The perfect turkey, a little dancing and getting back to work...

Yesterday, I might have made the best turkey in the three years that I've been making turkeys. It was a combo of things that made it delicious. I used a dry rub from eatingwell.com, an article from the magazine and of course my Joy of Cooking that I got a few year's ago. But what really made it work was the meat thermometer that I bought this past Thanksgiving. It's really amazing how you can get the turkey to come out just right - with the help of basting, turning and a thermometer(!) Everyone's dishes were fantastic. We had arranged carpools to get Katie out of the Central District (she miraculously ended up catching a bus which got her to Greenwood.) Lara made green bean casserole with fresh beans and cream of portobello. Dani made a fantastic berry cobbler and used real potatoes in the cheesy potato dish. (Katie bought pumpkin cheesecake from the store, but it was still tasty!) Everything was delicious and it was just the perfect amount of company and food to make it a wonderful evening with stranded peeps.

After eating ourselves silly and watching Wall-e (super cute) - we headed off to Neighbors for Thursday night dancing - even on Christmas night. It took a while for the DJ to warm up and even longer for the crowd to gather. It was a really good time - I went home exhausted from standing on my feet and eating all day.

Today I went to work - though we technically had it off - to get out of the house. Since the snow storm started last Thursday, I've only actually made it to work one day - Tuesday. Like a million other people in the Puget Sound, I had cabin fever,bed sores from getting enough sleep for once, and wanted to be doing something more than just eat, watch movies, and trump through the snow (though it wasn't that bad.) I managed to work for a couple of hours and skip around downtown during lunch. I was thrilled to see so many people downtown. I had been angry with the city when I actually made it to work on Tuesday because of all the snow on the streets - tons of it. Very little signs of snow plows, no shovels, or anything. In such a crappy economy, it's important for the city to support your downtown. (Coming from a city with very little "downtown" life - you need to have a vibrant downtown. It draws people to the city. It's a very positive characteristic). I was happy to skip around in the rain and see all of the people out... even if I was at work.