Turkey soup for the soul

Thanksgiving has come and gone which is more than can be said of the turkey. It's still hanging around and it's been non stop turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and turkey pot pie ever since. It was a 20lb bird so it's going to take some eating. Here it is in it's uncooked state just before it went in the oven.

Here we all are ready to tuck into the assembled feast, and yes we are dining al fresco at 4:30 in the afternoon!

Even baby enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. In just seconds the Magic Bullet turns a home cooked meal in to a 'delicious' slurry fit for a baby


With Thanksgiving over it's now on to the next holiday which is just around the corner. Yes it's Christmas so now it is time to light up the house. Here's a tip for you, buy NEW lights and don't borrow someone else's lights as the time taken to track down the blown or loose lamps can never be got back! Took me most of the day to put up 8 strings of lights and I've still got to get more for the second floor roof line. Mrs P wants the dormer windows done too but I've many, many excuses lined up to ensure I win that argument.


As promised here's a photo of Mrs P from Halloween. I have now discovered Wonder Woman's Achille's Heel...alcohol. It reduces her to a stumbling mess and takes her a whole day in bed to recover!

Randomness

AC/DC ROCKED and even Mrs P enjoyed it. One thing that I've never understood though is the need to wear other band's T-shirts to a gig. There were people wearing T-shirts with Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Panterra and even Foreigner ! I mean who wears a Foreigner T-shirt? and to an AC/DC concert???

Halloween was a lot of fun and costumes worked out well (pics to follow). Charlotte didn't have such a great time as she was scared of both me and Mrs P when in our costumes and burst out crying uncontrollably. The big kids got tons of candy and Mrs P has been doing her best to limit the amount they eat by scoffing it after they've gone to bed.

I've accepted an offer on my house and I'm hoping to close by the end of the year. As Robert Redford says at the end of my favorite film "You're right Henry. It's not enough. But....it's close!"

We also watched the pilot for the remake of V. I was never a fan of the original but Mrs P was. Not sure I'll watch the series but I'm sure Mrs P will give it a chance.

For those about to Rock....

Guess where we're going on Friday??? Not got it?

Here's a clue...



That's right,Mrs P bought me tickets for my birthday to the AC/DC gig in Jacksonville, to say I'm excited is an understatement.

Also just around the corner is Halloween and this year we're doing a theme across the whole family. We're all going as Superheroes! I plumped for Wolverine and I spent the better part of yesterday crafting a 2 sets of claws from a length of 7/8" broom handle and some 1 1/2" x 1/4" trim. They look the business now that I've sprayed them silver. My next part of the ensemble is to somehow shape an Elvis wig in to the correct hair style. Pictures will follow but not until I've got the whole outfit sorted.

Don't blame me...

if you spit your coffee everywhere when you see this. I'm not paying for your new keyboard and monitor....you've been warned

Caught a blighty one

Well we did it! Mrs P and I successfully managed to get 3 kids across the Atlantic and back again safely. We all had a great time visiting the former colonial masters, although we didn't get to do half the things we had hoped to. Apologies to those people that I didn't get to meet up with and it was great to see those people that I did even if it was only for a short time.

My parent's house may look quaint and all the Americans LOVE it but if you're anything over 5' 7" then the ceilings and wood beams are just too low. My "bruised bonnet" is testament to this. But many thanks for my parents for allowing us to come over and stay and trash their house!

The British weather did it's best for us, with 5 days of dry weather followed by 3 days of wet stuff. Mrs P loved the coolness of it but I was much happier with the 90F temps that we've returned to since.

My Brother's wedding went well, great venue and the weather was very mild for October. They flew off to the Maldives for a on honeymoon on Sunday.

Other news: Am going to try selling my house in the UK again. I don't want or need the hassle of being a landlord and to be honest I could use the cash. Mrs P wants a new car, as her Subaru isn't big enough for the school run. She wants a Honda Pilot.

Talking about big and brash look at the size of this hotdog! And amazingly she did eat it all too.

We've got 3 busy weekends coming up. This weekend it's Biketoberfest in Daytona and I'm hoping to make it down during Saturday afternoon. Next weekend it's my birthday (when I intend to do NOTHING but I know I'll be rushing around as ever) and the weekend after is Halloween. We've not got costumes sorted yet, nor have we bought the mountains of candy needed but there are rumours of 2 Halloween parties. One for the kids and the other for the adults.

Watching the pigskin

Went to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars final preseason game last night against the Washington Redskins. A neighbor came by and said he had some freebie tickets and boy were they good seats. We were only 16 rows back and on the 30 yard line and it was great being so close to the action. I completed the all American action with a giant 12" hotdog.

Swing when your winning

Finished the last few jobs on the swingset just hours before the deadline of Sofie's 5th birthday party. We had about 20 kids plus parents round and it was CHAOS and matters weren't helped when a passing thunderstorm came over and so everyone crammed on to the back porch and then inside the house.

Kids go back to school tomorrow not a moment too soon either. I'm hoping that the house no longer resembles Beruit when I come home from work every day, but I'm not going to hold my breath.