Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Thanksgiving Day In Review

November 23, 2012

Matt pointed out to me that my blog is “languishing” so maybe that’s a hint to step it up a bit. I just haven’t known what to talk about, and then when I do know what to talk about, stupid stuff happens. Like I have a broken camera and the front port in our computer is toast so I have to figure out how to plug USB cables into the back (which I make Steve do – hehe). I actually do have loads of pictures from the last month or two and so maybe I should follow Matt’s lead and do 30 days of posting in a row or (even bigger challenge) post every day from now to the end of the year. But I digress…let’s see what was I talking about? Oh yeah – Thanksgiving.

I woke up early yesterday (as always) and started on my list of last minute stuff to do – a shower, a little cleaning, taking food out of freezer. No, not the turkey – that had been sitting in our fridge since Sunday. And it wouldn’t have made it out if I hadn’t been watching a Thanksgiving show that reminded me to do it. The boys – Matt and Jeff – would arrive around 9am so I moved quickly. At 9 am sure enough they arrived, but with someone else – Chris had shown up out of the blue! Not even Matt or Jeff knew he was coming it was that last minute. Needless to say I was thrilled to have all my children around me for Thanksgiving :-).

There really wasn’t a rush on the food since we weren’t doing the present opening for Mike’s family’s annual Christmas drawing until 2pm. Yes, even though we’re miles away, this thing called Skype keeps us connected. Thank goodness for some GOOD technology! Anyway, I put cocktail sausages, crackers, and many different kinds of cheeses out around 10:30. This is our usual snack food fest to tide us over until the main meal. I think some people over snacked and there weren’t enough sausages either. I do this fantastic recipe from Nigella Lawson and it’s a real winner. I need to make notes on it about amounts though because two packages of cocktail sausages make 75 or one recipe. We really needed 4 packages as I doubled the sauce. So – make a note on that folks!

The little kids were all excited and it wasn’t just the caffeine and sugar rush from our annual soda fest :-). They were all excited about opening presents – it’s like a mini Christmas for them. So, they played Wii to keep them distracted while Mike and I chatted with the older boys about, well, just about everything. I enjoy those chats around the table – we discuss so many different things so it’s a real lively time.

At 1:30 we started setting up for the video chat via Skype with Mike’s family who were at his sister Lorna’s house. It didn’t take long with all the techie people running around both places. And the present oepening began! As always it starts with the youngest and this year that meant Jennie’s grandson. I almost cried remembering all those sweet baby moments from days gone by. He is a real cutie. After that it was Becky and Katie’s turn and so on up to the oldest – Greg. Yes, I’m not the oldest but I think I’m the 4th oldest. There were many great gifts including this game that Lorna got – I may just have to buy that one! All in all it was a LOT of fun :-).

After that it was now 3pm and I needed to finish the food – well WE needed to finish the food. I pulled everyone in that I could to make green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a new stuffing recipe. People were coming and going constantly in the kitchen and it was crazy but it was also an incredible labor of love and I wouldn’t have traded it for Martha Stewart perfect. Ever. We finally sat down to eat around 5 and it was quite the feast – the stuffing recipe may become a new tradition in these parts. (Note – I did not make it with the 3 kinds of bread as she did but substituted packaged stuffing mix instead and it came out just fine). After all that eating we all sat around table talking some more and then oozed into the living room to rest.

Well, you know we had to clean up that mess and warm pies in the oven because little kids can put away food more easily than adults can. So, we did all that and got set to watch our favorite Christmas show as we always do on Thanksgiving – A Christmas Story. The ORIGINAL – not that new one they came out with. I really wish film makers would just leave well enough alone when a movie is a classic as it is and does not need to have a sequel. By the time the movie was over it was bed and lights out, although my four older boys went out to wherever since they don’t have their old room to hang out in anymore (really have to start converting the empty room!).

I actually did have a piece of pie much later, but wished I hadn’t – I was so tired and still way too full to deal with it. I thought about having a piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast, but decided for easy on the stomach Cream of Wheat instead.

What’s on tap for today? Picking out a tree and sending my older boys off and probably won’t see them until Christmas. Wait – Matt will be here for the twins’ birthday on Sunday. Okay, then we won’t see anyone until Christmas (unless I can get away to do some out of town Christmas shopping).

So, that was our Thanksgiving – a wonderful day filled with all the things I love. I want to end with a quote from Mother Theresa as a reminder that not everyone has a happy time at the holidays and to encourage you to think of ways to make someone happier. You don’t have to spend a lot of money for just a small kind gesture can be worth as much as a million dollars to someone who is hurting or lonely. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this poverty.” – Mother Theresa

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Thanksgiving Day In Review

November 23, 2012

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