The day after: sleepin' late and eatin' left-overs

Whoooeee! I don't have a scale in my house (why put yourself through it, right?), but I'm guessing a Thanksgiving weight-gain of say 5-8 lbs. Surprisingly, clothes still fit, but I'm moving around like Gilbert Grape's mother. Maybe it's just the turkey and carb overload. So the holiday rates a complete success in my book. Ahhhhhh.

Our gang looked not unlike the Looney Tunes characters in the picture (though I ain't sayin' who's who, if ya' get my drift). The head count was 13, since one of my nephews opted out (sadly). It was a good mix of family and friends, laughs and good conversation all round.

Food? Food, you ask? In addition to my fabulously moist 22-lb bird, supremely outstanding cornbread dressing, Spinach Mornay, and biscuits (the southern American kind) - sister Cindy brought her famous cheese potatoes, a green bean casserole topped with cream cheese (yum!), cranberry relish, and a chocolate pie; Aunt Nell supplied the deviled eggs and a mixed fruit pie (um-hmmm); Garth and his lady Claire brought sweet potato casserole and a most excellent chipotle sweet potato dish (to die for); baby Kate has become quite the mac-and-cheese queen (well done, kiddo!); and Carey, Alexander, and Joanna brought the pumpkin pies. I need to crawl back into bed for a tryptophan nap just thinkin' about it.

After lunch, some of the guys watched football - then dragged themselves outta the den to actually go outside and toss a football around. (I know - wow!) We also have a little tradition of writing what you're thankful for on a notecard and putting it into an overly-festive basket (great job, Joanna!) - then we gather to read the cards and try to guess who wrote what (we don't read our own cards). I use different colored cards every year and keep the old ones, so we find it fun and interesting to read past thanks. We noticed this year that the cards are getting more elaborate and thoughtful - Nell wrote a poem, for example. We figure within a couple of years, the exercise will turn into a full-blown Broadway musical.

Fat and frousy by four in the afternoon, everyone wandered back to their own abodes for naps and movies thankful for the day and the company.

Wanting no part of the after-Thanksgiving Day sales, I slept late, laid a nice fire in the fireplace, read and drank tea all morning. Now I'm off for a manicure and pedicure - much deserved and anticipated.

That's all, folks! (Till tomorrow or whenever)