It's going to be a long week...

I have a feeling I'm not going to do much blogging this week - fair warning. I volunteered to babysit Mr. B an extra day this week, so he'll be here with me on Monday and Tuesday. His mom is taking Wednesday and Friday off, but he will be here on Thursday for Thanksgiving, of course!

Today (Monday) the weatherman says it's going to be 70 degrees! Oh my! Mr. B and I will be outside as much as possible. This is probably the last warm day of the year. I still have not hung the Christmas lights outside, so today may be the day! I hope we also have time to do a Thanksgiving craft - name tags for our Thanksgiving table.

On Tuesday, we are taking Mr. B's friend, Mr. M, to an incredible place called "Go Play Cafe". It's one of those indoor climbing playground, but it's four stories tall! That is some serious fun time for a four year old, believe me. Unfortunately, there's not always kids there for Mr. B to make friends with, so it will be nice to take his new best friend from school with us. I guarantee I will bring back two very tired little boys after two hours at this place.

On Wednesday, I have no Mr. B., but do have Thanksgiving prep and house prep. Some dusting and vac'ing are in order, probably picking up Lego's from under furniture and in strange places. Need to make a pie and some rolls, and probably Mr. B's macaroni and cheese (from scratch) for Thursday. Jeff will go pick up the fresh turkey I ordered.

Our Thanksgiving menu is very traditional - Roast turkey with sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, brocolli with cheese sauce, peas, corn, homemade rolls and butter, green bean casserole, and apple pie.

After dinner is our second tradition. Jeff and I take all the leftovers and make "TV Dinners". We put together complete dinners in aluminum pie plates and freeze them. We normally get 10 to 12 dinners this way (yes, I cook lots of extra T-Day dinner on purpose). When I need a fast meal, I just pop two of these out of the freezer and cook them in the oven at 375 for about 30 to 45 mins.

The day after Thanksgiving this year Jeff has to work (and will work most of the weekend), so Friday will be my first "day off". I'll make Turkey soup that day, which we'll have with homemade bread. I'll make enough to put four or five more meals' worth in the freezer.

Thinking about it now, it would be a good idea to take everything out of my freezer before Thursday, and inventory it and re-organize it. By Friday night, my freezer will be pretty full and I need to know what's in there for future meal planning.

I have several new favorite blogs, but one in particular is filled with such great organization and budget ideas that I want to share it with you. It's called "Anita's Hints, Tips, Tutorial, and Frugal Living Blog". She has an excellent system for organizing her freezer. This is a lady that has a LOT of wisdom to share. Do check her out.

I won't do menu planning this week, as dinners will be out of the freezer and easy while Mr. B is here, take out on Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday, turkey soup on Friday, leftovers all weekend.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and don't forget - give Thanks!