What a day!!

I woke up this morning at 6:30 am, thinking “I have so much to cook, how will I get it all done.”

We’re down in Florida, in a rental house, with a minimalist kitchen, and a dinner for nine to cook.

And we never got the leeks!!

The leeks were an integral part of Dad’s lovely sweet potato soup, but – Whole Foods was sold out last night! They recommended Publix, the local grocer, and I headed back to our townhouse with a stop at the Publix on the way. I arrived, and parked, and walked up to the door, only to discover that they had closed just seconds before I arrived. Rats. And they had a sign up saying that they wouldn’t be open on Thanksgiving day.

So, this morning, I was stressing about what to cook first, knowing that I had to make all the sides and desserts before we committed the one oven in the house to the turkey, which was bought and in the hands of our niece, and planned to be delivered to us at 10am.

What did I make?

• two pumpkin pies
• two apple pies
• garnet yam kugel (turned out to be a big hit!)
• mashed potatoes (a must)
• salad (I think we forgot to eat this)
• homemade gravy

I had more, but we all were sufficiently stuffed, and, best of all, we all had a lovely time chatting, and catching up.

Immediately after dinner, and before dessert, I went out with the three boys to the pool, and we swam and played catch and laughed.

Now, with the in-laws gone, and the kids asleep, I feel content and happy that our vacation is going well. Yes, there are tensions in the background. But, I hope that we can recognize their relative importance, and, living with the doubt and uncertainty of various outside factors, we can still relish the time that we have here.

Because I’m loving that I can spend the day here in central Florida with short sleeves and shorts on. And I can swim in an outdoor pool.

We have one more day at Disney, and, unlike our dear friends, we don’t have that day planned out, but I know it will be fun!!

More tomorrow…