The endless workday...

Surprise! Guess what my wonderful husband did last night? I came home from my Pilates class to find my Christmas tree up and lit! Too cute considering the hubby is Jewish and if his mom knew...not good.

It is 4:29pm and I am still working. The day before Thanksgiving. Our management team has kindly given us all the day after Turkey Day off for free, which of course is awesome, but I thought that 2pm or so, someone would come walk casually over and say "You guys can go for the day, have a great holiday!". Nope. Meanwhile, I need to buy a turkey. So instead of working, I'm catching up on blogs, googling turkey recipes, and looking up cute centerpieces that I can quickly make tomorrow morning for the feast I'm hosting...

I'm also ~gasp~ cooking my very first turkey tomorrow. Wish me luck. I spotted a kit at Williams Sonoma that I might grab tonight after I get "released" that is supposedly "perfect" for a first time turkey chef. Otherwise, I will go with one of the other 30 suggestions random co-workers gave me out our work Thanksgiving luncheon yesterday.

On a COMPLETELY different note, I received an email plea from Metropolitan Ministries, a local charity here that helps feed the less fortunate during the holidays, among other awesome things they do. The letter was pretty sad. It said they had an additional 5,000 families sign up for food assistance for Thanksgiving this year, a 20% increase from last year. Apparently, due to the economy and everyone's tightened purse strings, they are down 24% in donations. So I was also hoping to swing by with some boxes or mashed potatoes and yams (their suggestion) to hopefully feed the needy. It just stinks to see these organizations struggle and not have control over the monies that come in because money is tight for all.

So with that said, I'm thankful this season for all that I have. And I will be thankful for the glass of wine I'm going to pour myself in 20 minutes.