Family Dinner and Yoga Update

Whew! What a weekend!

All my girls and their guys and their children came home for our late Thanksgiving Dinner. What joy. What a lot of work too.

Friday I was busy making pumpkin pies and preparing some of the other foods. Paul suggested, as he was walking out the door to go to the gym, that today might be a good day for me to make the French Onion Soup I had been talking about. Indeed. (sigh) Athena was great, playing for hours on end while I cooked, cleaned and got the guest rooms ready.

Jen and Jordan and Abby and Josie arrived later that afternoon and we had a delicious, if I do say so myself, spaghetti and meatball dinner, complete with salad with heart of palm (Thanks Mona) and garlic bread. Can you say carb overload? Who cares.

Next day I had to get the turkey dinner ready. No small task I tell you. One highlight of the day was that I got to do an hour or so of yoga with Jen. She was a trooper too. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

Shortly after lunch, Jill, Clint and Eden showed up and shortly after that Jess and Dann. Full house. The little girls were so good. They played outside in the cool fall air. They watched Tinkerbell and ate popcorn and later they all grabbed one of Athena's instruments and gave us an impromptu show. Too cute for words.

Athena 5 Abby4 Josie 2 Eden 5

Can you tell the two in the middle are sisters?

The dinner was good. I stuck to what I knew. All but the gravy. My sister Lyse gave me a recipe with Cognac and cream in it. Delicious. It was a hit. Even Jill liked it. ( Jill is my 3rd daughter who really really really liked everything to be "the same as it was last year and the year before that...") But, in the flurry of activity, I forgot to put out the table centre piece. The flowers remained wrapped in cellophane and the bosc pears in the produce bag. Candles, unlit, unused.

So yesterday, after Paul and I cleaned the house, I made two bouquets. One for the kitchen and a small one for Athena's room. It was kind of like a "You did it!" gift to myself.

Later in the evening when the girls were all bathed and sleeping, we went to the family room and tested our vocals with some Karaoke. Paul and Jordan stayed up into the wee hours singing and playing guitar on Jordan's Wii. I think the Southern Comfort spurred their efforts a bit.

Anyway, next morning we had brunch and the company was gone by 10am. What did Jen and Jordan forget this time? Toothbrushes? No. A stray sock? Nope. They forgot the pad you stand on for the Wii. Luckily for Jordan, Paul will take it with him to Regina when he goes for business later this week.

Sunday was spent cleaning bathrooms, washing floors, changing beds, doing laundry and vacuuming carpets. We had a simple shrimp dinner and we all went to bed early. These weekends take a lot out of me but they are so worth it. I would like to either have them at one of my daughter's houses some time or just go out to eat at a restaurant, merely for the opportunity to sit and visit with my family, especially my little granddaughters.

And on a yoga note, today I practiced Yoga for Intermediates. Jen was asking me about it on Saturday and I told her I hadn't done that class for over a year. Today I got to thinking that I hadn't done that class since we lived here or in our previous houses but had done it last over 7 years ago. 7 years! Today I popped it in the VCR and away I went. It was so good. Lots of poses I never practice. Forearm balance, handstand, headstand, shoulder stand. I am sure I will be sore tomorrow right in the middle of my upper back in the thoracic region. I will brace for the pain. I did really well though. I didn't hold the inversions as long as required and I only did two of the three Upward Bows but all in all it was a great workout. I may have even got some sweat on my mat. Heehee.

Afterword: I would have posted pictures of my daughters and their men but I changed a setting on my camera (thanks Jen ;)) and the pictures were all blurry.