I hope the Tampa folks are planning to bring that cold weather gear they never get to use in Florida. Temperatures are expected to go below freezing while they're here, so they will need the heavy stuff. Thunderstorms are forecast for tomorrow, so I will probably spend my birthday in the kitchen. I haven't decided, yet, what to cook, but I will cook more than I did when they were here in July. I felt really ashamed after they left that I hadn't fed them better than I did.


I had a mild reaction to the flu shot yesterday. My arm got really achy and I got so sleepy that at 5:30 pm I was taking a nap. I feel ok today, and I'm glad we got them. I bought myself an extra week to reach the 15 lb weight loss goal by rescheduling the Dec. 1 doctor's appointment to next week. I've been way too careless in the past week about my eating and added back the 3 lbs I'd already lost this month. I'll be on the strait and narrow until I get rid of it.


Our Thanksgiving meal was simply irresistable, some of the best food I've had in a long time. Karen is a great cook, and her meals are always culinary delights. Both my daughters-in-law are accomplished cooks, and I've never worried that my sons were not well fed. Benji enjoys cooking, too, and Ricky took it up after becoming an Emeril fan.


Thinking of Thanksgiving meals and men in the kitchen always reminds me of Uncle Bings and his Oyster Dressing. I need to get his recipe, I think Skip said that his ex-wife Courtney has it. In the pictures he gave me is this cute picture of his parents, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bings.


Then I have this picture that Dad made after the 1959 Thanksgiving meal. From left to right are 9 year old Paul sitting in our cousin Becky's lap, 11 year old Betsy with cousin Bill behind her, and (almost) 13 year old Cathy with 19 year old Skip behind me. The mural on the wall behind us was painted by a friend of Aunt Margaret's, if I'm remembering correctly.