First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving day with their family and friends. About two weeks ago, our friends called to plan Thanksgiving dinner at their house so I spent all day Wednesday cooking. I started at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning. That’s when I put the turkey in the oven. Since it’s my first time using a gas stove, I was afraid to leave it on all night while I slept so I stayed up and started boiling my potatoes and eggs for the potato salad I made. After that was done I played on Meg’s computer to try to stay awake. I finally went to bed at 6 a.m. because I figured Meg and Kamalani would be up not long after I went to bed.

When I woke up at 10 o’clock, my turkey was beginning to brown and surprisingly my home was still intact. When my turkey was done, I let it sit on the counter to cool off while I baked the ham and mixed the potato salad. I was determined to have everything completed by Wednesday night so I could take it to be stored in my friend’s extra fridge. I thought if I showed up late on Thanksgiving it wouldn’t be that bad since the food was already there. By the time my portion of Thanksgiving dinner was done it was early evening and that when I turned the kitchen over to hubby so he could prepare my favorite pumpkin cheesecake. Meg has been preparing it for the past few years but hubby takes so much more time to perfect everything, plus he cleans up as he goes along. It’s kinda cute because he sets everything up like an assembly line. He ended up making 7 pans. We took two to the dinner, sent one over to my brother’s, gave one to our friend Bernie because she’s always bringing desserts and foods over to us, and we were left with three pans. As of this entry, we have only 1 1/2 pans left.

To keep with our family tradition, we had turkey chuk for dinner tonight. I think this meal is the highpoint of Thanksgiving. It brings back so many memories of my childhood back at my Grandma’s house. Grandma always fixed this soup for us with the left over turkey and rice. I think of all our grandchildren, Kamalani will be the one to carry on the tradition. I talk to her about the dishes I make and tell her my Grandma made this and that for me when I was her age. She loves knowing this as much as I love sharing it with her.

My prodigal son called lastnight but we weren’t here. I hope he tries calling again today. I miss talking to him and I want to see what he’s Thankful for this year.

What am I thankful for?

Being alive
Having a loving husband
Having four children who still love me
Having four grandchildren who are all healthy and happy
Having a home to call my own
The pellet stove that keeps us warm on cold nights
Food in my opu
Cars that carry us to wherever we need to go
Family and Friends — near and far