26. make thanksgiving dinner alone

i'm really flying through this 52 in 52 list. i really hope i can actually finish it by the deadline, but i will still end up making a donation to susan g. komen because cancer sucks bad.

i'll admit humbly that it's mostly because i'm full of the awesome, but probably more so because i'd feel bad if i didn't donate and my only motivation to finish the list was so that i didn't have to donate. then i would be a horrible person.

on the scale of horrible people where 1 is peter (because he wasn't completely horrible, he just denied jesus 3 times) and 10 is osama bin laden (who was so horrible that he had to be buried at sea), i would be nestled comfortably between president bush (the one who golfs while simultaneously sending troops to war) and president clinton (the one who had sexual relations with that woman). i think that's accurate.

i cooked the entire thanksgiving meal (with the exception of the sweet potatoes my younger sister just had to make) alone. it was so refreshing. i just had time to myself and since i love cooking, i really enjoyed making such a huge meal.

because i've been having issues with allergic reactions, indigestion, and acid refluxy feelings, i decided to forego making homemade macaroni and cheese and stuck mostly to the earthy/grainy foods that aren't so horrible for everyone's cholesterol. here's the menu:

turkey
string beans
mashed potatoes
stuffing (or dressing, however you say it)
sauerkraut
cranberry sauce
corn muffins
deviled eggs
sweet potatoes*

typically we would add baked macaroni & cheese, collards, maybe cabbage, and yeast rolls to that list, but there were only 4 people in attendance this year: my mom, my sister, jesse, and myself. and later that evening, jesse and i went to his parents' house to eat their food. so everyone won, especially jesse and i.

this holiday also rocked for 2 additional reasons: 1, i got a 4 day weekend away from work that i spent mostly with friends and family (thanksgiving thursday, birthday dinner friday, birthday dinner saturday, and relaxation sunday), and...

i got jewelry!

jesse got me this really pretty, 10k white gold ring with 3 diamonds! and it's not even an engagement ring! he's awesome for a lot of reasons, but that's definitely at the top of the list now.

definitely. extra rings? who wouldn't be happy?