A Good Day!

Oh ... it has been a good ... good day!

This morning, I woke to the smell of a turkey cooking in the oven. Seriously. My husband came home from work last night at 11:30pm and put a turkey in the oven. He seared (is that a cooking word?) it for 30 minutes at 450 degrees and then turned the oven down to 200 degrees and went to bed. (He did this because our air conditioner still does not work, and he didn't want to heat up the house during the day!)Now ... I've heard stories about people getting sick and dying from eating a bird cooked that way ... but good news! We're not dead.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

After getting up, I let the dogs out to relieve themselves, and I checked my blackberry bush. FINALLY. One berry (that I've been checking daily all week) was perfectly ripe and ready to pick. YUM! I ate it and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was PERFECT and sweet and firm and juicy. YAY! Maybe tomorrow there will be enough to top my cereal. And, we have a HUGE crop this year.

Then, I took my daughter to the second day of volleyball team tryouts. STRESS. She was supposed to find out the coaches decision at 2:15, but the coaches decided to announce their decisions at Noon, and not only did she make the Junior Varsity team (YAY!!!) apparently the coach made a big deal about her efforts as well. What a rewarding experience for her!! You see, instead of playing volleyball in middle school, she chose to play two years of boys' football (seriously). And, she did quite well, even played a starting position for awhile. But, this put her at a disadvantage for entering girls' volleyball at the high school level with no experience. So, last year, we put her in a couple of volleyball camps and worked with her throughout the summer. But, sadly, last year she didn't make the final cut for the team. I was impressed with her positive attitude toward the experience. She took it as motivation and continued to work on her skills all throughout the year. We saw this as parents, and decided to invest heavily in her volleyball camps this summer to do everything in our power to help her make the team. She continued to work super hard all summer, and it really paid off today. The coach even told the freshman today who were cut that they shouldn't just quit. They should work on their skills and come back and try again next year, because that's what a sophomore did (he was talking about Katie!) and she made the JV team today.

YAY!! I couldn't be more thrilled. Her joy is my joy.

So, my mom, my daughter, and I went and got pedicures and manicures to celebrate Katie's volleyball success. But, between you and me, I planned to take her for this special treat today regardless of the coaches' decision!! :) My 69 year old mother had never had a pedicure before, and she nearly fell asleep in the chair she was so relaxed and pampered. That was awesome.

It's been a great day.

We had Thanksgiving dinner around 2pm ... the turkey cooked over 12 hours at 200 degrees (ha ... turkey in August) with homemade gravy (made from only Rice Milk, Flour, Pepper, and Turkey Juices) and red potatos. We added no salt, no butter, and it was so delicious. YUM!! We've since packaged up all of the turkey meat into 3 ounce portions for our Flat Belly Diet menus, and now I'm boiling the carcass to make delicious soups. Double Yum.

It was such a great day, that not even a woman threatening to take me to court over a mishap with a cell phone can ruin my day!!

*sigh*

I hope your day was great, too!