Post Turkey and General Ketchup... er, Catch-Up

The cooking/cleaning/scramble is finished. What we had:

Turkey (we found a fabulous recipe several years ago that allows us to cook a 19 pound turkey in 3 hours (yes, 3) and come out just fab)
Ham topped with Cherries (by the MIL, who does it most excellently)
Artichoke & Parmesan dressing
Pumpernickel & turnip dressing
Gluten-free dressing for Alex
Cherry Tomato-Lemon salad
Mashed 'taters made with buttermilk
Brussel sprouts w/toasted pecans
Cranberry celebration (fancy cranberry sauce a la Fry's Food Store, only thing store-bought)
Deviled Eggs (my famous recipe)
Celery stuffed with Pimento Cheese
Sliced French Bread (whoops -- that was another store-bought [bakery] item)
Gluten-free pumpkin pie for Alex
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake Pie (came out better than I expected)
Cranberry Walnut Cake

We were, and are, very grateful for the lives we lead and the good company of family and friends. In addition to all that goodness, we stuck a single candle in the cake and sang Happy (79th) Birthday to my Dad.

I have, for the most part, caught up on the huge backload of work dumped on me last June at the office. Hopefully things go back into the realm of I-can-breathe again, and I'll have time to, say, work out once in awhile (thereby feeling better physically), use other lunchtimes to work on personal writing, etc. projects, and come home on time for a change. Coming home on time will mean I will ultimately be able to keep caught up here and get back on track with HIGHBORN, which has progressed a bit but not at the pace I want it to. I would like to have the first draft of it finished by the end of the year. That's my Big Goal.