TURKEY COUNT DOWN BEGAN THIS MORNING

So, I crazily suggested to my sister that we host an "orphans Thanksgiving" this year ... for all those folks that can't get home for the holidays. I was super excited about the idea of opening my home, humble and small and cat hair covered as it may be, to others to share the holiday.

Well, my excitement is waning ever so slightly as I think about the pressure related to preparing a bird ... the bird. My mother swears it's simple to prepare ... just seven hours of cooking, and the turkey is done and delicious ... but this is my first time cooking a whole turkey and there are people coming that I don't know and my house isn't big enough, it would seem, and there's an expectation to do more than just sit around and wait ... wait for the main dish to finish cooking.

Good grief!

So, I stuck the bird, hereto known as Tom, into the refrigerator this morning to begin the thawing process that my mother assures me will be complete by Thursday morning ... at the crack of dawn ... before the crack, really ... when I will have to stick the recently rinsed and rubbed Tom into the oven for the "day of cooking."

The countdown is on ... cross your fingers ...