Thanksgiving 2024, Including Its Prelude

 

[For context, my niece Kaitlyn (with little Julia growing inside), her husband Ryan, and their little boy Ollie (the Tovars) were coming over to stay the night and then have Thanksgiving with us the next day. Ollie had been wary and stand-offish of me (they told me he had been rather traumatized by a Santa Claus last Christmas) so I was determined that we would be friends by the end of this visit. I can understand his feelings; I myself was a little scared of my Mom’s brother Uncle Bazzel, who was large and bearded and a bit of an intimidating figure. But then I don’t remember him ever trying to be friendly per se; he was just himself and expected that everyone else had to adjust.]

 11/27/24: Awake about 5:30 AM. Prayers and Bible. Adam- 12 and cartoons. Litany. Went in about 9:30 AM. Got mail. Heated up cheese noodles for Kameron. I baked the cornbread (six packs), made the pea salad, then boiled the eggs (about 26, but who’s counting?), and peeled them. Went back to rest a while. Litany. Though I had ordered three cans of peas for the pea salad, I ended up using four cans, as usual. That’s what I should order every time.

At 1 PM I went out and chopped onions. Gathered pictures for ‘a sketchy family history.’ About 5:30 PM I knew the Tovars were here because their dogs Jade and Kia were barking in the back yard. Went in and greeted them; I gave Ollie the Great Owl figure from Bambi (Disney Happy Meal).

While we all sat and talked Ollie grew more and more used to me. Ryan took the turkey out to prep, and I took the innards (liver, gizzard, heart, neck and schwanz) to boil for gravy. He basted with a needle and dry rubbed the bird, then he and Susan wrapped it up in a pot. K&R told us they had about 6 extra foil baking pans but had forgotten them while getting stuff together. I said such lacunas were traditional at Thanksgiving. I put the cooled ‘giblets’ into the fridge.

 Just as he was wrapping up with the turkey for tomorrow Kaitlyn returned with Dairy Queen for us all (Andy paid, and she picked them up). I don’t remember the last time I had any kind of burger! I think I impressed Ollie (anyway it caught his attention) by praying on my own, even though we all prayed together afterward. By the time I left about 7:45 PM he had thawed enough to give me a good night hug, and even was saying BB (my nickname).

Puttered around about an hour, then laid down. Started rosary. Awake again at 1 AM and finished rosary. Caught up diary. Now almost 2 AM.

 

11/28/24: Thanksgiving Day! I never really got to sleep again, maybe a few fitful patches. Took a shower about 3 AM. Back at the Dream Wars, going back to some form of working at Gatti’s, and then some anxiety dreams about getting to the family gathering (even though I’m here already). Up for sure at 5:15 AM. Adam-12. Prayers, Bible, and Litany. Cartoons at 6 AM, which included two of the Thanksgiving shorts I’ve blogged about, Holiday for Drumsticks and The Little Orphan. Took an hour to write and post ‘A Sketchy Family History.’

Went in at 8 AM. Cooked the onions in chicken broth with 2 sticks of butter, then mixed them with the cornbread, pepper, and parsley flakes. Then Kaitlyn helped me make the deviled eggs. Andy and Ryan appeared with donuts and kolaches for breakfast; I had a donut. I took out the giblets, minced them, then used some more broth (no drippings from a baked turkey this year) to make the gravy. Kaitlyn made cheese noodles (her specialty, much better than ordinary cheese noodles), I put the stuffing in to bake, then I spent about an hour peeling and chopping potatoes, then boiled them and made mashed potatoes. In the interim, Kelsey and her Ryan arrived, bringing soda, and the two Ryans proceeded to set up on the kitchen porch and began deep frying the turkey (no mishaps there, they were being very careful as this was their first-time deep frying). Andy joined them to watch over the process.

During the morning, Ollie began a little wary of me still, but grew more and more used to me as the day progressed.

I had told John that our target for eating was 1 PM, but that we would be glad if they came earlier so we could visit even more. Kaitlyn helped me with the rolls and the cranberry sauce. I brewed a pot of tea. As the hour drew nearer and the turkey was done, we became more anxious, but the Babels arrived at 1 PM on the dot, just as the Ryans were carving the bird.  The Babels brought green bean casserole, orange whip, pecan pies, and I want to say something else, but my mind is blocking (oh yes, sweet potatoes). We all prayed together in a circle (Ryan T. officiating) and then we dug in.

I should note that we had Christmas movies playing in the background all the time, Fred Claus and Elf and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. No-one paid them much attention as we were busy visiting. While we were talking, I mentioned the commercial from Zales, “Mamacita, Donde Estes Santa Claus” and it played just then for the first time (but not the last time!) that day. It was quite an earworm after that, with Susan especially singing it for hours afterward.

After we had eaten, I felt that I had had a little too much and went to lay down in the guest house a while. After a bit John came out to visit (and to be sure I’m alright, I’m sure), followed by Kameron and Joey. John looked at the Wicked Witch of the West figure and the Tolkien’s poems volumes while he was here (he had seen neither yet).

After a bit I felt better, and we all went inside again. Desserts were being doled out (including a peanut butter cream cheese pie Kaitlyn had made). I did not feel up to that just yet, but had Kelsey bring me a Tupperware dish in and I put two mini-pecan pies (Amy makes them), a slice of peanut butter pie, and a slice of Buttermilk Sky pie with pecans and coconut away for later. Kenny called me at 5 PM and I put him on speaker phone, and we all wished each other a Happy Thanksgiving (he was on his way home from work). He was tickled to hear Ollie crowing and talking in the background.

Kelsey and Ryan left first (off to another party with friends). Susan and Andy began cleaning, divvying up leftovers (I think we had more than usual). I guesstimate about 7 PM the Babels left, and then the Tovars packed their stuff together and left about 7:30 PM. But not before I had got plenty of pictures of Ollie, who was so accepting of me that he actually let me hold him! I regret not getting a picture of the whole family together.

As soon as the Tovars left I went back to the guest house, and was almost immediately relaxed (slumped) after being keyed up (happily so) for hours. I had left the house open all day, so it was getting chilly, and I closed it up. A little later Andy brought me out the diet sodas (Pepsi and Mountain Dew). I laid down and slept a while.

Awake again at 11:30 PM. Decided to catch up the diary and pray my rosary. I’ve now done the one and mean to start the other. My right leg has been hurting me all day, especially my hip. Thank goodness I had plenty of help, especially from Kaitlyn. I didn’t let the pain detract from a wonderful day.

[You can find various recipes, including that for pea salad, elsewhere in this blog. Of course a lot more happened than I can record here; holidays always seem to be a period removed from ordinary time, full of almost infinite details and incident.]