TG 2 - Brought to you by Barley's

It was the Friday after TG. I was up at my usual 715a. I woke once during the night to bright moon light streaming in through the aptly named half moon window. The rain had obviously ended giving way to clear skies. What wasn't readily apparent was whether the rain changed over to snow before the clearing. I didn't know the answer until I was out of bed and brushing my teeth. Nope, no snow. Looked cold, however. Frost covered the lawn. Downstairs, I started coffee then glanced out the back door. There were a few patches of ice on the deck but otherwise it looked dry. I whipped out my sit-ups and push-ups then played on the PC. Mindy and the kids weren't up for a while. I enjoyed the quiet time. Frankie and I headed out around 830a. It was cold. And like the morning before, there was standing water, only frozen, along the edge of the deckside flower beds. Frankie did a lot of sniffing around but took her time bearing fruit. Finally, in the leaf pile underneath the treehouse, she took a dump. Unfortunately, I left the shovel behind on the deck. I carefully picked up the crap with my bare hands using other leaves like a glove and tossed the crap deep into the woods behind our lot. And just to make sure I didn't get any on me, I licked my hands. Nope, clean! :) Mindy and the kids were soon awake. I didn't prepare and leave for my run until just before 10a. It was still quite cold, about 27 degrees. I wore typical winter running attire. I ran the full 4.1 miles enjoying the repetitive scenery along the way. Mindy was off to the shower soon after my return. She talked about running a few errands. One included looking at pre-lit artificial trees at Home Depot. However, because we planned to have the family over for a 2nd TG dinner mid-afternoon, she didn't have all day long to shop. But then again, the food was already cooked. All we needed to do was reheat it. My dad called sometime late morning/early afternoon to let us know that he'd be attending the holiday meal later in the afternoon. We put the smoked turkey in the oven around 1230-1p or just before Mindy left, and then put the taters and stuffing in our double warming trays. We used a small crock pot for the gravy and planned to nuke the green beans in a casserole dish. The kids declined the opportunity to go with Mindy. Bella was off to Makayla's instead. Jacob, I think, was off to play with Evan. I melted the reserved caramel and then some baking chocolate to top the cheesecake. That went well. While Mindy was out, I put the festive green and red florescent bulbs in the coach, porch, and post light fixtures. It was cold. My hands numbed quickly, their first elongated exposure to winter-type chill. I also put a new florescent spot in the porch side flower bed uplight to further accentuate the large metallic ornaments Mindy hung from the weeping mulberry tree. I was outside maybe 25 minutes total. Inside, I checked the food. Still there. :) Time to get a shower. Mindy returned after being gone no more than an hour. Said she made a quick stop at the Lincoln Village Giant Eagle, but that they had a very poor beer selection, unlike most other local G.E's. I had asked her to pick-up some IPA. She also shared that she bought a pre-lit tree with LED lights. The LED bulbs should last a lot longer than the incandescent type. The afternoon went fast. Soon, It was after 2pm. Our guests would be over anytime. Lindsey, Ashley and the grand kids arrived around 240p. As usual, Olivia entered ready to spread her joy. It was nice to see the kids and the daughters. My dad, Tommy and Wally weren't too far behind. Wally was his usual shy self. The neighbors joined us too. We had a house full in a hurry - 17 to be exact. Shrinks the house quickly! To facilitate all that eating, we brought up the portable table and folding chairs. However, still short on seating, Mindy talked me into using the dining room chairs, which have never before been used for actual dining. In doing so, I discovered that Frankie had chewed on one of the hand carved chair legs. Dammit! I asked that only adults sit in those chairs. The food was ready around 330-345p. I carved the bird while Mindy and Chrissy got the ball rolling for all the kids. The smoked turkey was juicy and delicious. On the other hand, the sides were just OK. Left a bit to be desired, really. But that was OK. After all, it's about the people/family. And we definitely had a fun time. I was anxious for dessert, and more specifically, to try my new cheesecake. But there were two other options as well, a black cherry and pumpkin pie. Turns out, the black-cherry pie was really a raspberry pie, at least according to Mindy. The cheesecake was delicious. I thought of a couple things I will do differently the next time. I do that a lot with my recipes. Ash and Olivia left for home first. Said they needed to meet Stephen's father at Roosters. And while Ashley brought Lindsey and the boys, we'd be the lucky ones taking them home. After dinner, Mindy & I managed most of the clean-up, although Kenny & Chrissy helped too. And then, with the help of the neighbors, Mindy put up the new tree. We watched football through the evening. Turns out numbers 1, 2 & 3 were all playing on this Friday after TG. Auburn (#2) won after trailing for most of the game. Tommy & Wally left next. Before Tommy left, we talked briefly about a potential ski trip to Vail. He expressed interest. We've yet to ask Glenn but plan to. I love Oregon, but don't want to limit myself to a single venue when, after all, we live in a country with some of the world's best/nicest ski resorts all within a few hours by air. I'm guessing it was near 730-8p when Mindy & Chrissy took Lindsey and the boys home while Kenny and I drank beer and watched more football. I was out with one of the pugs a bit earlier and thought I saw neighbor Pat Schultz out deep frying a turkey. That was confirmed when he and Lisa sent a text along with a picture of the beast. It looked more like a deep fried bull dog to my eyes. In fact, we had the kids believing that it was a bull dog. Mindy called Pat & Lisa inviting them over. A few beers later, Pat & daughter Alena came over. Lisa stayed home, apparently not feeling too well after eating too much bull dog. :) Sometime during the day's raucous one of our island cabinet doors broke. Actually, one of the screws broke away from the hinge. We ended up removing the door for the time being. I planned to attempt a fix on Saturday. Jimaken & Jacob returned from the Blue Jackets game around 10p. They lost to Detroit 2-1. Because it was a Jimaken weekend, he picked up Bella and headed back out. We hung out with our neighbors, Pat, Alena, Kenny & Chrissy until 1030-11p best guess. Honestly, I lost track of the time. We had a good time, to be sure. Through the evening, I did a number on our Xmas ale inventory. I joked about drinking 12 of them, but honestly, it was more like 11.5.:) We did a little clean-up after our company left then headed for bed. The late college football game, Oregon vs. Arizona ended up a blowout.