Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US! It was a good week full of family, lots of food, and a bit of activity. The kids were back home from college for a few days and it was wonderful to have them around. I loved the noise in the house. The holiday season is in full swing now. I was out of routine and didn’t get my gym visits in, but oh well, there’s always next week! I ran 16 miles, did some strength work, and my ski conditioning workouts. Here’s what else happened this week….
Mon – 3.25 miles. I decided to switch it up today and run at the park. The leaves were crunchy and it was a bit frosty. So pretty!
Hair day! I mentioned to my stylist that brown hair made me sad. Well, be careful what you say. LOL Quite a bit of blond in this round of highlights!
Tues – Rest day! After 5 days of running it was time for a rest day. In fact, the only exercise I did today was 6 mins of stretching in the morning! It was a dreary day outside, but so exciting because my son came home from college for Thanksgiving break. Yay!!
Weds – 6 miles. I’m surprised I didn’t get blown off the road on today’s run! It was soooooo windy. After the run we went out for donuts. It was 9:30am, which I didn’t think was too late, but the donut selection told a different story. Many of our favorites were sold out already, not even worthy of a picture!
In the afternoon we went bowling. The first game was not that great, by which I mean we barely scored 50 (winner got 99). But, the second game went decent (for us). My son won with 138. That’s pretty good for us! Despite being total amateurs we had a good time.
And for dinner… tacos. Yes, today had all the things I loved.
But wait there’s more. On the way home my son mentioned his girlfriend wanted to go climbing. Do I want to join them? At first I said No, because… well, tacos and a margarita. But what the heck, why sure, let’s go climbing! My hand was still feeling a little janky from my bike incident last week, but overall with bowling and climbing it did pretty good, which surprised me.
Thurs – 2.6 miles. Happy Thanksgiving! We joined our friends for a run and breakfast down by the river. It was a little tough to get the kids out of bed for a cold 8am run (31 degrees!) but they were troopers. Everyone could run whatever distance they wanted and then we all enjoyed the yummy food. So much yummy food! This is the 13th year for this get together. I have been to several of them. I’m thankful to be included in this great group of people!
We got a 23.5 lb turkey this year for Thanksgiving dinner. There was initial concern that it wouldn’t fit into our double oven, but it did and it turned out good! Dinner was a success.
My favorite part of the meal? A butter turkey!! So cute.
My cranberry fluff was not well received though. Apparently I made the same recipe last year and no one but me liked it. Then it was the butt of all of the jokes when we played games after dinner. I made a calendar note to “future me” to make something different next year!
Fri – My knee is complaining a bit again, so no running today. Instead I did abs, stretching, exercises for runner’s knee, and a ski workout.
Sat – 4 miles. Knee feeling a bit better today. No issues while running and I made it a point to NOT be the person hauling the Christmas tubs filled with decorations up and down the basement stairs. I also got a lot of rest watching the Ohio State vs Michigan game. We were so happy to see the Buckeyes win after a losing streak to Michigan since 2019. Woohoo!
Most of the house got decorated and it looks very festive.
Luckily we spent the early part of the day raking up and mulching the rest of the leaves in our yard because we got hit with snow! It made our Christmas lights even more magical.
Sun – Saying goodbye to the kids as they head back to college. Boo! And finishing up the decorations and cleaning up the aftermath. It has been a good week.
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Have you ever heard of a dessert called “fluff”?
I have a feeling it’s a midwestern thing 🙂 Cool whip, marshmallows, etc.
That’s a huge turkey! We do a 15lb one on the Weber grill — but there’s only 6 of us.
LOL on the cranberry fluff backlash. Is it made with Jell-O mix too?
Your decorations look so pretty — the snow does add the perfect touch.
I forgot to tell the backstory on that turkey… Alan picked it out when we were grocery shopping together. He loves turkey! I didn’t see it until it got home! I thought for sure it wasn’t going to work. The fluff is made with cool whip, cranberries, pineapples and marshmallows. My family was grossed out by it. LOL!!
I love the blonde! It’s fun.
I’ve heard of fluff but I can’t really picture it so I googled it. TBH it probably wouldn’t be my favorite, but I’d at least try it.
I love that your cat joined the family photo! Last summer we took a siblings and spouses picture and Doggo insisted on being in the picture, although of course she was looking the other way.
Last year both cats were very good around the decorations and tree (shocking!) but this year the Siamese is already getting into mischief. We were getting in his way of the tree which is why he was in the picture. haha!
I always try to make one new thing for Thanksgiving and every year it is not well received. Apparently everyone only wants traditional dishes!
Sounds like you had a fantastic week and Thanksgiving, and are getting a good handle on your Christmas decorating! I’ve worked on mine all weekend… I loved watching the OSU and Michigan game yesterday while decorating – loved the snow and that OSU broke their losing streak against Michigan.
Oh my goodness, my grandmother used to make fluff and I’d forgotten all about it. Needless to say, it’s a tradition I haven’t carried forward. LOL
Fluff is one of those old timey kind of recipes for sure! Along with Jello salads 🙂 I am ahead of the game so far this year – I just finished Christmas shopping for my husband!
Sounds like a fun and busy week of family time! Congrats to the turkey trotters getting out in the cold this year. I had the same turkey shaped butter which was a hit. I forgot to buy cranberry sauce-does anyone eat it anyway?! My travelers got stuck here due to the snow in Chicago!
It was a bit of a hard sell to get my daughter up and running on Thanksgiving. The night before she said 31 degrees was too cold and she wasn’t going to go! Not to mention getting up before 9am. I’m glad they both decided to go.
I’m a Midwesterner, so I have heard of fluff, LOL! I actually like it, but I have a horrendous sweet tooth. I watched most of the OSU/MI game…it looked SO cold there, and all the snow on the field!
Go team fluff! It did look very cold at the OSU/MI game! Snow was the perfect touch because we were also decorating the house. I did know a few people who went to the game but I think it was better to be in my warm house watching it 🙂
It looks like a fun holiday week! Don’t you just love when the kids are all home? Yes, I’ve heard of fluff, but my purist husband and my sister would never entertain such a thought. Pish posh, am I right? That is a huge turkey but I love all things turkey, so it wouldn’t go to waste here.
Love the blonde hair.
My husband does love turkey (I’m a ham fan!). That big bird was his purchase. And we also have that turkey which was won at the turkey trot prediction race, so he’s pretty happy.
The picture of fluff looked pretty good in the recipe I used, but in real life it was a bit odd. Some of my guests wouldn’t even try it. Rude! 🙂
Yay! One of the best things about having kids in college is how festive Thanksgiving feels when they come home. Sounds like you had a great week. I love the informal “Turkey Trot/potluck” (what a great idea).
I need more info about this “fluff.” Does it have marshmallows? I’m going to google it. Your family’s reaction was funny.
oh yes, it’s a marshmallow, cool whip, cranberry and pineapple combination. It looks a bit odd but I think it’s pretty good. We all had a lot of laughs making fun of it while we played games that night. I don’t take it personally, to each his own!
It looks so cold where you are!! It sounds like you had such a lovely Thanksgiving with running, then that fab dinner with family and friends. As for the workouts, holiday weeks are always out of routine and as you say there’s always next week.
I think you look great as a blonde!
Sometimes I get lowlights and highlights in my hair around this time of year, but I really don’t care for the dark colors. But I guess it’s needed at some point so my hair isn’t entirely light blond. She surprised me a bit with the super blond in the front!
It has been pretty cold lately especially with the winds. It might be too early for Christmas snow though, but hopefully the snow will stick around for a bit!
nope. never heard of Fluff.
That is a big Turkey.
Glad your knee pain was minor.
I love your blonde hair too!
I’m still doing exercises for my knee. It has it’s good days and bad days. Nothing major though. Just slightly sore and a lot annoying!
What on earth is cranberry fluff??? I made a cranberry sugar pie one year and it was as if I’d committed some kind of atrocity. People do NOT like change ups on the holiday. Pumpkin and apple only in the future.
That butter turkey is everything, though!
I also adore your tradition of a run and breakfast! I would totally be down for something like that!
Ha we went bowling too! And yay for the Buckeye win. It’s about time! A lot of my husband’s family was excited. I’m not from here, but I have to root for ohio! Sounds like a great week. It must be sad to see the kids go, but hopefully they’ll be home for the holidays soon!