A Peaceful Day, with apples

I had a kind of surreal feeling this morning, when I realized that the answer to the question, "What should I be doing now/next?" was, "whatever I want to". Facing three days of no particular schedule was really nice! I've managed to fill the day without going out or even showering (gasp), and the only down part was the Bruins losing their matinee. (The reason I sometimes say of them that it's better to be lucky than good is that if you don't outplay the other team, but win anyway, that's mostly a good thing. Today, on the other hand ... facing a hot goalie and having an ineffective power play do not add up well.)

But! Undaunted! I finally finished dealing with the last of the apples I picked, making apple crisp (mmm!) and the fourth batch of applesauce this season. Yes, four: I think I'll remember not to get so many apples next year without having to leave myself a note. It's good to have the applesauce, but the freezer is kind of full. Here's a little poem to commemorate this part of the day:

applesauce
apple crisp
apples gone

I also, apparently not having had enough of the peeling with the apples, made scalloped potatoes and ham. Delicious and satisfying. The last of the dishes are soaking, so I won't be ending today with that counter-full-of-dirty-dishes feeling. Yay for that, for once.

As seen in the photo in yesterday's post, I knit a little turkey for the holiday. I think he would have been even cuter is a slightly lighter brown yarn, but that was what I had, and he turned out well enough for me. I also brought angel salad and mashed potatoes to dinner, and it was all wonderful (and I wasn't hungry again for a remarkably long time).

Not just the food, and the company, but my mood was better this year. Last year was my least thankful Thanksgiving in a long time. Harold had just died a few weeks before, and my Dad and Pan since the previous Thanksgiving, and the most gratitude I could sincerely summon was that the list stopped there. This year was a lot better.

It turned out that I only had to work half a day on Wednesday. This meant coming home for a relaxed afternoon, chilling with the kitty, before making the angel salad early enough that I was finishing the dishes around the time I would normally have been getting home. Very laid back! The Bruins won Wednesday night's game (better lucky than good that time, for sure), and I slept in, lazed about, watched the Macy's parade, and finally made the mashed potatoes before getting ready to go. Quiet, peaceful, laid back: these are some of my favorite ways to describe a holiday. Or any day, really.

I also at some point finished reading Dave Barry's latest book, which I quite enjoyed and do recommend. My favorite quote:

In other words, I learned that even though I enjoyed playing sports, I sucked at them. And understanding that you suck at some things is useful information in life. The world would be a better place if people were fully cognizant of their areas of suckage.

It's called I'll Mature When I'm Dead. Check it out.