TURKEY DAY - the results

Banana Cream Pie

Aunt Geri's Chocolate Mousse Cake

Aunt Geri's NY Cheesecake

Wouldn't you know, I got so carried away with dessert that I forgot to take a picture of the turkey!

Family, food, and music...that's what I'm thankful for this year.

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the kitchen...

a mess we were making, to taste we were itchin'.

A cake to be frozen, a mousse to be chilled,

but that's for tomorrow, tonight it's dinner that thrilled!

Preparations for the big feast...we were in charge of dessert:

the bigger the mess, the more fun we had baking!

Mushroom, onion, swiss burgers:

Baby spinach salad with goat cheese, blueberries, butternut squash and champagne vinegar dressing:

Yeah, we eat on the fancy china...

The journey of a thousand miles...

Begins with a single step. So I'm taking one, a big one.

Wait for it...yes, I've finally done it. I finally got a haircut, the

first since I've been back in the US.

That may sound crazy to you, but this is a totally traumatizing

prospect for me.

I've been having my hair cut by the same person for the past 11

years; the thought of having to find someone new now that I've moved has been a scary one.

Fortunately, I had some moral support, and the reality that even abad haircut would look better than how my hair had been

looking.

Before:

and after:

Catching up...

No, not on sleep, but finally on blogging. Maybe someday sleep will come...for now, at least I can get you guys caught up on my relocation to the US. As you can see, I finally finished posting pictures from vacation, and what you can't see, because I've been negligent in my photography, is that I'm mostly settled into my apartment and job. So first, my apartment. It's starting to feel like home now that I've been doing a little baking. In the past week there were two batches of granola (wild blueberry almond and vanilla raisin), Aunt Geri's famous cheesecake, pumpkin bread, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and oatmeal raisin cookies. I'm all unpacked and organized, and I suspect once I hang pictures on the walls the place will look like mine. My piano is here, and I'm working on getting back into the habit of playing, with a little encouragement from my own personal rock star/pianist/teacher. My bedroom and living room look onto the lake, which is as lovely in the fall as it was in the summer. And I couldn't ask for a better commute, about 6 miles round trip. I'm about 45 minutes to an hour from most of my family, which has been great for catching up with everyone. Mahopac is a cute little town where everyone is really friendly.

Better than my apartment is my job. I love teaching at Mahopac. When I decided to move back home, I kept saying that I wished I could pick up Ballston Spa and relocate it "downstate." I kind of feel like that wish came true. I teach four sections of English 9, with a writing lab. My kids are sweet and fun, and I feel at home teaching there. My colleagues are also kind, helpful, and hilarious. I enjoy being in the department office with everyone. Teaching at 7:30am again is a little rough, especially with my insomnia, but the days go by fast in 42 minute periods. Can you believe next week is the end of first quarter??? So far, we've gone through Oedipus, Antigone, and The Odyssey and now we're working on writing the first critical lens essay of the year. Spring will lead us to research papers and Romeo and Juliet. After delving into existentialists and post-modernists last year, I'm thrilled to be hanging out in the classics again. School has definitely been keeping me busy. We have professional development classes in the evenings, and plenty of opportunities to chaperone - I'll be at the school musical, Footloose, next week.

In addition to the insanity of my school schedule, which has wreaked havoc with my yoga schedule and provided me a wonderful set of excuses for not running, my weekends have been crazy too. Most weekends I travel. After flying nearly 30 hours each direction to come home from Bulgaria, driving 3-4 hours just doesn't seem so intimidating. I haven't taken advantage of being close to the city as much as I'd like, but that's about to change. I have made several pilgrimages upstate though. I escape to Ithaca and Albany, to family and friends. It's nice to visit, to relax, to eat out, and to enjoy the beauty of New York. I may be singing a different song when the snow comes, but for now, the drives have been really pretty. Soon, my traveling will slow down and I hope to be doing more hosting. Many of you may remember that in addition to baking, I like to cook. There is an open invitation for dinner parties. Come on over!

That's it in a nutshell. I'm glad to be home. There are elements about life in Europe that I miss. Certainly I long a little bit for the Never-Never Land aspect of dorm life that my friends and I had, the nights up on the rooftop of the Spaghetti Company, and the fact that 4 hours of travel landed me in Western Europe or someplace equally cool (as opposed to Ithaca), but that's a worthwhile trade to be close to my family, in a land of great pizza, great deli, and great bakery, and watching the Yankees about to begin (what I hope) is the final game in their 27th World Series win!

Christmas List

A while back I posted this must have item. I still don't have it, but you better believe it's on my Christmas list. This time around, I'm posting the floss with its friend, the adorable bag that would be just perfect for school. (Hint, hint.) But the true purpose of this post is for the beanie. Seriously, how much more perfect can something be? The big question is do we go chocolate/strawberry or vanilla/vanilla? Hmmm...

http://www.mcphee.com/shop/search.php?search_query=cupcake&x=0&y=0

http://fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=3978&cat=366&bf=hs#