So, how was your Thanksgiving? by SignyM

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

So, how was your Thanksgiving?

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Monday, November 30, 2009 17:29
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VIEWED: 1308
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Sunday, November 29, 2009 11:44 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

My Thanksgiving was ok. But my REAL Thanksgiving, Nov 21, was awesome.

Flew off to the other side of the country for some family business, which happened to be clearing/ cleaning out my mom's basement and 2nd floor, and helping older sis move in her houseful of stuff. Younger sis and I bought and set up shelving, and set to breaking down, salvaging, cleaning, re-packing and shelving stuff which had been flooded on the basement floor. Washing down the walls and floor. Moving out trash. Moving in furniture. Setting up pantry and office shelving. Six days of work, work, work. Older sis, meanwhile, went to work as usual, cooked and shopped, and my DD kept grandma company and helped with the dishes.

So, while we were there older sis kept nudging us about early Thanksgiving dinner, and younger sis and I rolled our eyes 'and were pretty ungracious about it cause we were there to work, gorramit, not eat, and we weren't sure we'd even finish before our tickets took us out again.

We finished on the last day. The turkey was in the oven, the stuffing was driving us pleasantly crazy, and we sat down for a dinner that wasn't the pro-forma I expected, but meaningful and enjoyable: Three generations of the women in our family, basking in the glow of a job well-done, feeling part of a family team, reminiscing and telling stories. Sharing love.

I can only hope your Thanksgiving was as good.

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 12:51 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I'm glad you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I did, too, although it wasn't a big production this year. Just dinner with the wifey at Black Angus. They had a Thanksgiving special and it meant she didn't have to cook.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 1:09 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Mine was good, despite a touch of food poisoning (not from the Thanksgiving meal, but rather from a truckstop breakfast taco, which I really knew better than to eat, but it DID look pretty good!). Got to visit with family - went to my mom-in-law's on Wednesday, where all my wife's family was gathered, and then onto my old hometown to visit with my family on Thursday, then back to wifey's on Friday to pick her up, then back home yesterday, and today a day of rest and relaxation.

And thanks to that taco, I actually LOST 10 pounds this week, instead of gaining that much! :)

Hope everyone else's turkey-day went better, but mine overall was pretty darned good.

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 1:36 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
I can only hope your Thanksgiving was as good.

Heh heh, mine was BETTER, Signy!!
While visiting my Wife's parents on Long Island, on Black Friday I found a toystore at Roosevelt Field Mall (Matty's Toy Shop) that had something I had been looking for for MONTHS!!

Hot Wheels Big E refit! A little paint & hair-drying action, and I'm in geek bliss.

Oh, and the mashed potatoes & family visit were good too.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 2:34 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

NEAT, Chris!

Ours was quiet and lovely, just the three of us (hubby and friend Choey, who moved here from Back East and lives with us) and the beasties.

Since Jim's kids grew up (I have none) and his son lives out of state, our holidays are the quiet ones of "old folk" without kids. The turkey was good, the stuffing the best I've ever made, we pigged out, and that's the definition of a good Turkey Day in our book!

Only bummer was I came down with a cold Wednesday and I do all the cooking, but it's not a bad cold, so what the hell. Jim just came down with it, despite all my efforts to avoid that, but he had four whole days off (since he's now down to four days a week, he has Friday off, which he didn't before); that's something to cheer about!

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 2:43 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Only bummer was I came down with a cold

Holiday colds can be tolerable given the right amount of "holiday cheer"- at least that's been my experience, *hic*.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 4:22 PM

DREAMTROVE

Chris,

This explains why you were the only one to comment on that thread title

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 5:57 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Mine was fine. Madame Geezer and I had fun cooking for ourselves and fun eating what we'd cooked - racks of lamb with plenty for leftovers (bones to gnaw on and Shepherd's pie on Saturday), Butternut squash tortellini (with extras for the freezer), and braised kale. We love to cook together, and can dance around the kitchen with hardly a word, passing tools and ingredients by instinct. 20 years practice makes it pretty seamless. I love it.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 6:33 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Mine was pretty laid back - I had a block of boneless turkey and some potatoes, and I sure wasn't going out shopping any time near "Black Friday" given my dislike of human company, so I made a right nice turkey stew with cornbred and shared it with the cats, who got a side dish of pink salmon (Kallista does not like Tuna, only cat I've known who don't) and enjoyed it immensely.

Was funny, they were stuffed and flopped on thier sides to the point where even the laser pointer wouldn't budge em, they just gave me a dirty look, heh heh.

I did work that "morning" (early shift) and that night to make sure we had good coverage and since Wendy and Alice got sent off to have a more traditional "family" dinner, given that Alice's family was wrecked and lost to her and she was feeling lonely and Wendy never really had a "family" to begin with - two lost souls finding comfort in each other, Alice doesn't talk about it, but she misses her children a lot, and Wendy's never really had a mom, so she was ecstatic and it certainly rubbed off - they seemed very happy.

Me, oddly enough, despite my misanthropy, I get a deep personal satisfaction out of making sure that the people at site three can have their holiday celebrations free from worry - much more than playing sham social games with people I do not like and can not respect, even if they do happen to be related to me.

There is, of course, a certain bittersweet sadness to looking in from outside, after dropping Wendy off, I stood there in the cold darkness, looking into the warmth and comfort, physical and emotional, on the other side of the window, and stroked my hand, once, upon the glass, in wistful musing that the very actions I have taken to protect such things have all but lost them to me.

Truly, I am a wet blanket at such events, because my mere presence is a grim reminder of the less pleasant things in this world best forgotten, if only for a little while, during celebrations of what we DO have, and are thankful for.

But to know, know beyond the possibility of doubt, if due to those actions even one person can live with a free spirit and untroubled mind, that is a gift beyond price, and one you won't find in a shopping mall or bargain bin.

And it brought home the contrast again, later that night, of my walkabout of the complex, versus the "safety" checkpoint up the road where the local police were shaking people down - protective, versus predatory, and as I looked around it really came clear to me that given a choice, I would be nowhere else, doing nothing else, because of the things that truly *matter* to me.

How many people in this world really get to do what really matters to them, what they want to do, by choice ?
Even if that choice is pounding the pavement in the bitter, freezing rain ?

And I *am* thankful for it, for even the sadness is a sweet sadness, made all the sweeter by watching folk come and go, happy and free of care, if only for a little while...

It was a good day.

-Frem

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 6:35 PM

FREMDFIRMA

On a lighter note, the Raccoons around here are pretty smart, I heard em in there so I had to get pictures - they KNOW a feast is coming in short order, and were wandering about in the nearly empty dumpster next to the park practically rubbing their little paws in glee crying "oh manna from heaven".

So I had to get pictures, else no one would believe me, heh.

-F

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 7:08 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

quiet, mostly.
6 of us and a baby...
turkey, dressing, cranberries, a lot of diet soda and a lot of veggies and mushrooms... ever'body but me is on a health and weight-loss kick... a little pie with Kool-Whip.
Then rest, sleep, read, watch a little TV and a little DVD, a little Internet.
Today we went to our storage and brought back the first installment of our Christmas lights. Bought some new ones to replace the stuff too damaged to repair. Gonna get those put up, hopefully this week.
Back to the salt mines tomorrow afternoon.

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Monday, November 30, 2009 4:33 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Frem: Those are some FAT-looking raccoons!!! I just don't believe it's all "winter fur". Wish you had been at our place: Nothing could have dampened the glow... not even you.

We would have given you a plate and welcomed you in.

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Monday, November 30, 2009 6:12 AM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
I can only hope your Thanksgiving was as good.

Good for me...not so good for the turkey.

I marinated the turkey in beer before cooking. I marinated me stomach in beer before eating.

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.

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Monday, November 30, 2009 6:43 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

Awwww, so cute! I just wanna pet it!

The laughing Chrisisall

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Monday, November 30, 2009 7:08 AM

BYTEMITE

*Raccoon grows like six inch fangs and claws and hisses*

But, yeah, that is pretty cute, especially in regards to them just waiting for the foods.

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Monday, November 30, 2009 7:14 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
*Raccoon grows like six inch fangs and claws and hisses*

Meh. I had a pet Salot once.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Monday, November 30, 2009 8:51 AM

KWICKO

I had a pet raccoon when I was a kid. Caught it when it was quite young, and its mom had been run over, so we took him home and raised him. Li'l bugger was out of his cage and into EVERYTHING, which eventually just became too much for my mom, so she had us surrender him to a pet store, where they kept him under lock and key.

They're very friendly and easy to domesticate if you get 'em when they're young. Cute as a button, too. And it was hilarious to watch him wash his food in his water bowl before eating it, even though it was freshly-washed fruits and vegetables.

He was basically like a cat, but smarter. And with hands that let him open latches and stuff. Imagine the trouble your cat would get into if he had hands.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

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Monday, November 30, 2009 9:18 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Thanksgiving is way too close to Christmas imho - some of those family tiffs over turkey only fester in the ensuing weeks and then blow up at Christmas. (my wife's side likes mixing their scotch with politics).

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" - so give us a little more absence so we can grow fonder at Christmas.

Besides, "Giving Thanks" seems more a like a spring time thing.

"The first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the brutal winter."

I lobbied for an Easter & Christmas family mash-up, but tradition is strong with midwestern folk, even when they are angry with each other.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Monday, November 30, 2009 10:04 AM

FREMDFIRMA

You think the Raccoons are fat, you should see this squirrel outside my window, the poor bastard can hardly walk!

Some of the residents put their trash out late at night, and chuck it in the dumpster on the way to work, and the Raccoons and Possums have come to think of this as a buffet line, which doesn't bother me a whole lot - but I do worry about someones dog having a confrontation, or potential rabies outbreaks, so I kinda shoo em off when I can, not that they take me very seriously.

Remember I have a rapport with animals, even wild ones, that borders on supernatural, to the point where I can determine someone else is out of doors in the complex, and generally where they are, just by watching the behavior of the local wildlife - some of which is strange in amusing ways, like how the raccoons got driven out of the park by the bunnies, who are pretty territorial for pint sized herbivores, really.

And the youngest of the raccoons is a very daring little soul who has on three separate occasions come within 2-3 feet of me hoping to be fed cause he can smell the candy in my pockets - they like mint, you see, and will raid campers tents to steal their toothpaste, and my starlight mints and non-hostile demeanor have given him a lot of courage in his efforts.

While it'd be against policy and unprofessional while on duty, if he does manage to catch me off duty I may well take pity on him, I'm such a sucker, and they know it, lol.

-F

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Monday, November 30, 2009 10:19 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

PIZMO

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I like mixing scotch and politics too. But mixing scotch, politics and family...????

*shudder*

FREM

When I think of raccoons, I don't think of rabies right away (although that DOES come to mind!) What I think of is that 80% of raccoons harbor an intestinal parasite that... should you ingest some... will eat your brains out. Ewww. www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/janfeb02/fn_raccoon.html

Despite that... Mint, huh? Spearmint? Peppermint? Wintergreen? Next time, I'll throw some mints on the roof and see what I attract.

BTW I saw your doppelganger on national TV rescuing a raccoon with its head stuck in a peanut butter jar by catching it as if fell from a tree. If it wasn't for the fact that this guy still had his left leg (although badly mangled, stiff, and in a serious brace knee-down from a car accident) I would of thought... Hmmm. I wonder. Is that...?

Ciao for now.

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Monday, November 30, 2009 10:36 AM

KWICKO

Quote:

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" - so give us a little more absence so we can grow fonder at Christmas.

Dang, I've been doing it wrong. I thought it was "ABSINTHE makes the heart grow fonder." Although in my experimentation, that doesn't hurt, either. :)

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

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Monday, November 30, 2009 10:55 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
BTW I saw your doppelganger on national TV rescuing a raccoon with its head stuck in a peanut butter jar by catching it as if fell from a tree. If it wasn't for the fact that this guy still had his left leg (although badly mangled, stiff, and in a serious brace knee-down from a car accident) I would of thought... Hmmm. I wonder. Is that...?

Wasn't me, but I have twice "rescued" local wildlife from their own indiscretions, one of the possums half suffocated herself by climbing into a trashbag and getting stuck (and I took the residents trash to the dumpster, after, since the bag was ripped and I didn't want it blowing all over their lawn) and one of the raccoons got it's head stuck in one of them eight-pack bottle thingies, which I am always careful to break all the loops of before I throw them away - cause raccoons, possums, skunks and cats are curious little dimwits, and if there's a way to get their head stuck in something, they will damned well manage it sooner or later.

Of course, when Noobie the cat got on top of building 22 and decided to start complaining about it when I passed by, she was on her own, since these are low single story buildings and she was just being lazy.
"You got yourself up there, you can get yourself down, do I look like the fire department ?"

Such "conversations" greatly amuse the residents, given rumors that I truly can communicate meaningfully with animals better than I do people.

How MUCH so, I leave to your imagination, but I will note that the raccoon with it's head caught in the plastic widget came TO me in order to have it removed, and held still while I did it.

Make of that what you will.

-F

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Monday, November 30, 2009 3:48 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I envy you, Frem. Have worked in numerous rehab facilities, and baby "bandits" ('coons) are THE most adorable, but once big, won't come near me. Tashi cornered one under a bench a while back, so I pulled him in the house until it had time to scoot, but not before staring at it and talking to it a bit because I just don't get to be that cloes to them anymore.

They're everywhere here, it being redwood country, and as I sleep outside, I hear them moving up in the trees regularly as they pass by. I best like our resident group, who can sometimes be seen kind of "rolling" down the street, arguing with one another vociferously.

Bandits are neat! Not so much the rats I'm constantly at war with because of my bird feeder...but the red and grey squirrels who dine outside our kitchen door (because I have a squirrel feeder out there too) make up for it, they're ADORABLE!

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Monday, November 30, 2009 5:29 PM

JAMERON4EVA

Great, but i did have to work.

"Mom, he has her chip. He has her."
John Connor,"Born To Run", TSCC EP 2x22

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