It's Wednesday again, blogging day :) The girls are tap dancing their little hearts out in the dance studio and I'm here in my car sipping coffee and enjoying a quiet moment.
Shall I cover Thanksgiving first? Well okay, then.
I had quite a busy start to my week in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, as I rescheduled a bunch of my lessons that would have happened on Thursday and Friday to the earlier part of the week, as well as having a doctor's appointment right in the middle of my teaching schedule on Tuesday afternoon. So I had extra teaching, plus transport to and from doctor's appointment, and the usual homeschool and kid activities. By Wednesday I was more than ready for a break, and everyone else was too!
The forecast for Thanksgiving was pouring rain all day, so we rescheduled the family Turkey Trot that we had planned for Thursday morning to Wednesday afternoon instead. Our town held the annual 5k virtually instead of in person, so me and my running friend planned to just run laps around my neighborhood circle until we reached 3.2 miles. In the end, all of our daughters decided to join us, so it was actually more of a run/walk, but N and L both completed the 5k and J & C completed it together, relay style, so they could each rest a lap here and there. M ran a few laps with us, too, and helped with kid duty (thank you honey!). Since it was dusk-ish when we ran, my running friend brought glow sticks and these really fun light-up hair clips and hot cider, so it turned into a super fun event! After we all finished, we commented on the Virtual 5k Facebook post, and the sponsoring organization donated $10 to our local food pantry for each completed 5k, so between our two families we raised about $60!
Having completed our run, Thanksgiving day was free to be devoted to total relaxation.
We made LOTS of puppets and wrote the script for a puppet show that was performed the next day!
C published a Thanksgiving newsletter on Thursday morning, which included this easy two-step turkey recipe! Thanks, William Bradford. :)
A rainy walk...
In the end M convinced me not to cook, and we ordered takeout from our local Indian restaurant instead. Soooooo glad we made that decision. It was super yummy and I reeeaaaally enjoyed not having to do anything (well, except make three pies for dessert, because let's be real, the pie is the part of Thanksgiving that everyone loves the best).
Saag Paneer, Mysore Dosa, and a delicious eggplant curry called Hydrabadi Mirch Aur Baigan Ka Salan. This was my first experience with Indian cuisine so I sort of guessed at what to order. We got some basic chicken fried in chickpea batter with lots of Naan bread for the girls, so they didn't have to try the more spicy stuff. They were happy enough with that, although N and L both tried the Tikka Masala and approved! It was a tie between the Saag Paneer and the Hydrabadi for my favorite. I'm still finishing that curried eggplant goodness for my lunches this week and it's just sooooo warm and comforting.
Pies of course. I must recommend
this chocolate cream pie recipe which I made gluten- and dairy-free by using Glutino Oreos, soy milk, and Earth Balance butter. That oreo crust just makes it so decadent.
We watched the Macy's Parade in the morning (the girls' favorites were the Rockettes, the Pentatonix, and the Hamilton performance) but when pie time came we decided to eat our treats while watching the Karate Kid. The girls loved it and the sequels are on our watch list!
I am still thinking about a possible family charity project to distance us from the celebration of privilege that has sort of taken over both Thanksgiving and Christmas. You all know that it has been
occupying my thoughts lately. I have some ideas. I'll keep you posted.
The rest of the weekend was more complete relaxation. We ate a lot of leftovers so I didn't cook, I didn't do any running (some walks though), no school, no teaching. It was magical restorative bliss. I hadn't realized how much we all needed a break, so I'm really really really really glad we took it, and didn't attempt to travel or cook a big feast. It was just perfect.
Pie for breakfast for pretty much the entire weekend, because why not?
I should say that after sitting on my butt for much of Thursday and Friday, I did get the cleaning itch on Saturday, and I had to take a picture because this is the first time that my stove, the counter, and the toaster oven have all been clean at the same time since....... the summer. #homeschoolworkingmomproblems
Also had to take a picture of the toilet paper that I was so proud to have obtained since it was the last package in stock, like, anywhere. It must be bad news about COVID numbers and stay-at-home orders if TP is in short supply, right? If you had told me last year at this time that I would feel such a gigantic sense of accomplishment over scoring a package of toilet paper, I would have thought you were totally crazy.
I had scheduled a flower dissection as part of N's science last week, which gave me an excuse to buy this beautiful Thanksgiving bouquet that has lasted forever and still looks beautifully fresh.
We are now on a break week from homeschool after finishing our first twelve weeks. I am taking the down-time to think about where we will head with curriculum in the next twelve, and write out my spreadsheet where the girls get their assignments every day. I think I also felt how great it was to have a break over Thanksgiving, and it felt good to extend the relaxation a little.
With all the relaxation has come plenty of time for drawing, which J would do 24-7 if she could. She expresses every emotion, thought, and obsession through pictures. I get at least 2-3 per day addressed "TO MOM" and folded about 30 times. Here are some of my latest favorites:
"Black Rat Snake" after she was fascinated by the snake article in our latest issue of National Geographic
A letter to Santa, with a drawing of him riding a reindeer and saying "oh no" (?), several enthusiastic repetitions of "CHRESTMAS IS THE BEST" and mayyyybe a drawing of the coronavirus in the upper right???
Inspired by the Broadway cast performance of "The Schuyler Sisters" from Hamilton at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, a drawing of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton ("ELISE") and Hamilton himself (she said, "I couldn't spell Hamilton Mom!!!"). You can really see the creases of the 30 folds in this one.
I get a lot of love notes from her too which never fails to melt me and I keep a night-table drawer full of them that I re-read whenever the going gets tough. :)
Lastly, a photo of a post-dance class snack
...with Mop&Glo and water shoes on the counter, cuz that's how we roll.
Tonight we watched Boston Ballet's
free broadcast of the Nutcracker (an abridged version that left out some of our favorite dances, sadly, but we found the clips afterwards) while enjoying "clouds on a rock with a sunset", a favorite dessert in our house that is good for using up extra whipped cream. I made mine a binary sunset a la Tatooine.
The girls were so inspired that they went into a brownie-fueled frenzy of ballet dancing and choreographing afterwards. N and L are figuring out how to lift the younger girls into some of the poses of the pas de deux. The only problem with this is that J emits a SUPER high-pitched scream whenever she is lifted (think dog whistle) and so I'm having a momentary panic about every 3-4 minutes. L keeps exclaiming "you have to learn not to scream when I lift you!!!" The things we will work on before we become professionals.
With that I will leave you :) I hope that your Thanksgiving was restful and peaceful and celebratory! See you soon!
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