Gratitude? Yeah, I got plenty of that. For my kids, for Brock, for my family, for my friends, for my boat, for my job, for my ridiculously fortunate life right now. As measured in love and happiness.

And I’m wishing all of you that same sense of Wow.

I’m off to work in a bit. Planes don’t stop just because there’s turkey on the table!

The newest appliance for KJ’s galley has been one of the best purchases in a long time. It’s such a hassle to fire up the generator anytime you want to bake a quick little batch of muffins or nachos or whatever. Remember, KJ’s oven is 220 and so it only works when the genny is running (Greg and I thought for the longest time that it didn’t even work).

The toaster oven is a perfect fit for two people and we’ve found that we use it just about daily. Thanks to my girl, K, for the brilliant suggestion.

I might end up wishing that we’d gone with a convection one, but space being the main consideration for now, this works.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-jv8g1YVI]

My love affair with my Roomba continues. I love doing dishes and vacuuming at the same time. Brock idolizes me for my cleaning skillz…it’s a new thing for him to have a woman who keeps a clean house.

Or an incredibly organized girl. Maybe both?

I labeled the pantry a couple of weeks ago, while I was still waiting for my fingerprints to come back with the FBI’s approval so I could start work. It actually makes shopping very easy, because you know instantly what you’re low on or completely out of. The port side of the pantry is similarly labeled. We always keep a running grocery list too (and Brock is so good about adding things when he uses the last of them ~ what a guy!), but this is a good quick visual check on anything we might not have. Yes, we use enough salsa that it has it’s own space. It’s still not my completely automated bar code system, but it’s a cheap, effective alternative!