14.5 pounds

That's the official weight of our turkey (minus its innards and extremities). That's perfect, actually, but now I feel like a little bit of a wimp. It seemed heavier at the time.

Mental note: Don't ever feel tempted to raise ostriches.

Meanwhile, I'm up and at 'em because it's time for the preparation to begin! Today's tasks:

• clean house
• bake bread
• bake pumpkin and sweet potatoes
• cook cranberries
• singe pinfeathers off turkey
• clean and cook giblets
• chop vegetables for stuffing and side dishes

Gotta get to it.