I'm Thanktastic

Holidays are a good bookmark of time.  Last Thanksgiving, we were at my parent's house, celebrating the first Thanksgiving in the new addition of their house.  It was the first Thanksgiving without my grandmother.  This year will be the first Thanksgiving without my grandfather (her husband).  This will be Baby Jonah's first Thanksgiving.  The subtractions and additions to our life don't stop.  For that, we can be thankful.

***

Beloved has been voted into the Union.  That sentence sounds a little like he's the state of New Hampshire pre-Civil War, but I've been assured this is a good thing.  But it feels a little mafia-ish to me.

Picture these guys wearing Carhartts and driving pickups and it might be Beloved's Operator crew

Now, every time I've ever seen The Sopranos, it's been all stripper poles and curse words.  Will there be piles of cocaine and nighttime body drops in my future?  Hopefully no more than usual.  But for this secure job, this opportunity to work (and to work overtime when the Bat Signal is put out there), we can be thankful. (I'm also secretly hoping this job comes with me getting a super mafia accent and the right to stay home all day and cook for my unthankful, mafioso family.)

***

Our house has been nothing short of amazing for us.  The oddity of an upstairs kitchen:

I have it decorated differently.  But can you see why I fell in love with it?

The fantastic window seats in the kitchen, living room, and upstairs bedroom.  The pool.  The pellet stove:

Again, it looks different now that it's ours.  I don't even have a Kane.  But you can see the pool through the windows.  Deuces!

And Beloved would have me mention the biggest garage in Clifton.  

He will be in there in the dead of winter.  Because it's his.

Man-cave extraordinaire. Buying that little piece of heaven was hell.  But worth it.  And for all the lawn raking-induced blisters, the gray paint under the fingernails, the mouse traps working effectively, the hot meals, the old-school Nintendo games played at night, the quietness of the locale we picked, we can be thankful.

The Recipe For Keeping Warm

This isn't my kitchen...allegedly

I'm not normally a drinker of hard liquor.  I have relatives for that.  But, I do love supporting local businesses, and if something is supposed to taste like cake, I'm pretty much gonna go for it.  How has someone not come up with cake-flavored vitamins?  Cake-flavored anti-depressants?  Cake-flavored celery?  I'm just saying...
Back to topic, then:  Pinnacle is from Lewiston.  While I wouldn't normally support anything from such a scary-sounding place, they make whipped cream flavored vodka.  And they make rebate forms.  And the IGA has lowered their prices on said whipped cream hangovers.  I got a vodka sized bottle of whipped, and it came with a travel-size portion of Cake flavored.  All in all, with rebate form, it cost 6$.  I'm a cheap drunk*, in the best way. 
Now, if the cost of heating oil makes you want to day drink, here is my suggested nighttime drink:

1-2 oz Pinnacle whipped (I used 3/4 oz, because, again, I'm not a hard liquor drinker and I don't know what the appropriate amount of hard liquor per serving is...if you drink as a daytime job, it's probably more than 3/4 oz)
Mug full of milk (I used skim...if you're going whole hog (and, really, why wouldn't you?  You can just work it off on Monday), use a higher fat milk)
Dark Chocolate hot cocoa mix

Heat the mug of milk in the microwave for 1.5-2 minutes (unless you have the world's oldest microwave, like Beloved's parents do (he heated their dog's METAL dish without any fiery repercussions!!), or until your milk is hot.)  Add the vodka, then the cocoa mix.  Stir, don't drive, and enjoy!


*All talk of day drinking and whatnotery is clearly me being humorous.  I don't have a drinking problem.  I don't have a vodka mustache.  My stomach is too tiny to support all the joke drinking I do.  Don't be worried.  Don't call the AA.  Oh, quick story:  Beloved's uncle wanted to name our house the AA Ranch, but with us being homebrewers, I thought it implied something else, and we're on the hunt for a different name for the property...

Sites To Visit When You're Bored

Facebook so doesn't cut the cake anymore.  Or rip open the candy wrapper.  Or whatever other food (analogy?  euphemism?  jobby?) you choose to use. 
So I wanted to list some other sites I check out to pass the time.  I'm not saying what time I'm trying to pass, because there are people who read this who also control my paychecks.  So let's wink wink nudge nudge and just proceed to my list:
Blog--make one; at the very least, read mine.  And tell people about mine.
Suri's Burn Book--good gracious, this is funny.  Suri Cruise's fake perspective on other celebrity children.
The Pioneer Woman--I don't have the cable so I don't see her show, but I love her website...great recipes, she's a fantastically funny writer, and she has giveaway contests.  When I have enough followers, I'll totally start giving away fun stuff.
Hip2Save--Do you coupon?  Shop online?  Like deals and giveaways?  GO HERE!
Jennsylvania--Again, fantastic writer.  So funny.  Read her books.  Follow her blog.  Her post on Twilight had me crying with laughter. 
GoodReads--good way to find new books, share reads with friends (find me there!), and track what you're currently reading and have read.
LL Bean--Daily Markdown.  No reason you shouldn't be checking that out.  I'm not saying it because it's my 2nd job.
Realtor--I'm my mother's daughter.  That means I'm nosy, people, and I want to see the insides of the homes for sale in a 30 mile radius.  And I will judge your shag carpeting and paint choices.
Xmradio--Everyone should be as lucky as I am to have a boss who allows their account to be high-hoseyed by the human answering machine so she can listen to/belt out Broadway showtunes while IV drug users look on in fear.

Those are a smattering.  Really?  That's my day in chronological order.  Don't believe me?  Check my IE History.  But not you, Boss.  Because you're working, and I'm working, and everyone is just working.  The end.