OMG! For those of you unfamiliar with texting abbreviations, OMG stands for Oh, My God, Gosh, Goodness etc. Thankfully Thanksgiving is over for 2010. We hosted my brother, the baldy, his wife and 2 daughters, 1 boyfriend and his 2 grandchildren. My current wife and I were up at the break of dawn to start preparations. This was an undertaking for me as I had mistakenly agreed to clean the kitchen floor the day before. Did I use a mop, broom or such device? NO, NO! I got myself down on the floor, prone with Lysol spray cleaner, scrub brush and paper towels in hand. Away I go scrubbing, rinsing and wiping dry by hand. I contort my body on the floor to get under the table and into all of the nooks and crannies. It was a sight. If you can envision a walrus writhing on the floor of our little 10 x 10 kitchen, you would be close to the scene in our house.
I arose on Thanksgiving morning to intense muscle pain all over my body. Yes, the same body that goes to the gym EVERY week day. The same body that is SUPPOSEDLY in a semblance of healthful condition. I think I need to ratchet up the intensity of the workouts a bit. We started the turkey, prepped the relishes, peeled potatoes. Everything progressed nicely. Our guests arrived along with Debby and Jenny. No dogs were allowed for this event. They were allowed to sleep most of the day. It was great to see everyone and we had a great time with the gift exchange. We play "Dirty Santa" as a way to distribute the gifts. Come on now, it is not something "X" rated. We also played a Left/Right game. Both are a lot of fun and I won't bore you with details.
We pulled it off without incident. No, that is not quite right. We put the potatoes on the stove to cook. After 10 minutes I checked the progress - seemed okay. Checked again later and they were not boiling. What! They should be done. One small detail - we forgot to turn the burner on. Gave us more time to visit with our guests which wasn't all bad. Everyone left around 4:00 pm and Sue was napping by 4:05. She was exhausted. I do think we managed to traumatize my niece's new boyfriend. Probably won't see him again. Too bad, seemed pretty nice but too quiet. I was pleased that Chris, the bald brother, noticed that my hair was had grown out a bit. Mission accomplished.
We served our eleven guests a 2 pound canned ham and a 20 ounce Cornish hen as a gag. I explained that retirement was kind of tough and we had to cut back a bit. It was a nice idea but I don't think they bought the gag. They know me too well I guess, so I had to bring out the 16 lb. turkey. I wasn't the only prankster however. Tat, my tall sister-in-law, gifted to Debby our traveling gift of a simulated box of chocolate covered cherries. The box reads "Greetings From Rudolph". When opened there is a net sock filled with dried droppings from Rudolph. What makes this significant is that I started this tradition about 40 years ago and it has continued on ever since. Kind of cool.
Sue and I were eating supper Thanksgiving eve when we noticed what looked like flashing lights out the front window. I took a look and holy cow - there was a huge fire truck next door and an ambulance in the driveway. Sadly, we learned that my neighbor, MacB, had suffered a stroke and was hauled off to the hospital. Certainly reminds us that humans are mortal. It appears he will be okay but it is a little early to know if and what the lasting effects might be. It did dampen my spirits a little.
Kinnick returns tomorrow until the 23rd of December. It has been eerily quiet around here since he has been gone. I don't know how he will respond with his mom gone again. Time will tell. He will be sad I'm sure. Poor baby. Well, I'm on my fourth cup of French Roast. Just can't get motivated today. It is cold outside and I'm still tired. Safe travels everyone. Until next time - TA!
No comments:
Post a Comment