake. After large amounts of food and many mimosas we played me and Kate's new board game Wise and Otherwise. Stuart won as usual. Someone needs to take a pin to that boy's head cause it's starting to get a little inflated! :D

I left Auntie Carol's at 4 cause I had to go home and change before going to Frances' parents place for dinner. I got to Frances' right on time thanks to a really helpful bus driver. I met Frances' parents and her brother and his fiance. Dinner was truly amazing. Frances and her brother had done all the cooking. They had lobster, shrimp and scallops as appetizers before dinner. Dinner consisted of broccoli and cheddar soup, salad with sugared almonds and mandarin oranges, turkey, turnip, roasted potatos, gravy, corn, peas and stuffing. For dessert we had rum pie and fresh strawberries, pineapple, blueberries and raspberries. YUM! I stayed chit chatting with Frances and Adam till 11 and then Adam drove me home. It was an awesome day!

Sunday was going to be more relaxed cause I woke up with a nasty cold. After drugging myself up I decided to go for a walk because the weather was too nice to sit inside even with a cold. The trees in the cemetary were gorgeous colours and I knew that if I waited another day I would miss the chance to photograph them. Fall can disappear so quickly. One day the trees are full of vibrant leaves and the next they are bare.

I spent two hours wandering through the cemetary. I've lived here a year and I still have not seen the entire thing because it's so huge. It's a hub of activity on week-ends too! It's full of joggers, walkers and people paying visits to loved ones.

I saw one thing that really moved me. I passed a headstone which on top had a ring of pebbles. Inside the ring was a little barney figurine holding a flag with the word 'Go' on it. I thought it was so poignant and sad but for someone it was a step in the grieving process to learn to let go. Before I lived here I was leery about cemetaries. But this one never gave me that creepy feeling. Which is good cause it's right across the street from my place. It is really beautiful with all the trees and fountains and bridges.

I took a whole whack of pictures which I'll try and post sometime this week.

As I was heading home Stuart phoned and asked if I would help him with the last work on the condo so I headed over to help him. I spent some of the afternoon there and then came home to prepare my place for all the people coming over for dinner the next night. So I leisurely cleaned the place up and then I put on my jammies and watched Grey's anatomy.

Monday I woke up feeling pretty rotten. The cold had gotten worse but I had 10 people coming for dinner so I had to get moving. I disconnected my computer and moved it out of the living room to make more space for my company. I made a Happy Thanksgiving banner and hung some Thanksgiving/Fall photos for decoration. I peeled the potatos for the casserole and then Auntie Carol came over and helped me with the turkey.

We got that in the oven and then I had a nap for a bit. When I woke up I fried up the perogies and then we watched Grey's Anatomy while we waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. Kate brought pumpkin pie, Stuart made tempura battered, fried yams, Allison brought pumpkin loaf and a bottle of wine and Auntie Carol had brought pecan pie and apple crisp. There was more than enough of food to go around.

Overall the week-end was full of great friends, food and wine! Two thumbs up! How was your Thanksgiving?