Reality Star

I used to like watching Little People, Big World because I was fascinated that Amy Roloff didn't seem to mind the world seeing her messy house.

My interest has waned as the stars have ever-increasingly added to their net worth, and let the things that initially mattered the most to them fall by the wayside.  They now have lots of things (big house, professional organizers, cleaners, decorators, and cars galore), but their marriage relationship is a mess.  And whatever happened to college for those two boys?  Hopefully the sensible daughter will stay... well, sensible.

Back to reality.

Right now my kitchen looks a lot like the Roloff kitchen at it's worst.  I'll spare you the gory pictures.

I am un-showered, mealy, and covered with this, that, and the other.  Mostly sugar and flour.

My head hurts from hitting it yesterday on the big steel beam that runs down the middle of our crawl space.  

My eyes hurt from wearing my glasses all day.  

My legs hurt from endless standing in the kitchen.

Garth Brooks (he's still around?) is crooning on Oprah in the background as my children nap on the couch and floor.  I'm trying to remember why I used to LOVE him.  These days, the country twang just doesn't appeal to me.  It grates on my nerves a bit.  Okay, a lot.

I'm gearing up to head back into the kitchen to complete my tasks of the day.  Then, hopefully, I will soak in a bath of steaming scented water as candles flicker around.  In my freshly-scrubbed tub.  Reality at it's (almost) best.

The reality stars of my kitchen at the moment:

 Brining turkey.  Doesn't look so pretty right now.

 Semi-homemade apple pie.  Pillsbury made the crust.  Turned out a little dark.

 Homemade rolls.  My kids used to laugh at my rolls.  Now they are begging to eat them.

 Pie shell waiting for chocolate cream.  Or coconut cream.  The other shell shrunk like crazy, so I'm contemplating baking ANOTHER one, and using the bad one for the leftover pie filling I know I'll have.  Then we can sample tonight.  Which is better anyway, because tomorrow we'll all be too stuffed to fully appreciate the desserts.

Pumpkin roll.  Waiting for cream cheese filling.  I might need to make another one of those too, since they are the favorite of my children.  Although this is actually the second one I've baked today... the first one stuck in the pan, making more day-before-Thanksgiving samples.

So, before I can hit the tub, I still need to bake another pie crust, make two varieties of cream fillings, make some kind of jello salad, and decide if I'm going to make another pumpkin roll OR if I should just make a pumpkin pie.  THEN clean the kitchen.  Maybe coax someone else into mopping the sticky floor.  Reality at it's... realest.

Today I am thankful for:

family

a great marriage relationship

a terrific-smelling house

a daughter on her way home

a holiday to give thanks

clean bathtubs