It’s here! Thanksgiving eve. We have done a lot to get ready over the last four weeks. Just take a look.

It’s time to start cooking. How do you feel? Excited? I am.

I’m really looking forward to some of our favorites. In my family, it’s always been the tradition to make the pies the night before. This saves time and keeps a lot of traffic out of the oven bottleneck. Additionally, unlike many other items made on Thanksgiving, pies are often much less forgiving of a moment’s distraction. Heather, distracted? Say it isn’t so!

Other items could be done today without adding too much pressure. Please note that these are options, not suggestions, to turn today into a cooking marathon.

If you are making a...

Hi.

Today’s will be short and sweet.

If you have been playing along, we are switching from planning to doing. If you need to catch up, click here.

You don’t like going to the store when it’s full of people, do you? Me neither. I also want to ensure that I have no reason to try to find any place open on Thanksgiving (nor do I want to encourage non-essential places to be open.

So, how do I ensure this in a household of eight? Aside from mostly empty threats, verbal reminders, and angry glares?

Labels. Yes. It is that simple.

A sharpie marker and tape.

Do not eat. Not yours. This is for Thanksgiving. YOU will buy more of this.

It helps that most of our kids now have jobs and are becoming more aware of how money...

Welcome back. It’s the last weekend before the holiday. With all the preparation we’ve accomplished so far, you should be able to pretty much stay out of the supermarket except for a quick trip for the weekly necessities. Isn’t it funny how everyone insists on eating the rest of the time?. If you need to catch up on what we have covered so far in the countdown, here you go.

Decorating is such a personal decision. Socioeconomics, culture, and family traditions all drive these decisions. In Heather’s house, Christmas decorations don’t start to come out until well into December, while Lisa’s home is already fully decorated.

Whatever your choices are, if you plan on having some decorations up in time for...

Hi there!

We are now in the home stretch of our series. If you need a review of everything we have covered so far to get ready, here you go. You have done a lot.

Yes, you still have the actual cooking to do, but you have a plan,. Yes, you may have some less-than-perfect relationships to navigate, but you’ve got boundaries in place and plans of action to handle them, too.

In the end, it’s just one more day. One more day with a lot of good food.

Everything is going to be fine.

Better than fine because there will be pie. (Or, in my case, because there’s going to be andouille sausage cornbread dressing, but we all have what we look forward to.)

What are we doing today, brain?

Well, no, that’s later.

...

Psst hey. We’ve got one week left.

How is your house looking? Is the table still clear?

Excellent. You’ve got this, but just in case you are joining us, here’s a list of everything we have covered in our Countdown to Turkey Day.

Yesterday’s task was to confirm the number of guests, as it gives a good idea when it comes to planning how many drinks we need to have on hand for guests, both alcoholic and non.

Our personal friend works with Responsibility.org, and it is a mission we support. Please check it out if you have any questions about making responsible choices when hosting and serving alcohol.

Here are a few easy beverages good for your Thanksgiving Holiday. Please note that some of these may be better...