Happy Thanksgiving!.....Er, I mean Halloween!

So you all might be in the Halloween mode, but here in Nashville, we've just celebrated Thanksgiving! My inlaws have been in town for a week and while they were here, we wanted to have Thanksgiving together. So last Saturday, we went all out and celebrated with the works. It was my first Thanksgiving dinner and I was so nervous! I had planned out my recipes, bought all the ingredients, timed out my day - I was set! And I'm happy to report it went off without a hitch!! I made my first Turkey, which after a little help from Sherry, was fairly easy. Though I have to admit, pulling the insides out from a raw bird always makes me a little gaggy....(uh-hum). But after that, I was sailing. I also made mashed red potatoes with onions and chives, brown-sugar glazed baby carrots (per Jason's request), green bean casserole, gravy, and homemade rolls. Jason went and bought a honey-baked ham and Grandma made the stuffing. We had so much food it was awesome :-) What am I saying? We STILL have so much food! The night before I also made a double-layer pumpkin cheesecake, a regular pumpkin cheesecake and a pumpkin pie. Josh didn't end up coming over, so it turned out to be myself and Jason, Jerry & Sherry, Grandma and our friend Roxanne. It was such a good time and I was stuffed for 2 days. Now we have plenty of turkey and ham for weeks - which you know what that means dad, turkey sandwichs!!! I also got to decorate the table and apartment for the holidays, which is probably one of the highlights of the holidays. Jason and I had a blast hosting the thanksgiving meal at our home for the family.

Tonight is our last night with the Keiths and Grandma. I'm making Pasta Fagoli and Cornbread for dinner and Sherry is giving me a lesson on how to use the sewing machine they bought me for my birthday. She also gave me a book on how to use it, so that is my next project, is to read the book and get on the machine, then I can get started on learning how to make some super cute quilts. We also have a puzzle we've been working on - a must for family vacations together :-) Another thing we've been doing with them, is driving them through the different areas of town to see the houses. They've seen LaVergne, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, East Nashville, Murfreesboro, Lebanon, Brentwood, Franklin, Ashland City, Belle Meade....and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others. Jason and I have our fingers crossed, cause we're hoping they fall in love with the city and eventually move here in a couple years.

Other news on the homefront is Jason had a meeting with Sony again this week. It was encouraging, because they suggested some independent labels that he should meet with in regards to getting a publishing/writing deal. I think Abbey (his contact at Sony) gave him close to 6 different labels to check out. Also, Nick and Jason finished their demo of the song they've been preparing to pitch for Little Big Town's manager Rindy Lovelady, I believe the song is called "Thinkin' Out Loud". Nick dropped it off on Friday at Rindy's office and Rindy called Nick over the weekend to tell him that he's been out of the office in St. Louis for the World Series, but that when he got back in town he would listen to the CD. We put "Thinkin' Out Loud", "Right Where We Belong" and "I Can't" on the CD Nick gave to him. Really pray for favor that Rindy would love at least one of the songs and put one on hold for Little Big Town. Jason also finished another song recently that he wrote with Jeff Batson and the bass player for Mark Chestnutt's band, its called "Our Love Ain't Dead, But It's Dying". The bass player, who I can't remember his name for the life of me, played this song for Mark Chestnutt and he loved it. He said he would love to cut it, the only problem is, Mark is not signed with a label at the moment. Even though, he may not cut it right away or even at all, it was a huge compliment to Jason that Mark loved the song. We're hoping when the demo is finished, that we can pitch the song for George Strait, that is unless something works out for Mark Chestnutt before then.

Some other upcoming things to note - next Monday, Nicholas Sparks releases his latest novel, Dear John. I have my copy already reserved at the library :-) And this coming weekend is the flea market, so maybe Jason and I will run down to the fairgrounds and see if we find any good deals.


Halloween is next Tuesday - our plan so far is that Jason has requested the night off, since it will be super slow at Mortons and then we're going to rent "What Lies Beneath" and eat popcorn. It'll be our own little scary movie night where we dodge the trick-or-treaters. Why might you ask? Because those darn trick-or-treaters have really gotten on my nerves the last few years. Am I the only one, or have you noticed that the kids are getting greedier and its probably from the example of seeing the ADULTS trick or treating! Teenagers is one thing, but adults - for real? Good Lord people, get a job!!! I have literally opened the door at my parents house and given out candy to the little kids and they stand there shaking their bag and still holding it out - like I was skimping out on them. Argh! This is definately a pet peeve of mine - can you tell? The little, little ones though in their costumes couldn't be cuter. As a matter of fact, in honor of the holiday, if you have a picture of a little one or cute kid in a costume, or even yourself, send it to me by email at steppincloser@hotmail.com and I will post it on the blog at Halloween! Even if the picture is from years ago! I know we've got a cute picture of Jason in a costume from when he was little that I'll be posting. I've posted a couple of pics from kids on the internet in costumes that I thought were pretty darn cute. Jess, I thought you and Ben might like the little fighter pilot!


Also don't forget Friday night the 1966 classic of "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!" will air on ABC at 8/7 central. That's a classic for all of us growing up and I haven't seen it in forever, so I'm planning on catching it.