November 2006
I was debating about what to call this. Thanksgiving – southern style? While I may be residing in the south I certainly don’t proclaim to be southern. Thanksgiving – our family style? Not sure about that one either. Family style has been very different up to this year. This year, however, will go down as memorable.
We didn’t know exactly what to do this year. We finally decided we would go see a movie and go to dinner. We chose to go to the movie early afternoon and then go eat. We went to see “Santa Clause 3”. We go to the movies about every six months so we tend to forget how much concessions actually cost. We sometimes will share a soda to save money. I know some of you are cringing right now, but hey, what are families for? This time we were all getting over colds. We were at various stages of recovery and no one wanted to share. Our theater has made it easy; they will make every member of your family happy, if only you hand over your wallet. It’s called a combo, more than McDonalds combo, but hey don’t you need a giant soda and giant popcorn. So after Tigger emptied his wallet, we finally sat down for the show.
I loved the movie. If you enjoyed the first two, you will enjoy this one just as much. It was hilarious. I think Tigger and I actually enjoyed it more than Z did. I also gleaned some spiritual wisdom from that, but that is for later.
After we gorged ourselves on the popcorn, no one was hungry. We decided to go home and wait for the bloat to settle. On the way, Tigger said he really wanted to enjoy an at home meal. Wal-Mart’s are open down here on Thanksgiving so I made a list, not checking it twice and headed out to Wal-Mart, on Thanksgiving. Yeah! I had reminded Tigger that turkeys come frozen. That didn’t negate his desire to have turkey from our kitchen.
I returned home and prayed for a solution to quickly thaw a turkey. Turning to my handy dandy Betty Crocker cookbook I discovered you could defrost a frozen turkey in the microwave. The defrosting process was interesting and through some careful evaluation and standing over a dead bird saying, “Do you think this is working?” we concluded it was. The clock was moving toward dinnertime and the bird wasn’t even in the oven.
Z’s tummy was upset from too much popcorn. We just put the turkey in the oven and realized that it would be way late before any dinner was on the table. Remembering the line “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape” We opted to look at other options. Ramen noodles on Thanksgiving just didn’t seem right. We called and Cracker Barrel was still serving. We hoped in the car and headed out. Meanwhile the turkey was still roasting in the oven. We currently have a gas oven and I have never left while an appliance was on. I said a quick prayer and God reminded me that they hot water tank is gas and it runs fine while you’re gone. I was still nervous about it, but hungry.
Cracker Barrel’s meal was okay but not homemade. We headed home. I was checking for black smoke on the horizon and was pleased to find everything in order when we got back. The boys fell asleep in the living room and I continued to baby-sit the turkey. It finally got done about the time I wanted to fall asleep. I wrapped up the warm bird, let it cool long enough and placed it in the refrigerator. I said another prayer to make sure it would taste good after all of the stuff it had been through.
The next night we served it up right. The whole bird, the works. So our Thanksgiving meal was a day late. So what. Aren’t you supposed to give thanks everyday anyway?
