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I am recuperating from working all weekend on having Turkey Dinner yesterday.
Prepping for Turkey Day was exhausting!
Friday, I stayed up late making a shopping list and picking out some recipes.
Saturday was a big day. We started by cleaning the kitchen. Clearing any old junk out of the fridge to make room for the new food we’d be bringing home. Cleaning all the counters– I don’t know if we had looked under the toaster oven in the last 2 years.
Joe had to clear up the spare room (which will be the baby’s room) to make room for my sister who would be arriving later that night. With my shopping list in hand, we drove down to Reading Terminal Market (after cleaning snow off the car), and had a nice lunch at the Dutch Eating Place before buying veggies and picking up the Turkey. We also went to Whole Foods to get the rest of the stuff I needed, and then unloaded at home before going back out to do some random errands– Holod’s Hardware to get replacement bulbs and exchange the present I got for Joan… we also got some greens there– REI for Joe to return his bum bicycle light– Big Box Bed Bath and Beyond for a new rug for the front door– Pet store for some cat food– anything I’m forgetting? Anyway, it was exhausting. We finally got home around 6 something, and Maria showed up after 7. Joe mopped the floor, I did laundry, Joe tried to hang the new lights (they shorted out, and after he replaced the fuse, a few burnt out, so we decided they were crap that need to be returned). We ordered sammies from the pizza place because we hadn’t gotten any food that wasn’t for the special dinner! Then I made Oatmeal cookies. My neighbor was having a party, and I guess due to cold weather, decided to let everyone smoke in their house, which actually seeped into my dining room– covering up my yummy cookie smell! BLECH!!
The only thing I needed to do the night before was soak the dried corn with milk, and I almost forgot! I was in bed when I remembered. Even if I had forgotten, it only needs to soak for 4 hours minimum, so I could have gotten away with it.

Sunday was spent cooking the Turkey, baking a pecan pie (Joe’s specialty), baking sweet potatoes, making maple glazed carrots, cranberry stuffing, Garlic/mushroom mashed potatoes, creamed corn, getting rolls and gravy and cranberry sauce ready, and keeping cats off the table.

Unfortunately, around noon, poor Joe started feeling really sick! Some sort of stomach kind of bug, but with no fever, and hopefully not contagious– I don’t have it yet, so I hope it’s not. He’s still feeling icky whenever he eats something. :-(

One less guest
Also, unfortunately, my Grandmother had canceled. She called Thursday to say she had a bad cold, and had been feeling a little better but went out to clean the snow and ice off her car and felt worse. So she wouldn’t come. She started off the conversation sounding really bad, but perked up as we talked a bit, so I’m not too worried about her cold– she always gets them this time of year. I don’t understand why she had to clean off her car on Thursday– she wasn’t going anywhere, and they had an even bigger storm on Friday, so she really wasn’t going anywhere. She’s so stubborn too. Why is an 84 year old woman cleaning her car off at all?

So, the dinner was only for 5 people, although I could have fed 10. In fact, if you are in Philadelphia, and would like some left over turkey, come on over!

I think everything turned out a-okay. And I think I could probably make a turkey unassisted in the future. However, I’m not sure if standing up for 2 days straight was the smartest thing to be doing at 30 weeks pregnant. I have aches and aches and aches.
But, I’m glad we did it!

Does anyone other than me hear the song “Calendar Girl” by Neil Sedaka and only think “Calendar Cat… chow chow chow chow chow”????

So, Mr. Pinky has been extra wheezy this week, enough to wake us up at night. Last night it was so bad we thought he might go at any second– he had his mouth open and sounded totally constricted. We put the shower on hot and put him the bathroom for at least 15 minutes and he seemed to clear up.

Today, he had some wheezy spells, but generally seemed okay. Came downstairs to eat, asked to go outside (I didn’t let him out due to his wheeziness). Then he started with the open mouth horrible wheeziness. I ran the shower and took him into the bathroom. He didn’t want to sit on the toilet, he actually wanted to leave, but wasn’t fighting it– he just sat near the door. But I realized the door wasn’t getting the benefit of the steam, so I picked the little guy up and held him while I sat on the toilet (lid down). All of a sudden, I felt wet and warm. My first thought was I was getting wet from the shower, but it was on the side opposite the shower. I look down, and poor Mr. Pinky is peeing all over me! It was like he had no control, and it was SO MUCH PEE.

I put him down, and he just lay flat by the door– still open mouth wheezing, but now wet with pee. I felt so bad for him, he just looked terrible. Before this happened, I had left Joe an IM that said, I think Pinky is Dying, so Joe was getting concerned, and getting ready to come home. He called me and I told him it was bad. Pinky left the bathroom, and even though I tried to coax him onto a towel, he hid under the bed– he is not an under-the-bed hider, so I thought oh man, he’s gone there to die. I called the vet and they said get him there asap. Joe biked home, I got myself cleaned up, and we rushed off.

Of course on the way, he wheezed a little, but then stopped. Then he started grooming himself. Because he’s diabetic, he can’t have any steroids or anything to help his airways. They gave him an antibiotic shot, and we took home some antibiotic pills and antihistamine.
The whole way home, he sat calmly in the car, grooming himself.

This cat has used up 5 dozen lives. He is just so awesome.

Of course, I’ve been fighting this cold all day, and thought maybe I would lick it, but now I am sure I am going to lose my voice by tomorrow. I’m wheezing worse than he is at this point.

Joe found this on archive.org. A sweet little love story!

The Private Life of a Cat from 1947.

The MPEG4 worked best for me. About halfway through, we showed it to Stripe, and he was FASCINATED!!