Dear Diary,

What a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Jeff did an amazing job, the food was fantastic. We had a really nice dinner, just the three of us.  I will say, it wasn’t the same without our family around. It was a different kind of year. However, it was really nice.

Plus, since we didn’t fly anywhere we have leftovers. Yum…don’t think we haven’t been going medieval on some leftovers the last couple of days.

Jeff is doing really well. He was pretty stiff after cooking for the holiday, but he has been taking it easy. I don’t want him to rush the healing of his knee after surgery. He is going back to work today, after working from home for two weeks. Plus, I think he starts physical therapy this week.

I am going to try and stick to a better eating routine…that way, when Jan. 1st rolls around with all of the resolutions…I am already on that train.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Here are a few on Ken’s pictures from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

On Thanksgiving, the All American Pet Brands Company announced the winner of their “cutest dog” competition: a Chihuahua named Dr. Papidies from Parker, Colorado.

Dr. Papidies beat out 60,000 other dogs to win the title.

For winning, Dr. Papidies’ owner, a woman named Leslie Capin, will be awarded $1 MILLION later this week. Leslie says she’ll donate all her winnings to two animal shelters, the Max Fund and the Dumb Friends League.

Seeing as the holidays are here, it’s fun to get out and fall on your butt, right? …unless you’re like my friend Patricia, who is a closet ice skating pro, who, unlike me, looks fabulous when she’s on the ice. Me? I’m there for comic relief, but I’m there and having fun! So, where’s to go to get your skate on?

Well, top of the list is Wolf Skate, coming up Sunday, December 13th… that’ll be at San Francisco’s Holiday Ice Rink at the Embarcadero, which is open daily through January 3rd. I’ll get you more details soon

There’s also the Holiday Ice Rink in Union Square – if you’re downtown with a car, you may want to try parking someplace other than the Union Square garage – it was nuts the other day… but hey, you never know! LOL!

San Jose has you skating under the palms with Downtown Ice at Circle of Palms and Walnut Creek has the Downtown Walnut Creek On Ice rink again, too. This year there are ice rinks in Dublin and Pleasanton, too! Check out the rink at 4808 Dublin Blvd., Dublin and Sharks Ice and the city of Pleasanton have set up a 14,000-square-foot ice rink in the parking lot of the Pleasanton library, at 400 Old Bernal Avenue.

Come on! Get your cutest hat and scarf on and go have some holiday fun!

Dear Diary,

I am so excited we have a four-day weekend. It feels like we haven’t stopped going for months now. I also thought with Jeff’s knee surgery, things would slow down. Well…he has slowed down, my life got more chaotic:)

However, he is making great progress. Last night, he was able to move around much better. Plus, he is doing his doctor-recommended exercises which are helping him bend the knee. You hear these horror stories about a how your muscles atrophy. We do not want that to happen.

I need to pick up a baguette and dog food and I am good to go. I think I am also going to starts some of the Thanksgiving dishes tonight and get a jump on the holiday. Oh, and I must stop by Target’s maternity department…not cause I am pregnant, but those jeans with the elastic waist are perfect for power eating.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Country Fried Turkey: Country stars will be celebrating Thanksgiving on TV, on tour and at home this week. It will be a New York City Thanksgiving for Reba and Billy Currington, who are part of festivities for the 83rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Taylor Swift will be featured on NBC-TV’s People Of The Year special and Carrie Underwood will be part of CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute (11/26). Sara Evans, Justin Moore, John Rich, Kenny Rogers, Darius Rucker, Wynonna and Chris Young are all on the road for the holiday weekend. For those staying at home, sides rule as stars dish about their Thanksgiving favorites:

• “My favorite would be homemade dressing … cornbread-based dressing that we always have with turkey. That recipe is a combination of my mama’s, and Denise has taken it and perfected it over the years,” — Alan Jackson.
• “I skip the turkey. I skip the ham. I skip all of that for homemade macaroni and cheese,” — Chuck Wicks.
• “We always mix it up … from potato casserole to Angie and her mom have this special green bean recipe that they do. Mashed potatoes are always on the table,” — Troy Gentry (Montgomery Gentry).
• “Chicken and dumplins are my favorite … I just love them. It’s probably the most unhealthiest thing in the world to eat, and I just love it,” — Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery Gentry).

KATIE COURIC can get down!!! Some AWESOME pictures of Katie PARTYING have surfaced online. They were supposedly taken a few years ago at an after-party celebrating her debut on the “CBS Evening News”. Check them out below!

Dear Diary,

We hit the grocery store yesterday to stock up on Thanksgiving supplies. Jeff was quite disappointed the Safeway did not have one of those motorized scooters. So, he had to crutch it around the store. That place was packed…apparently, Monday at lunchtime was not the best time to shop.

I think we got everything we need, we even snagged a pumpkin pie. I heard a rumor they were running out, so I am glad we got one. It is not Thanksgiving without the pumpkin pie.

Today, we are taking the unpaid interns out for lunch. It is the least we can do, say a little thank you to them for all they do. After that, I need to pick up dog food and a bucket. The bucket is so we can marinate the turkey in brine.

Why do I get the feeling this turkey day is going to quite complicated…with a whole dayof cooking…five minutes of eating and three hours of clean-up…neat.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Dear Diary,

It was another blur of a weekend. I spent Saturday cleaning the house. I started at 11:30AM and didn’t stop until 4:30. And the funny thing is, it was messy again by yesterday afternoon.

We went to dinner with Steff, our intern, and her husband. It was so nice to get out of the house and they were so much fun. It was great, I can’t wait to do it again.

Sunday, I put up our Christmas tree. I thought it would be nice to have up for Thanksgiving. We haven’t put one up in a couple of years, since we have been traveling for the holidays. It was great to go through  all of the old ornaments. Some I haven’t seen in 10-15 years. I loved it.

I also decorated 3 pumpkins to use as table decor for Thursday. I know…how Martha Stewart of me. However, I don’t think she would approve of the tiny martini I drew on there.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Miley Cyrus’ tour bus driver was killed last night after his vehicle flipped over on a highway in Virginia, TMZ is reporting. The singer’s manager told TMZ, “It was one of our tour buses, but not Miley’s. It was one of our buses that transported our lighting crew.” According to officials, the ‘Hannah Montana‘ star was on another bus traveling in the caravan. Cyrus was not injured.

A witness to the crash said the bus appeared to have drifted off the road for a fairly long stretch before tipping over. Officials are investigating whether Cyrus’ driver might have died before the crash, which could explain why the bus drifted off the road. Nine people sustained minor injuries in the accident, but no other fatalities were reported.