planning and prepping

Yesterday was fun -- lots of fun. Nick and I were up early working on menus and shopping lists, while the kids slept. By about 11:30 everyone was up, and hungry, and consensus was reached that going to a dinner for breakfast was the way to go. We found ourselves at Maid Marian's diner, where our group ordered dishes including the Sherwood Forest Special and similarly-themed breakfast plates. Very generous and very cheap -- whole plates of eggs, toast, potatoes (pronounced of course as "padadas") for about $5.

From there to the magical kingdom of Sobeys for the shopping. The kids love it there, and we managed to find everything -- even the more obscure ingredients -- plus the ridiculous number of snacks everyone needs to have at their fingertips.

In the afternoon, everything was put away and we split into groups. Liv and Nikki went to the tatoos place: for Nikki there were some revisions she needed and --horror of horrors -- an empty spot on her back. Liv only wanted her cartilage pierced. Matt and Jamie played games, Nick and I read until we joined them for a pretty funny game of Catch Phrase, which we only stopped because of a drop-by from Randy and Allison, who brought us some homemade candy and got to chat with us and the kids.

Dinner at Lot 30 in Charlottetown, driving through fog so thick it reminded me of nothing but "Long Day's Journey." Dinner was excellent and everyone really enjoyed it.

By the time we got home it was after 10 and Nick and I retired to bed while the kids stayed up and hung out. Don't expect to see them for a few hours. Shortly I'll start the cooking -- I want to do the stuffing and all the sides this morning so we can devote the afternoon to the turkey. It's my first one; even with all the Thanksgivings I've done I've been spared the actual turkey -- my mom and aunt always provided. So we'll figure it out, using the many magazines we've brought here.

Dinner will be interrupted when the neighbors gather at our house for a tradition that includes putting up the holiday signs and a parade which culminates at someone's home for hot drinks. The kids may not join but out of neighborliness we will, and we'll invite them to tomorrow's wine/beer and cheese gathering (downgraded from a cocktail party after we realized that we'd like to do this in a way as nice as possible with the least possible amount of work.)

O Canada!