Turkey Day in Frederick - 2007

Thanksgiving this year began the day before with Grandma Busardo arriving to help with the preparations. This was my second year hosting the family affair & I tried to make my meal entirely from organic or locally grown ingredients. The Turkey (19.5 lbs this time) was from a free range, all organic farm in Pennsylvania. I'd say the menu was 95% organic, down to the graham cracker crumbs for the cheesecake.

The side dishes - mushroom & sausage stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, creamed corn, apple pie & new york style cheesecake were prepared on Wednesday. Our oven was in use all day! Grandma Busardo helped watch the kids, while I worked on the food. I couldn't have done it without her this year. When John & Kathryn are quiet something is being broken. By the end of the day we were pooped! Cleaning & cooking makes for a labor intensive day.

I awoke early Thursday morning to prepare Tom. I had him brining in a brown sugar, citrus, and salt bath for over 24hrs. He was thawed and ready for the roaster. Six hrs later we had one delicious bird. While the day past, the weather went from a humid 90 degrees (for which we had to turn the a/c one because of the oven) to afternoon thunderstorms and drop to 50 degrees w/ strong winds. The twins watched the Macy's parade while we finished tiding up the house.

The twins were treated to a 'kiddy table' which was decorated for the season. They each had a turkey place mat, a turkey plate & a turkey cup (thank you Pottery Barn kids!). Too bad they slept through the entire main course & only joined the family for dessert. I think we're going to keep the table in the kitchen for the next few weeks while the house is decorated for Christmas.

The rest of the Busardo clan (Grandpa & Aunt Kitty) joined us mid-afternoon for a delicious, relaxing family meal. We watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the NY Jets, making them 10-1 in franchise history. I was asleep by 6:30pm. What a day. Please enjoy these pictures celebrating our Thanksgiving. We missed Great Grandma Ferrandina this year. She's still recuperating from broken hips and wasn't able to make the trip. We look forwarding to celebrating Christmas with her.

I'll be pulling out the tree & decorations tomorrow. I hope to have the house decorated, with the help of my little elves, by the end of this weekend.

Another Year Older

Happy Birthday to me!!!! November 15th & another exciting year has passed. Few in my family forget my birthday because it's the day after my mom's. I call to wish her a happy day (which usually involves really bad singing on my part) & she does the same for me 24 hrs later.

Since Thursday I telecommute, the day was spent at home with Kevin and the twins. I had hoped to make some tuxedo brownies (i.e. - brownies with cream cheese frosting), but the day just flew by. I'll wait until the weekend when I'm not running financial reports.

Living Room Antics

2007 marks Kevin's 5 yr anniversary with McDonald's. One of the perks of working for this Fortune 500 company (aside from their generous 401(k) plan) is that you get a 'bonus' vacation week every 5yr milestone. That's in addition to the one week increase in vacation you automatically receive every five years. 5 years = 4 weeks vacation!!

Three of those weeks were spent traveling - a week in Conway, Arkansas to visit Great Grandma Glasscock & Uncle Ken; a week in Myrtle Beach for the annual Busardo family beach holiday, and a week in Philadelphia for the [once in a lifetime] opportunity to see the King Tut exhibit w/ Aunt Kitty & Grandma Busardo.

That leaves us one more week, which we've spent at home - remodeling the master bedroom. We've been wanting to finish this project for over year, but the twins' demands overtake any down time we may have. The plan - caulk & then high gloss the crown moulding, paint the walls (we picked a beautiful bleached denim), replace the lights, mount the curtain rod, and have the silk dupioni curtains hung. All within our seven day vacation period. With the help of Uncle Eddie & our friend Rosario, I think we may just get it all completed.

Since the master bedroom is off limits & the twins' room is now the staging area, we have all been misplaced from our normal sleeping quarters. The twins & mommy are on the first floor, while daddy is on the basement couch. John & Kathryn love this new arrangement because they have more freedom on the main level (no gates) and the master bed, currently in the living room, offers them many opportunities for jumping and wrestling. Please enjoy some pictures from Thursday night's 1 hr WWF session. Considering John has a sizable height & weight advantage (4 inches & 12 pounds, respectively), Kathryn was able to hold her own. She took down her brother a few times! Fun times all around.

Even though we aren't away on some exotic island (French Polynesia, preferably), we are on vacation and that means the normal limits we set for the twins have been lifted. They've indulged in less than healthy snacks, stayed up later than usual, and have watched way too much TV. Little do they know, but the honeymoon period will be ending as the clock strikes 12 tonight.

I promise to have some before & after pictures of Kevin's work on the master bedroom. I will end with a quick shout out to Uncle Eddie & Grandpa Busardo - Happy Birthday!

One Sweet Kiss

Most of the time, John & Kathryn don't get along. Call it what you will - sibling rivalry, twin boy/girl angst, 2 1/2 yr old 'don't touch me' syndrome. However, last night there was a very brief moment of love between the two. As we were trying to get the kids to settle down from a long day of activities, I innocently asked Kathryn & John to give each other a night-night kiss. Instead of the immediate 'no', Kathryn leaned over me & gave John the sweetest smooch. I didn't have to cajole or tempt with a reward. Just a pucker & a kiss. My bottom lip quivered, it was a moment I'll always treasure.

Two minutes later - John kicked Kathryn & she retaliated with a bite to the arm. Where did my moment of 'love' go? Poof! Gone!