It's Thanksgiving already! I'm roasting a turkey and having my brother, Greg, sister-in-law, Linda, and their son, Colin, visiting from Florida, my youngest sister, Jacki and her 2 kids, Blythe and Hunter over for dinner. We will eat around 1:00 and then probably play Skip-Bo, or Yahtzee or Scrabble (life in the fast lane! lol) or some other game so we don't immediately fall asleep. At 7 pm, we go next door to my brother's house and another sister, Carolyn, and her family of 8--husband Matt, Becky, Katie and her husband, Brandon, Joanna and her husband, Dave, and Danny, the youngest, will meet us there. She's having a turkey, too, but by the time she crowds in her brood, there's not much room left. So we will all meet at Greg's in the evening for dessert. At least we will if we haven't eaten so much already that we can barely drag our carcasses around. Ha! I think Carolyn is bringing pumpkin pies, Linda is making brownies and Jacki will be bringing a special cheesecake.

Meanwhile, I'm making a little smaller turkey (13-1/2 lbs compared to 18), since my sister Deb will be flying to Indiana to visit a friend with her daughter and my other sister, Kim, will be in Kentucky having dinner with friends. Jacki will be bringing the vegetables, corn and green beans and she'll make the gravy. I'll be making mashed potatoes as well as the turkey and stuffing.

Of course, I've been off sugar every since my gastric by-pass surgery in September, and I have to have low carb, too. Can't eat much at a time anyway, but I'm still looking forward to cooking. I'll have a bite each of potatoes/turkey/and stuffing and I'm making some sugar-free goodies, too, because one of my sisters, her husband and her daughter are all diabetic. So, besides the turkey and mashed potatoes, I'm making a sugar-free pecan pie, possibly a regular apple pie (if time permits) to take over to my sisters as well as homemade sugar-free oatmeal-almond cookies and sugar-free peanut butter cookies. I've made these before and they are delish and I can eat one or two if I add something protein for a meal. Or just 2 for a small snack. Anyway, I'm also making another regular sugar-laden dessert for the rest of the family--lol! They're called orange and nut squares and I found the recipe on the food network. I made them the other day and brought them to a family meeting and everyone loved them--then my sister took the leftovers to work with her and a couple women there wanted the recipe. So easy to make, too. And, no, it didn't bother me to make them because I have a lot of other good food I eat. I liked putting love into them and enjoyed seeing others "pig them down". The family claims that here I'm losing weight and yet trying to make them fatter. LOL

Well, the major thing is having the family together and I'm very grateful for that and my friends and that I survived the surgery and am doing so well on the diet. I've lost 57 pounds, but I have a lot more to go!

My friend, Melvina, is spending her Thanksgiving with her family at Myrtle Beach in a big house they're renting. I'll miss her but it's wonderful that she is having a whole week with her family.

I've already put my tree up, too. It's not a real tree, but it's a new one and looks very good. I decorated it the other night, but haven't decorated the rest of the house with Christmas things yet, because I wanted to put up Thanksgiving decorations for the holiday. I've got some beautiful fall silk flowers, and I have fall scented (you know, cinnamon and apples, pumpkin pie, harvest and autumn leaves) candles and potpourri everywhere. Of course, the really wonderful aromas on Thanksgiving will be the food when it's cooking, but I love burning these candles in the evening and turning on the lights on my tree. It's in a corner of the dining room, but I can see it from my place on the couch when I'm watching TV or reading. Tonight I baked the batches of peanut butter cookies and oatmeal cookies and made some pita bread "chips".

Tomorrow I'll probably make some spiced nuts and iron the linen tablecloths and napkins I only use once or twice a year--isn't that a shame? But ordinarily I don't entertain that way. It's VERY casual, as a rule. Well, I hope to snap some photos and maybe I'll put them here after the holiday.

I'm so thankful for whatever health our family possesses, especially that of my nieces and nephews and that most of us are together. So many are not that lucky and I'll be praying for all of those who are sick, or away from home and family on that day. I hope that all of you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving, whether you're traveling or staying at home, may God bless you! Remember, He's the one we're thanking.