The plan last night was to bake four of the pie crusts I bought (I'm to lazy to make my own crusts like I've done in years past), mix up some pumpkin pie filling (using the Libby's recipe, cutting the sugar a tad, and adding a bit more spice) and bake a pair of pumpkin pies. Then I'd set my alarm for 4:00 AM and go to bed. And I might even catch a few winks while the pumpkin pies baked. When the alarm went off at 4:00, I'd put the turkey in the oven, then catch a few more hours of rest.

Upon awaking naturally, the turkey would still be cooking, so I'd make pie filling for my four pie shells. I planned to fill two shells with chocolate pudding mixed with Neufchatel cheese, and two with a lemon pudding and cheese mix. Once filled, the pies could chill in the refridgerator.

That was the plan. Until I fell asleep on my Love Sac in the middle of my living room floor, with the remnants of a Seinfeld episode on television.

I awoke to a semi-aware state sometime around 2:00 AM, glanced at the clock, and promptly fell back to sleep. Shortly after 3:00 AM, I again awakened and glanced at the clock. Oh well, I sighed, I might as well get up and put the turkey in.

Once fully awake, immersed the turkey in hot water (still in its plastic store-skin) and let it soak for almost 30 minutes to finish the thaw (it had been thawing in my refridgerator for a few days, but still had a few icy spots). As it soaked, I warmed up the oven baked the four pie shells I'd intended on cooking last night.

With the final two pie shells baking, I stripped the turkey from its plastic skin, pulled out the gibblets and the neck, rinsed the big bird off, then bagged it in a Reynold's poultry oven bag (rated for turkeys up to 24 pounds—this bird was a 30-pounder), shoved it into an aluminum roasting pan (sized for turkeys up to 25 pounds—I couldn't find anything bigger at the store) and into the oven.

With the turkey taken care of, and after a bit of cleaning up, I wielded a saucepan and began making pudding (from a mix, of course—Thank you, Jell-O!). As usual, I cranked the heat up to high and madly stirred with my wire whisk to prevent the milk from scorching—yes, I know, I'm supposed to do stuff like this at medium heat, but hey, with vigorous and violent stirring, and a saucepan that evenly distributes the heat, it's much faster. I did follow the recommended directions about cooling for five minutes before pouring the filling into the pie shells.

With two chocolate pies chilling in the refrigerator (Ug, I'm a poor speller, but the English language sure is inconsistent: frigid, fridge, refrigerator... I often insert an extra D in refrigerator.), I began making the lemon pie filling. I substituted milk for part of the water the Jell-O pudding instructions called for, and substituted lemon juice for the final half-cup of water. I like things a bit more tart.

Boy, that lemon filling sure thickened up quickly just as it was coming to a boil. I stirred in the Neufchatel cheese right away, and poured the pudding immediately into the shells, afraid it would set up completely all too quickly.

I tasted the lemon filling. It was tart, and not too bad. Then I remembered something. The instructions called for me to add a half-cup sugar to each package I'd made (I made two, so that's a whole cup of sugar, total). I'd neglected this action item, so caught up in my own substitutions in the recipe. Oops!

So now I have sugar-free lemon cheese pies in my fridge. Well, not totally sugar-free, since the Jell-O pudding did have some sugar in it to begin with. I won't be taking these pies to the feast this afternoon over at my aunt's house in Hurricane. Instead, I'll keep them, and whip up a batch of sugary whipped cream to top them with. I think they'll be all right that way.

Wow, it's now light outside. The sunrise was beautiful, a few high clouds providing canvas for the sun to color. What a perfect beginning to Thanksgiving!

Scott's now awake too. We had a short and enjoyable discussion about the gospel.

You know, life sure is good. I don't know why I'm so lucky, so blessed. I don't deserve it, but I sure am thankful. To live here in the U.S., to have the freedoms we enjoy here. The abundance and prosperity that bless us here, and that remind that to those to whom much is given, much is expected, abundance and prosperity that should and must be shared for the benefit of all mankind. I just had to kneel down and thank Heavenly Father for His exceeding blessings to me. My family, my friends, my ancestors, my good neighbors, my local ward, the Riverbend Ward, my Bishop and his counselors, the exceptionally marvelous blessings of growing up as part of a two-parent family where my parents' love for each other and for their children was abundantly clear and where they taught and lived the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Thanks, Mom and Dad! I sure love you!)... The list is endless.

You know what? All those songs, hymns, proverbs, and sayings about counting your blessings really are true. When you take a moment to be grateful, your heart swells, and peace, joy, and happiness can enter in. It always works for me. Gratitude is great power for good. Reminds me of the scripture, "In nothing doth man offend God...save those who confess not his hand in all things...". (It's the second part, the part about obeying His commandments, where I've got plenty of work to do...)

I had to look up the scripture reference for the paragraph above. Here's an excellent collection of links to scriptures, Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants apropos to this Thanksgiving day:Some that I like in particular include:

• Psalms 92:1
• Mosiah 2:19-21
• Psalms 100:1-5 (I like the bit about singing—I love to sing!)
• Alma 34:38
• Alma 37:37
• D&C 59:15-21 (This is the full context of the scripture I mentioned earlier.)
• D&C 78:19 (Wow! This one is magnificent with promise! And having experienced the blessings that have come from just a little bit of gratitude, this one rings true to my very soul.)
• 1 Thessalonians 5:18
• D&C 136:28

Wow. I almost duplicated the list entirely. It's a good list. Now I'm thankful I read these this morning. It feels right on this Thanksgiving morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!