The X's mother invited me over for turkey dinner yesterday. A few weeks back I had announced I was not making a Turkey this year, I just needed a break from that, I've done Thanksgiving every year since we moved out here in 2000 even after the divorce.
Since I had been up late the night before I did not roll out of bed until 9 AM which is late for me. I gave Tails some canned Turkey for breakfast (she normally only gets canned food at night) as it was Thanksgiving. There were chores to be done, such as laundry, cleaning up the house, dishes, etc., so I got all this done and still had some time to watch some TV.
The X (who was packing a cake for Scott's birthday) along with Scott and Danielle picked me around 2 PM and we headed down there. Dinner was supposed to be by three as Scott had to be at work no later than 5 PM. I supplied two Sara Lee pies (blueberry and dutch apple), plus vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for dessert.
While we were waiting for the bird to cook the X chatted with her mom, and dad I chatted while watching the umpteenth rerun of Miracle on 34th Street. I know this is a classic, but it was not until 2006 that I first saw this movie, which I really like.
The X was not feeling the best, she had a lot of pain in her neck and shoulder, and it was making her a bit grumpy at times. Owning regular back and leg pain from my curved spine I could really sympathize.
For as far back as I can remember Thanksgiving day has always been the gathered family celebration for the boys birthdays who fall before and after Thanksgiving. This year Christopher opted to head to Louisiana with some friends for a road trip so he missed out on an excellent dinner. Years ago at a thanksgiving dinner at Mom's house in New Jersey one of her sons made the statement that they liked my thanksgiving dinner better, particularly the stuffing. You have to wonder what type of an idiot would say that in the room with their mother?!?? Mom makes a good Turkey dinner, just as good as mine I would say (except for the stuffing, but for me that's just a personal preference.) I love my cornbread and sausage stuffing seasoned with chili powder and other spices. Mom makes the more traditional bread stuffing with apples and such in it. And, it was Delicious, just not as good as mine, IMHO.
Mom's bird was running a bit late, I suggested she increase the oven temperature a bit as she knew Scott was under a deadline. As it was we did not eat until almost 4 PM.
Dinner consisted of the turkey, gravy, baked potatoes, a casserole of summer squash (which was delicious though I normally will never eat squash!), salad, cranberry sauce, stuffing, cauliflower with Velveeta cheese sauce, a vegetable medley, and two kinds of biscuits. In true Thanksgiving fashion, I seconds of everything as did most of the table!
Because we ate later than planned there was not enough time for dessert. Scott kept stressing out that he was going to be late for work, and he also got into a bit of a fight with his mom over his plans this weekend for his birthday tomorrow. He wanted to have a multi-night sleep over with friends and she said no, reminding him that his attendance has been off at school and there was no way he was going to be staying up most of the night two nights in a row before heading back to school Monday. Since the kids are at her house this weekend I just mentioned I agreed and let it go at that. Scott was not pleased, but,sometimes he loses sight of the importance of school.
Since we had to dash before dessert I suggested Mom and Dad develop a strategy for eating pie with every meal for the next couple of days to eliminate the pie and ice cream I had brought!
We dropped Scott off at Meijer about 10 minutes before his 5PM start time and then I was dropped off at my house. I settled in for the inevitable napping in front of the TV which seems to follow a turkey dinner!
Around 6:30 PM I was finally starting to feel a bit hungry for dessert, so, I headed out. Meijer was the only store open (the local grocery store was closed) so I headed over there, calling Scott's mom to let he know she did not have to go get Scott. She was happy because she was still in a lot of pain and could now take some medication and go have a lie down. I did not tell her that I planned to pickup him up anyway because of the way she was feeling.
So, I spied Scott in the parking lot industriously gathering up shopping carts, told him what was going on, and then did some shopping. He met me at my cat when his shift was over and I dropped him off at his mom's.
I headed home and enjoyed some apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I gave Tails an extra helping of her canned (Turkey of course!) to top off Thanksgiving for her. She seemed very pleased by this, purring extra loudly as she settled down to her repast.
All in all it was a good thanksgiving, though as this was the first year without my dad around, I really missed him, and, that made me miss my mother too who has been gone for 20 years now.
Things I am thankful for (in no particular order):
A roof over my head
A good job
My three children
An X wife that wants to be friends
Former in-laws who still want me to call them Mom and Dad
Kevin and Family in New Jersey
My Friend Steve in New Jersey
My Brother and his wife
A few close friends at work
Other friends back east
All my regular blog visitors, some who I have known for many years, though most I have never met.
So! How was your Thanksgiving??
Oh, note that the picture in my previous post was from last year's thanksgiving, I mean in case you though that I had made a turkey a 1 AM thanksgiving morning......
Since I had been up late the night before I did not roll out of bed until 9 AM which is late for me. I gave Tails some canned Turkey for breakfast (she normally only gets canned food at night) as it was Thanksgiving. There were chores to be done, such as laundry, cleaning up the house, dishes, etc., so I got all this done and still had some time to watch some TV.
The X (who was packing a cake for Scott's birthday) along with Scott and Danielle picked me around 2 PM and we headed down there. Dinner was supposed to be by three as Scott had to be at work no later than 5 PM. I supplied two Sara Lee pies (blueberry and dutch apple), plus vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for dessert.
While we were waiting for the bird to cook the X chatted with her mom, and dad I chatted while watching the umpteenth rerun of Miracle on 34th Street. I know this is a classic, but it was not until 2006 that I first saw this movie, which I really like.
The X was not feeling the best, she had a lot of pain in her neck and shoulder, and it was making her a bit grumpy at times. Owning regular back and leg pain from my curved spine I could really sympathize.
For as far back as I can remember Thanksgiving day has always been the gathered family celebration for the boys birthdays who fall before and after Thanksgiving. This year Christopher opted to head to Louisiana with some friends for a road trip so he missed out on an excellent dinner. Years ago at a thanksgiving dinner at Mom's house in New Jersey one of her sons made the statement that they liked my thanksgiving dinner better, particularly the stuffing. You have to wonder what type of an idiot would say that in the room with their mother?!?? Mom makes a good Turkey dinner, just as good as mine I would say (except for the stuffing, but for me that's just a personal preference.) I love my cornbread and sausage stuffing seasoned with chili powder and other spices. Mom makes the more traditional bread stuffing with apples and such in it. And, it was Delicious, just not as good as mine, IMHO.
Mom's bird was running a bit late, I suggested she increase the oven temperature a bit as she knew Scott was under a deadline. As it was we did not eat until almost 4 PM.
Dinner consisted of the turkey, gravy, baked potatoes, a casserole of summer squash (which was delicious though I normally will never eat squash!), salad, cranberry sauce, stuffing, cauliflower with Velveeta cheese sauce, a vegetable medley, and two kinds of biscuits. In true Thanksgiving fashion, I seconds of everything as did most of the table!
Because we ate later than planned there was not enough time for dessert. Scott kept stressing out that he was going to be late for work, and he also got into a bit of a fight with his mom over his plans this weekend for his birthday tomorrow. He wanted to have a multi-night sleep over with friends and she said no, reminding him that his attendance has been off at school and there was no way he was going to be staying up most of the night two nights in a row before heading back to school Monday. Since the kids are at her house this weekend I just mentioned I agreed and let it go at that. Scott was not pleased, but,sometimes he loses sight of the importance of school.
Since we had to dash before dessert I suggested Mom and Dad develop a strategy for eating pie with every meal for the next couple of days to eliminate the pie and ice cream I had brought!
We dropped Scott off at Meijer about 10 minutes before his 5PM start time and then I was dropped off at my house. I settled in for the inevitable napping in front of the TV which seems to follow a turkey dinner!
Around 6:30 PM I was finally starting to feel a bit hungry for dessert, so, I headed out. Meijer was the only store open (the local grocery store was closed) so I headed over there, calling Scott's mom to let he know she did not have to go get Scott. She was happy because she was still in a lot of pain and could now take some medication and go have a lie down. I did not tell her that I planned to pickup him up anyway because of the way she was feeling.
So, I spied Scott in the parking lot industriously gathering up shopping carts, told him what was going on, and then did some shopping. He met me at my cat when his shift was over and I dropped him off at his mom's.
I headed home and enjoyed some apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I gave Tails an extra helping of her canned (Turkey of course!) to top off Thanksgiving for her. She seemed very pleased by this, purring extra loudly as she settled down to her repast.
All in all it was a good thanksgiving, though as this was the first year without my dad around, I really missed him, and, that made me miss my mother too who has been gone for 20 years now.
Things I am thankful for (in no particular order):
A roof over my head
A good job
My three children
An X wife that wants to be friends
Former in-laws who still want me to call them Mom and Dad
Kevin and Family in New Jersey
My Friend Steve in New Jersey
My Brother and his wife
A few close friends at work
Other friends back east
All my regular blog visitors, some who I have known for many years, though most I have never met.
So! How was your Thanksgiving??
Oh, note that the picture in my previous post was from last year's thanksgiving, I mean in case you though that I had made a turkey a 1 AM thanksgiving morning......
4 comments:
Chris,
That is an excellent post, my friend. Altogether too often we tend to forget just how blessed we are.
- David
David - There are things that are not great; I have no significant other which I really, really miss, my health is not the greatest, and other things I could list, but, Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for what we have.
Note however if we ever have a Bemoaning day, I will be there with bells on and will post a big list of negative things!
Seriously though, I am thankful for the good things in my life.
Thanksgiving was quiet and delicious. Dave made the turkey. I made butter rich mashed potatoes, butter rich rolls and frozen corn lightly buttered. Dave made gravy and we proceeded to eat. I ate modest portions but went back for several rolls during the evening. I starved myself all day to enjoy this meal. Well worth the wait. We'll be having a family Thanksgiving feast tomorrow at my nephew's. There is always so much food (as you know) I jokingly said I'd bring containers. No joke. I'm bringing containers for everyone (cheap reusable they can keep) and Dave and I offered to be waiter, waitress, busboy/girl and dishwashers. Take care.
Bev - Sounds like you and Dave had an excellent day and will again today!
I too starved myself for dinner, also ignoring the three different appetizers that were available prior to the feast!
Thanks so much for sharing how you spent the day,
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