Hope all my U.S. readers had a good Thanksgiving Day and are pleasantly stuffed. I trust that many of my Canadian (and U.S.) readers are gearing up to cross the border for Black Friday shopping or preparing to park themselves in front of the computer for the Amazon shopping binge.
For me, this was the Thanksgiving Day that wasn’t. For more than 30 years, I’ve found myself (or hubby) prepping and roasting a 20-lb turkey with all the trimmings and then doing all the cleaning up after. Last year, it was just hubby and me and our youngest daughter, and I thought I could get away with baked chicken or something. But she insisted on turkey – and so it was.
I eat a turkey sandwich every day for lunch, so turkey is not special to me. It’s pretty much the last thing I care to eat on my day off.
This year, I was particularly looking forward to having 4 paid days off from my extremely stressful new job. I was also looking forward to not having to cook a huge meal inasmuch as all the kids are grown and gone, and hubby and I could have a nice quiet meal by ourselves. Heck, a nice bologna sandwich would be perfectly ok with me.
Come Wednesday, I was hard at work when the boss announced that the office would close at 3:00 pm. Yay!! Of course, a crisis arose immediately thereafter, and I didn’t get out until 4:00 p.m., but that’s still an hour and fifteen minutes earlier than usual – and it was nice being able to drive home in daylight. I’m trying very hard not to obsess about the other work projects that got shoved to the side until Monday. I could go in on Friday, but I’m not that dedicated. And I really, really need the time off.
My Wednesday had already been upset by the fact that I received a call that a family member (who shall remain anonymous for privacy reasons) had suffered a relationship crisis which was going to affect everyone’s holiday. If nothing else, it certainly affected my sleep on Wednesday night due to worry and the need to stomp down my desire to go wring some stupid young necks.
Thanksgiving morning (um, today, by the way), I got up at 5:00 am to take Puppy Cody out and then went back to bed. I slept until 9:30 am, a whole 3-1/2 hours later than usual. I seldom have a complete breakfast, so today it was bacon, eggs, English muffins and juice. Bacon is a special treat, and lord knows I enjoyed every bite of it.
But then I was still worn out from the work week (short as it was), so decided to lie down for a quick nap. Three hours later, I finally dragged myself out of bed, just in time to peel potatoes for dinner.
I had not forgotten the family relationship crisis – I texted the individual involved to see if we could make it three for dinner instead of just hubby and me. Said family member refused, and even refused to allow me to take a plate over after dinner. Sure, I could have forced myself into that person’s house, but decided to let things be for now. Failed relationships are the pits, especially during holidays, and sometimes being alone is better than trying to act upbeat at a social event.
I know everyone’s just dying to learn what my Thanksgiving dinner was. I mean, if it’s not turkey, what else is there, right?
Hubby and I enjoyed a very nice pork roast with onions, mashed potatoes with gravy, and acorn and butternut squash (both baked to perfection). We had forgotten dessert, but there was plenty of chocolate chunk ice cream and whipped cream.
And now, it’s time for the nightly glass (or two) of wine and an early sleep (yes, believe it or not, I’m still exhausted from the work week!).
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
__________
I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
LOL! Happy Thanksgiving! Pork roast sounds lovely. So glad you got a day off and could catch up on some rest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I plan to stay in all weekend, although I sure hope I don’t sleep all weekend!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aside from the family relationship crisis, that sounds like the absolute perfect day! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, Victo. I do feel much more at peace after doing absolutely nothing all day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It wouldn’t be a day without Some Sorta Crisis! Glad you get some time off.
One of the happiest turkey days I ever had was just me and The Mister and an infant — two of us had salad, fried chicken, mash and gravy, plus corn muffins, one of us had milk 🙂
LikeLike
Your long-ago meal sounds every bit as good as mine was. I’ll bet that even the little person having the milk was glad not to go out that year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We managed and exhaustingly polite family dinner at my son’s house. Ham, lamb, asparagus, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, hot rolls. Cheese cake. Apple pie. HOME!. No turkey. Turns out, NO ONE loves turkey. i like the stuffing, but i can do forever without the big bird.
Being polite and careful of what you say is really tiring. All we have to do now is survive Christmas. I gotta say … the bubble has really left this particular bottle of champagne.
We made it! One down, one to go!
LikeLike
I hear you. We’re locked into Christmas Eve dinner at my youngest daughter’s new house. While I’m glad she’ll be hosting instead of me, the idea of going out and being social doesn’t have me joyfully looking forward to it. She does have wine, though, so I’ll manage to get through it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving!
LikeLike
It was quite enjoyable, Vic. I slept very well last night.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you got to enjoy a “special” meal. Sorry about the crisis. You’d think people could wrap that stuff up by Columbus day or hold back until New Years – November-December should be a crisis-free-zone.
LikeLike
Yes, very inconsiderate to break up right before a major holiday, right? I don’t suppose the prospect of spending quality time with the other person’s family had anything at all to do with it. I’m just glad I’m past all that drama in my love life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too took time off just to recoup from working. You do not know how stressed you are when you are in the moment but once you relax, especially when you are living with chronic illness…. hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.
LikeLike
I know you understand, Jane. Sometime Wednesday afternoon, one of my co-workers took a look at my face and blurted out, “Are you all right?” Even a 3-day work week is more than I can handle these days, but if I want to eat and keep paying the mortgage, I have to work all 5 days. Totally sucks at this point in my life.
LikeLike
We had the traditional turkey, etc, which I like because I don’t get it every day, like you. Pork roast does sound nice though. Happy Thanksgiving!
LikeLike
Traditional turkey is wonderful when it’s a special occasion. I used to love turkey with all the trimmings, until I got to the point that I could no longer eat beef and had to switch to turkey instead. Hope you and the Mrs. are enjoying the rest of the weekend.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. We are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So happy you had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner, CM! I’d be right there with ya and the pork roast, mash and mixed squash, if I was anywhere near!
Have a wonderful Holiday Season, my friend!
LikeLike
If you were closer, Karen, I would most certainly invite you. We been friends for a number of years already, even though we’ve never met in person.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the daylight as much as the next person (if the next person also stays up till 5 AM, like me), but, I used to work ‘East’, and live ‘West.’ Driving home late in the afternoons, especially uphill, had me facing directly into the sun. It’s a wonder I didn’t run into someone, or get run into, like a guy in the next lane did. Sometimes, a little dark is better than a lot of light. 😳
LikeLike
My route is the same as yours was. Early Fall is the worst – the sun is at just the right angle to totally blind every driver on that road. Seems like the engineers could have considered that when building an east-west street.
LikeLike