Thanksgiving + Surgery

I went in for breast surgery on Tuesday. MonsterMustDie took the day off work to transport me to the Surgery Center and back home. I took a shower and washed my hair just before going, knowing I won't be able to was my hair for several days afterward just because I have to keep the surgical area dry and I can't lift my arms.
Everything went fine. I was kinda put off by the casual sanitary conditions there. The nurse, Janey, tore off tape for my IV and laid it on the footrest of the chair I was in until she was ready to use it. The arms of the chair in the prep room were sticky. I don't want to consider myself OCD about cleanliness - far from it, probably - but this was a medical facility.
Oh, well...
They sent me home with a Spanks-style tube top over my chest and a small ice pack over my left breast. I also had to purchase electronic leg compression devices that I wore home and will have to wear to sleep in for the next 9 - 10 days.

Wednesday morning before work, I managed to give myself a shallow sponge bath in the tub with my hair tied up and about three layers of plasic wrap around my chest to try to keep it dry. I'm planning to wear my hair tied back all week in a pony tail while I'm at work. I wore an old athletic bra-top, that was probably inadequate support, to work under my turtleneck sweater. It seemed like it would work okay but by the end of the work-day I was experiencing some discomfort. I ended up trading it in for a regular bra to sleep in last night. This morning, I woke up with immediate liquid bowel movements that I hope will cease as soon as everything is empty. I took an Immodium and am hoping for the best result because this is the worse day for GI troubles.

Today is Thanksgiving and I'm planning to make a mushroom tart with some beautiful wild mushrooms I got at the Farmers Market. We are invited to Karen and Bob's house in Greensboro for Thanksgiving. We're also bringing roasted vegetables and braised greens as a last minute thing. MonsterMustDie did not believe the tart and a small batch of sweet white turnips was enough.

Thanksgiving 2017

I am thankful for our friends Karen and Bob, who invited us to spend Thanksgiving day at their home in Greensboro with their family and neighbors. We had a fantastic heritage turkey that was cooked perfectly, home-made cranberry-pear sauce, traditional green bean casserole, ultra-fatty mashed potatoes, multiple pies, homemade dressing and lots of little munchables in between. We brought a marionberry pie from Deep Roots Market and roasted root vegetables that I cooked in two separated batches - one with carrots and fennel and shallots; the other with garlic, carrots, potatoes, and parsnips. Separating the batches was a smart move for anyone not sure if they liked fennel and carrots. Me and Bob enjoyed the little batch with fennel while Karen and MonsterMustDie could have the rest without the fennel flavor. Lots of spirits and conversation. Oddly enough, in a twist of normal roles, MonsterMustDie was very happy to socialize and he managed to say the most inappropriate things all night (not me!). Good times.

I work the usual four hours today at my little retail job. Should be interesting to be there on a Black Friday. Despite the fact that our store does nothing different for this day other than being open holiday hours now until the new year, I am sure it will be a wild time and grateful that I do not have to open or close the store today. Thankful for my coworkers.

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving dinner at Casa WereMonster included rotisserie chicken from EarthFare grocery, roasted fingerling potatoes & brussels sprouts, fresh brussels sprouts salad ala Mario Batali, and fresh baked baguette with goat cheese and lingon berry preserves. Not bad for a simple meal.

Today, we went to see Crimson Peak at the $2 cinema. Quite a good movie, though I admit the dialog in the first few minute of the screenplay could have been better. Still, it is surprising that it is already in the second run theaters now. It's a deeply Poe-Gothic tale and visual eye candy.  After the movie, we tried out another Blue restaurant in High Point - Lulu and Blu. MonsterMustDie had the gnochi and I had the mushroom flatbread. I think he got the better dish. Although he said the gnochi was perfectly cooked, it had too many peas in it. The flatbread was wonderfully crisp and light but the topping went too far on the tart side. The flavor shitaki mushrooms and arrugula were completely overrun by very tart goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Made my mouth pucker with every bite.

Thanksgiving Duckling

Roasting one up according Mark Bittman's instructions.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Getting my Thanksgiving Holiday together.
Thursday = a Hagley Thanksgiving
Friday - Holiday in Pell City, Alabama
Saturday = chick night with good friends at the Botanical Gardens Holiday Lights
Sunday = will my brother have a post Thanksgiving gathering for the Perry Family? Stay tuned.

Next - prepping the house and pantry for our annual Winter Solstice Party, one of my favorite events of the year.

last of this holiday

Spent most of today traveling to Pell City, AL to visit MonsterMustDie's mother and cousin, stopping at several antique malls on the way there. Nearly every place we stopped had a BBQ grill smoking outside, putting Mr. Monster in the mood for pork. So we took his mom to WallMart and then out to lunch at Golden Rule where I had the chicken lunch special (very dry, unfortunately), he had the pulled pork special, and his mom had a hamburger. Came back to her house and visited for a while before finally heading back to Atlanta.
Stopped on the way at the Grassy Knoll and visited for a while with Mrs. Lounge. Got to pat the furry beasties and chatted about books, food, family and animals.
Finally got home, unpacked the car, covered the herb planter to try to protect the plants from tonight's freezing low temperatures and picked the last few green tomatoes of the season and peppers off the plants. I'll fry what I have tomorrow night, along with other things, for dinner.

things to be thankful for

Good Health
Enough rain to start new grass seed I scattered around in empty patches
Good friends
Doc Martin shoes
A car that runs well

Thanksgiving 2009

We ate with Fun Lisa and her family in Suwanee. It is a family of aesthetics and comedians so we were entertained and well fed. MonsterMustDie actually cooked sweet potatoes today. He finally ate some of those poison orange vegetables. Of course, it was wrapped in meat. He found a way to prepare them in Mark Bitman's column in the NY Times - parboiled wedges wrapped in prosciuto with fresh sage leaves and finished by roasting in the oven with a bit of olive oil and a pinch salt. So that was our contribution to a dinner that included roast turkey & dressing, ham, brussel sprouts, fresh cranberry-orange relish, and traditional green bean casserole. Desert was pumpkin pie and Lisa's bourbon pecan pie.