Monday, November 24, 2008

Remodeling, Thanksgiving

Well, for an update on our remodeling project, we are at the point of only one room to paint and picking carpet. We have someone coming tonight to give us an estimate on carpeting and another one coming tomorrow night. Then we have to decide. I told Frank on Saturday that it would come down to the cost because I haven't found one carpet that I like more than any other. There are definitely some that I like a LOT less than others.

Here are a couple of pictures of the family room with paint on the walls. It is the same color as our bedroom.





We even got the stairwell and surrounding area painted this weekend. (I will post it when there is carpet on the those stairs.)

Then I actually hung the shower curtain, put the rugs down and used the shower one morning. If it could only be completely finished.

Oh well, enough moaning about that. Time to move on to other things.

THANKSGIVING!!! One of my favorite holidays. I really enjoy that it is usually steeped in tradition. We will be going to Frank's sister Lynnette's home for dinner and the traditional gingerbread house party after. Then all of the kids and grandkids will get together for our family lunch... on Saturday afternoon. We have lunch, sing Happy Birthday to all of the family members who have birthdays this time of year, have cake and ice cream and decorate their gingerbread houses.

I have tried for a couple of years to get out of the gingerbread house habit because it is a lot of WORK. Lynnette has been more than generous and offered to bake them for me. Two years ago we just decorated cookies. (That got way out of control, fast!!) Last year I tried using graham crackers to imitate gingerbread. Those are not strong enough. When Hannah asked me last year, "Grandma, can we do real gingerbread houses next year?" I knew that I was committed. It is really fun to see how creative the kids are. And even though it might not be cool if their friends saw them, I hope that as they get older they will continue to participate in that tradition.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, what is your favorite side dish for the big day. Mine has to be the Raspberry pretzel salad. It is the perfect combination of tart and sweet, with a bit of salt in the crust. I get to bring it to the dinner this year. If you have a fabulous/favorite side dish feel free to leave me a comment on what it is.

Have a safe and tradition filled Thanksgiving.

3 comments:

Jessi said...

Forzen fruit salad with lots of bananas and cherries in it! And it has to sit on it's own little plate the whole time I'm eating my dinner and then it will be "thawed" enough that I can pick out the yucky green grapes and actually eat the rest. But I only need one piece of this truly gross (if you think about all of the ingredients) salad! THIS is Thanksgiving tradition at it's finest for me (along with the creamed peas eaten in Grandma's front room)

Jessi said...

that is supposed to say "Frozen" fruit salad!

Lisa said...

Yum, I like that raspberry pretzel salad, too! And Jessi's frozen fruit salad sounds pretty good. But I think my favorite is my sister, Dionne's, Yam Casserole. It's so creamy, sweet, and buttery that it's like eating pudding! No one else in my family likes it, so I have to wait for T-day every year to eat it. Hope your holiday is wonderful!