The best part of Thanksgiving Dinner is the leftovers. Of all the holidays, it’s the one I really like to host. Turkey soup the day after while we start our Christmas decorating is a tradition I love. Carols playing and the scent of turkey wafting through the house while we lug box after box of decorations from the basement is the ultimate in holiday cheer.

While the masses are out clogging the stores, we’re decorating the tree, laughing at the ungodly amount of ornaments we have, and remembering where each one came from and the story behind it. We really do have a lot of ornaments – 22 years of collecting – and it doesn’t appear that we’re done, yet. There’s at least a half-dozen that are making their debut this year.

Our ornaments are the reason we finally switched to an artificial tree. Real trees just couldn’t keep up with our growing collection – not to mention how dry they got by New Year’s Day.

Floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall – we decorate. Every room has a tree, every room has decorations. And every year we switch it up a bit. Once upon a time, the tree went in the window. It meant completely redoing the entire room, and running another cable line for the TV. Now, it goes in the corner and the rocking chair goes down to the basement. It’s a lot easier, but the room doesn’t get the deep-clean it used to get when every single piece of furniture found a new home. I’ll live with the dust under the couch.

Decorating can really work up an appetite – and leftovers are just the cure! Just pop into the kitchen for some turkey on a roll, nuke a cup of soup, or have a piece of pie or cake with a cup of tea. It’s all good.

Lunch was hot turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Every bit of it came out of tupperware containers. Dinner, tonight will be leftover eggplant lasagne. It was so good – and it’s only better after it has had a chance to sit. Warmed up homemade rolls with lots of butter… I’m drooling…

Also, tonight the outdoor lights go on. I have to wait until dark to fine-tune, but they’re all in place and ready to go.

Now for cookie-baking!