Friday, November 29, 2013

Thanksgiving in three parts

Thanksgiving doesn't follow some specific pattern at my house except I always cook.  Occasionally it will be a small group of just us and my dad and a child or two.  Usually it has been a bigger affair, since once you are cooking all that food you may as well have lots of people to eat it so we've had the year when the table was full of children's friends who were all criss-crossing the country during Thanksgiving and happened to be in DC at the time.  That was a giant rauccous group including a stuffed owl doll at the table!  Another noteworthy Thanksgiving was one where one simple invite to a divorced friend ended with me hosting her new boyfriends entire family for Thanksgiving.  (I did not issue her a T-giving invite in subsequent years.)  Often it is  just a random collection of famlly and friends and one of my favorites was when Thanksgiving dinner was the rehearsal dinner for K and G's wedding and we had our entire new family in attendance - all 17 of us plus kids!

This year was entirely different.  Starting with what may end up as a new tradition we had a Friendsgiving at a friend's home on the Saturday before Thankstgiving.. A group of us who are all good friends were invited and she fixed a lovely Thanksgiving meal.   It was a nice small friendly group, not including any family so we minimized the potential for family arguments, door slamming and tears which also seems to go hand in hand with the Thanksgiving tradition.

Then on Thanksgiving Day I made a turkey pot pie from leftover turkey I found in the freezer from last Christmas and we enjoyed a day at the house getting some chores done and an all around quiet and relaxed day.  I LOVED it.


And our final, and family Thanksgiving, will be next weekend when we go to Michigan and join the children at the girls home where they are planning to cook a Thanksgving meal (god help us) and we will spend a whirlwind 36 hours with them, and get to meet the girlfriend!  (I am taking back-up Cuban sandwiches and pastries just in case........)


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

From "I See You Everywhere" by Julia Glass

"I've tried, I really have, to let go of the world - but I can't.  The world weighs so much and it bears down so hard."

"......we had our full dose of Sunday school - like a course of antibiotics...."

"I have learned, just recently, to give people things to do in a crisis.  Accepting favors is an odd form of mercy."