Orange, Texas...

Probably one of the most God-awful places I have had to work... EVER... talk about small towns, this place had a Chili's to eat and that was about it...

I stayed in the Hampton Inn which was pretty nice (brand new)... I did my work at the store and watched TV at night... pretty much sucked... no good food, no night life, just work and cows and fields...

Fun in Houston...

So my always glamorous work travels took me to southeast Texas this week... I made a pit stop in Houston for a night and had a blast... after flying all day long I checked into the Courtyard Downtown Houston for a night to explore and have a good time... Thank God I had enough Marriott Rewards to cover the stay.. the room was pretty upscale, with an amazing view...

I walked down the street to a happening bar and found these fun girls to dance with... had a blast and stumbled back to my hotel to get a few hours sleep before having to drive 3 hours to Orange, Texas... hmmm...

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So last week I had my buddies over to decorate the house for Christmas... we had drink and some awesome turkey soup while we put up the tree... it was a lot of fun...

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving was fun this year. Missed not having my Mom and Jim around but the house was still full of people I love... Sheri and the kids came this year so it was great having little ones running around...

This year I did my first fried turkey.... Basically you get a pot of boiling oil and slowly lower the bird in...

Not only have I heard that they are delicious but, they cook fast as well... this 18 pound turkey took just under 1 hour to cook in the bubbling peanut oil. The temperature has to be monitored the whole time so I will have to remember that I need someone out there watching next year...

When it's done you simply lift it out and let it drain... I used the thermometer to test all the thick areas and it was piping hot all the way through... and so crispy!

Bryce was bouncing around in the kitchen waiting for me to slice the bird up...

The skin was crunchy - just like fried chicken - and the meat (including the white) was very moist and tender... 12 people ate about 15 pounds of turkey... pretty impressive

I really scaled back this year, but we still had all the favorites; mashed potatoes...

Rich turkey gravy (I had to make it by baking the neck and giblets)

Cranberries

Sweet potato casserole... yuk... I'm glad the others liked this - not my favorite...

Stuffing from the crock pot - super moist and bouncy...

and of course we could never go without the green bean casserole...

It was quite a spread...

The table was quiet for a while as everyone gobbled...

After all the eating we played with the kids and just relaxed...

We have so much to be thankful for in this country...

Thanksgiving Prep...

Ugg no mom to help me this year...(familiar? hmmm) got all my prep work done by myself for a party of 12 the next day...

What a spotless floor... I should go with less furniture... looks nice...

Vegas Vacation...

So much has happened recently that I just needed to get away from it all so I booked a flight to Vegas... I stayed at the Luxor and was honestly a little disappointed with the room.. it was moderately clean and semi-nicely appointed but still showing it's age...

I got together with a buddy and played some craps, but mostly relaxed and read a book.... it was nice to get away for a few days without worrying about the CRAP going on at home...

Happy Birthday Michelle!

So last weekend was Michelle's birthday; Shelly and I took her out for a night of drinking and dancing - we had such a blast... of course we had to take cute pictures before we left... Man we look good for a bunch of old people!

Needless to say that we tore up the dance floor... guess we still got it...