For my outside-the-US friends, is your country’s celebration as food-focused as US Thanksgiving seems to be? I feel like it seems lower-key in Canada, and much more relaxing. Then again, maybe I’m one of the few who find Thanksgiving stressful. (I seem to find a way to make everything stressful.)
If you celebrated this week, how was your Thanksgiving? Are you sick of leftovers yet? While I could happily eat a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy for breakfast until Christmas, I avoid all other Thanksgiving foods until next Thanksgiving. Turkey is something I eat one day a year. My husband is a big fan of leftovers though. This year he has even vowed to make the infamous turkey tetrazzini that people swear by for transforming leftover turkey into something new and fabulous.
This was a week of highs and lows, emotionally. But it was also overall a nice, low-key week. As the Holiday Table staffer at Whole Foods said when I told her we were down to three from seven people, “Nice! No stress!” And then quickly and ruefully added, “Well, there are pros and cons to all things.”
Here are some of the superlative moments from this Thanksgiving week.
Worst Moment: When we had to tell Carla that her beloved cousin was no longer coming for Thanksgiving. She sobbed and sobbed. Hopefully we will find another time to get the families together.
Sweetest Moment: Carla and I sat on the couch one day and watched movies together. Then after dinner we watched Jeopardy! together and she held my hand the whole time. All the heart eyes.
Most Uncomfortable Moment: I think I mentioned previously that our real estate agent gave us a free apple pie as a thank-you for using them when we bought (and sold) our house. Carla and I were doing Thanksgiving prep work at the house when my husband texted me to remember the pie. So we dashed out to pick it up from the realtor’s office. I was wearing leggings and a sweatshirt under my winter coat (outdoor leggings, of course; not my bedtime leggings) and Carla was wearing a flannel shirt and shorts. Why yes it was only 40 degrees outside but PYB, people, PYB. It was pouring rain and we wore masks even though we’d both tested negative, just in case. I expected to run in, grab the pie, and run out, but no. There was a PARTY being held at the office. People in dressy casual clothing, milling about with drinks. A long table set with drinks and pastries. A special room set aside for children. A fire in the fireplace. My realtor was wearing slacks and a nice sweater. I was in leggings and a mask, dripping wet, my hair plastered to my makeup free face. Once again, Carla was wearing shorts. All I wanted was to get my pie and escape. But my sweet realtor wanted to chat about the house and our Thanksgiving plans. OMG. It was so horrifically awkward. Nearly as bad as those dreams where you go to school naked or you show up for your wedding without your dress. Also… I feel like this is probably rude of me to even ask, but do my realtor’s clients… enjoy parties like this??? Our orthodontist throws a party every year, too, and… it’s nice to do something festive for your clients, but… I don’t know any other orthodontia clients? And it’s not like a bunch of my friends and I all bought houses together. Are people who buy homes in the same year expected to form a club together? Maybe we’re supposed to be schmoozing about lawncare companies and the best place to buy lamps… but I just can’t imagine doing that on purpose. Is this what it’s like to be an extrovert? You just… go to parties purely to socialize with strangers?
Most You-Win-Some,-You-Lose-Some Moment: The kind people at Whole Foods were so understanding about our change in holiday plans. They refunded me the cost of the green beans and asparagus. While I was standing in line at the Holiday Table waiting to “check in,” with shoppers pushing past us on both sides, and Carla asking if she could please buy a watermelon and what about the chocolate Advent calendar or maybe could she go look for some hot dogs? and what about buns, she really wants to try buns with her hot dog this time, I noticed a display of Ramona Ruby Grapefruit Wine Spritz. I glanced at the label which I thought said $8.99, which seems like a reasonable enough price for four bottles. (My husband and I had Ramona this summer and loved it, and I haven’t seen it anywhere before.) We checked out and it turns out that each four pack is $18.49. OMG. I mean, yes, you could buy a bottle of wine for $18.49 and probably wouldn’t bat an eye (although I am more of a $10-a-bottle kind of gal), but. OMG. Good thing we saved all that money on green beans and asparagus so I could turn around and spend it on booze. (It really is delicious. But still.)
Most You-Really-Should-Be-A-More-Careful-Reader,-Suzanne Moment: Turns out that every single box of Covid tests in our house was expired. And, while several of them had expiration dates that had been extended to nowish, I thought it would be prudent to get some new unexpired-in-any-way ones. I looked up my options at the local Target. The top results cost $35! That seemed like a lot, when I was used to getting them free (I just ordered the latest batch of free ones). I scrolled down a bit in the results and spotted a pack of four tests for $12.99. Much better. Carla and I put on masks and drove to Target for their drive-up service. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I’d purchased drug testing kits. SIGH.
Funnest and Funniest Moment: This year, Carla helped me with a ton of the Thanksgiving food preparation. She made the cranberry sauce pretty much independently, cut all the cornbread and French bread for the dressing, and helped chop mire poix for the various things that required mire poix. Most helpful was when she helped me deal with the turkey. I am very squeamish about touching raw meat and have used a variety of kitchen tools in past years to prevent me from touching the turkey. This year, I just powered through and touched it with my bare hands. *Shudder.* But one thing I will not do is touch any part of the turkey’s innards, and that’s where Carla came in. Like a champ, she removed the neck and giblets from the turkey cavities with kitchen tongs, while we both squealed in disgust. It was the most fun I’ve ever had dealing with raw meat. (Less fun for her, because I made her wash her hands about 80 times and then gave her a mini lecture about salmonella as I sprayed down the counter with antibacterial spray.)
Favorite Blog Comments: While I adore every comment you leave, sometimes they feel like they’re just for me, you know? Which is fabulous. Other times, they are full of GOLD that I want everyone to read. It was an utter delight to read everyone’s take on pets and pet names. But I think the GOLD this week is in the comments of this post. If you haven’t added your own thoughts, I would love it if you took the time to add your own thoughts about blogs and blogging. And if you haven’t scrolled through to find new bloggers to follow, please check it out.
That’s it from me, Internet. Now I need to go scour my house clean after having my (ravenous and less-than-tidy) child home with me for eight days straight and prepare (again) for my delayed houseguests.
Any stand-out moments for you this week?
I am kinda sorta attempting to complete NaBloPoMo, with the full expectation that life will make it impossible any day now. If you want to follow along, or join the fun, check out San’s blog here.
Ha! I feel like I have had plenty of moments like the one at the party, mainly because I tend to run out of the house wearing an old t shirt and sweatpants because I think I’m just going to quickly “pick something up” (case in point- when I picked my daughter up from school wearing pajamas, and then the car broke down, ARG!)
It’s nice that Carla recovered from her disappointment and helped so much with dinner! She sounds like such a sweet kid. My son helped a LOT with the cooking but my daughter didn’t do one thing. And she would never sit with me and hold my hand. I’ll just have to live these things vicariously through you!
I’ll have to go back and read that blog post, and the comments. I remember that was the day I was having trouble commenting so I may not have been as thorough as I wanted.
Wow. Your realtor can’t really read situations well. I would think it was apparent you wanted to grab your pie and skedaddle! That does not sound like a fun event. Give me my free pie and let me leave!
Our Thanksgiving has kind of sucked honestly. We had a couple of nice hours before taco came down with a fever. I was trying to be low key about it, like ‘well it’s a virus that we will let run its course.’ But this is day 3 and he has barely eaten anything and is miserable so we are heading to urgent care when it opens. I cancelled all our plans so as not to expose others to whatever he has. I love my annual cookie decorating party so am super bummed about this. And there is no way we can reschedule as there are 5 birthdays from Dec 2-15 in this group of friends/kids.
Oh my goodness, I would NEVER have expected a full blown party with the realtor situation! And Carla with her shorts — it HAS to be a preteen thing. It’s 27 degrees outside and my 10 year old just left for basketball practice in shorts and a t-shirt and was harrumphing about bringing a coat “because we’ll be inside”.
But oh so sad about Carla missing cousin time. Ugh. That’s amazing she was such a big help in the kitchen!
My Thanksgiving experience has gone through ebbs and flows of stress. Growing up, and whenever I’ve hosted myself, we had the formal china place settings, table cloth, etc. For the last several years, we have gone to my mother-in-law‘s, and she keeps it simple with paper plates. I think there are pros and cons to both approaches but it’s certainly less stressful at her house!
Oh, I love watching Jeopardy! My kids used to like watching Wheel of Fortune with me, and also Family Feud.
I have a great recipe for chili that we make with leftover roasted turkey. Anyone who needs it can do a search on my blog for ‘chili’ and it comes up pretty quickly. I had pumpkin pie for breakfast yesterday, green beans for lunch, and the chili for dinner. The majority of what is left in the fridge is sweet potato pudding, which I won’t touch, because I don’t like sweet potatoes.
It sounds like a real up and down type holiday. I keep thinking about the realtor party. Do you think it was other realtors? I can’t imagine partying with a bunch of strangers like that.
I sure hope Carla can get together with her cousin soon, that is so disappointing. I’m glad you are all testing negative now. Will you try to return the drug tests, or use them as party favors? Stocking stuffers?
I grew up in Canada but have lived in the U.S. for 20 years. Thanksgiving is celebrated on Columbus Day and it is very low key. I prefer American Thanksgiving but at the same time find it more stressful, if that makes sense.
The realtor party is mind blowing. I don’t buy or sell houses enough (thank goodness) to know if that is a normal thing for them to host. I guess I shouldn’t laugh, but it honestly sounds like something out of a movie. It made me chuckle.
It’s been fun having my college kids home. Lad seems to be popping in more, perhaps in support of Reg and his basketball disaster. Nothing makes me happier than to be surrounded by my people. Also, I think I practically have the photos chosen for our Christmas card and I might order it today – which is great.
I love reading people talking about why they blog. Those comments were amazing. I also greatly enjoyed your comment section on pet names. HUMAN NAMES FOR PETS 4 LYFE!!
When I was younger, I would have gone to many of those parties, just to meet people. Now I wouldn’t be caught within miles of any similar social get together. I too recoil from touching raw meat; I’m not much of a meat person to start with.
I spent a long time reading all of the comments from the blogging post and had a blast doing it! It is so fun to hear everyone’s “origin story” and to find out more about them (and you!)
I have this one grey hoodie from my HS ski team and it is huge and it is stained and it is my very favorite “sit around the house” hoodie. Sometimes I forget I am wearing it (and it is often paired with patterned PJ pants) and I go to answer the door to a FB marketplace person, or put out the trash or in one case drive to my friends house to let her in after the kids locked them out. My neighbors probably think I am a slob, but I have never gone to a fancy dress party in it (yet!) That is funny!
I also had so much fun reading through the comments on the “why we blog” post the other day. I never got around to writing out my own response about it, but it’s such a great topic. I also think it’s funny how so many of us feel a little squeamish about “real life” people reading our blogs, yet we have no problem with all of our blog friends reading…who are also real people. I’m the same way though! I often feel that if certain people I actually know IRL read my blog I would be quite embarrassed! Not because I write anything particularly embarrassing, but I guess I just feel like people would think it was dorky or something. I don’t know.
Chiming in to say, I think this is a common realtor thing, to host events and invite everyone that purchased a home in the last “x” months? When we last purchased a house, our version was a brunch at a fancy restaurant in our city. It was more clearly marketed as a group event, so we were prepared, but I chuckled when I read your comment “Are people who buy homes in the same year expected to form a club together?” because that was EXACTLY how my husband and I felt enjoying brunch with 12 other couples we will never see again. It’s also funny when you think about how people DO generally want the free thing (maybe not the social aspect, but the actual gift.) I just spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home, I WILL get a free brunch out of the deal! 😉
When we owned a home ( a few years back) our realtor also threw parties for all kind of occasions and I didn’t get it. We went one time out of obligation, but we didn’t know anybody there and it was super-awkward to mingle because the only thing we had in common was that we bought a house. Does that makes us instant friends? It was…. weird.
I know some of these things shouldn’t make me laugh the way they do, but I did giggle throughout this post. This belongs in a humorous essay collection. I NEED THIS BOOK.
I will say that it is SO ODD to host an actual party (right before Thanksgiving?!?!) by your realtor. I need to know more about these people and why they felt the need to attend and mingle, lol.
The impromptu party with the Realtors while NOT prepared for it, just gave me the shivers too. Who likes to be unprepared to see a crowd? No one.
Carla. *Sigh* my heart hurts for her not having Cousin time. But OMG, that girl can do some work in the kitchen! Bravo for teaching her to do all the things, Suzanne.
Ugggh that is an uncomfortable moment for sure.
I am sorry but the drug kit would have been the funniest moment for me.