Weekend Update: Thanksgiving Edition, Part 1

Last time you saw me, I was enjoying some raspberry pancakes the last full weekend in November, and here we are in December!  CHRISTMAS SEASON.  Oh, tidings of joy to you.  :)

What have been up to since then?  Well, on Tuesday, I made this awesome apple pie:

(Yes, it was as delicious as it looks.  And that is a leaf, not a tree cut-out.)

Because I was exhausted Tuesday night, I got up super early on Wednesday to make baked beans, only to find my onion was spoiled.  So I took Zach to work, grabbed another onion, and spent a few hours at home.  Then I went in for three hours before the college closed early!  Score!

We headed home, loaded up the car with our stuff and "Pancake," and headed down to central Arkansas.

"Pancake" was such a good little pilgrim!  She sat in my lap the whole way, purring and purring.

Thursday meant Thanksgiving, and here are a few many photos from the day:

This is what happens when the photog and back-up photog are in the picture...and your back-up back-up just had shoulder surgery--iPhone photo!

That cranberry JELL-O sauce in the middle is one of my favorites of my mother-in-law's!

our nephew Sayer some of the peeps

husby ready for a nap

Sayer decorated the tree, but it took five people to hang the star!

my mother-in-law pretending to be the Statue of Liberty :)

the finished product later that evening

Sayer and Momo who is NOT happy about her too short haircut

silly Sayer

some of the animals from the weekend (Phoebe, Sasha, and "Pancake")

Pancake went to her new home Thanksgiving night, but unfortunately, she escaped out the door the next day!  I am clinging to these verses (Matthew 6:25-34).  Pray that she found a better home and is not in the cold--hungry, afraid, and missing us.  We just cried when we heard.

I did a little shopping on Black Friday by myself.  I didn't get out until 11, but I still got everything I wanted and more!  I hit up JCP, Children's Place, Old Navy, and Michael's (and Walmart--but not for BF shopping).  The crowds weren't too bad except at Old Navy, where I waited 30+ minutes to check out, BUT I got a coupon for having a pence in my pocket.  :)  (They were doing a scavenger hunt-type thing.)

Friday evening, we headed to NLR, but I will have to post about our adventures there tomorrow.

What did you do this Thanksgiving?

Sensory Overload: The Surgical Mask

Another week has already come and gone.  Classes start in A WEEK.  How did that happen?  My syllabus is practically done, but I need to start fleshing out some lesson plans.  Next week, faculty are back on contract, so it will be busy, busy, busy for me again.  OH my.

I faded this photo because it gave it an appropriate feeling.  Plus, it makes me not look quite as gnarly as I do.

1)  WHAT I'M FEELING:  sick.  Over last weekend, as you may recall, I started feeling icky.  I thought it was my allergies since I had taken Dinah to the vet on Friday and then Hobie on Monday, but I felt achy and my lymph nodes were swollen.  Finally, on Wednesday, I decided to go to the doctor to see what was going on.  I had them test for strep because it had been going around our office, but the in-house test was negative.  The doctor thought I had thrush since I did have white patches on my tongue and throat, so he prescribed a mouthwash.  If you have kids, you have probably heard of thrush--usually, only babies and older folks get this yeast infection.  But I have a compromised immune system, which means I can be prone to it, too...so it made sense.  I also had a dermatology appointment that afternoon, so I got started on lots of things to clear up my skin.  Crazy things like pills that reduce my sweating and a $50 tube of facial cream.  Fun times.  Then today, the doctor's office called again and told me that the throat culture they sent off is positive for strep.  Joy, joy.  As soon as I found out, I pulled out a surgical mask from my purse, put it on, and then went home to finish up the work day.  And got mad because we paid $10 for the thrush mouthwash, and now I don't need it.  *lol*

I'm also bummed because I'm having to miss Zach's Momo's 93rd birthday this weekend.  I already volunteered to stay home with the cats (who are continuing to misbehave and have tummy issues), so Zach could go.  And now that I have strep, I couldn't have gone anyway.  But.  It STINKS.

2)  WHAT I'M TASTING:  Cheez-Its, lots of Earl Grey, cough drops.  I've been using cough drops and drinking lots of tea to ease my scratchy my throat.  It hasn't been too sore--probably because I got my tonsils taken out 11 years ago; I actually haven't had strep since then.  My appetite has been off the past few days, and the antibiotic that the dermatologist put me on has been making me nauseated, so I have enjoyed potato chips and Cheez-Its the past few mornings.  (I always crave salt when I'm nauseated.  Also--I get so confused over which is correct--nauseous and nauseated and nauseating!)  It's been so long that I'm tearing those Cheez-Its up!

3)  WHAT I'M HEARING:  lots and lots of rain.  This is so unusual for August!  I've also been turning on Dr. Who a bit and finishing up The Secret Life of the American Teenager because I love trashy, campy TV when I'm playing on the Internet.  *lol*  And I started watching this documentary on texting and driving.  It is breaking my heart...

4)  WHAT I'M SMELLING:  not much of anything except for urine.  We're still working on the cats.  YUCK.

5)  WHAT I'M SEEING:  Well, obviously, the shows I'm vegging out to.  But we've been watching our cats like hawks this week.  Oh, and I was paying close attention to my inbox today after I sent out emails to prospective students for our mentor program.  I've already gotten 14 students to commit, 12 from today alone!

And now I'm going to bed.  How do you recover from an illness?