So, Wednesday and Thursday were rough, but the holiday weekend improved once the actual holiday was over and there were fewer reminders of all the family we weren’t seeing. The Thanksgiving dinner we had at John and Michelle’s was delicious, of course, and how’s this for random—one of their family friends who came over for dinner was none other than a former student of mine. To my great fortune, he had made an A in my class and was one of the best writers that semester, so the awkwardness was kept to a minimum. How horrifying it would have been if he’d been one of the ones who had failed…
Friday, we got up early and went Black Friday shopping. We were in desperate need of a new vacuum, and the one I wanted came with a Sears gift card that became my Christmas present (hence the outrageous heels, which I wore nearly all day Sunday). After shopping, we came home and fell fast asleep for several hours, waking up in time to eat lunch and string lights outside. Dinner was pizza and Coke from Papa John’s (the day after Thanksgiving is for leftovers, not for cooking! So, in the absence of leftovers, it was for ordering pizza). It was fun—we haven’t ordered pizza just the two of us in a while, and even though I started the holiday bemoaning the fact that we were all by ourselves, I was at this point beginning to enjoy just being with Jesse. It’s nice when ordering pizza can feel a bit adventurous, a bit rebellious.
After dinner Friday, we put up the tree while watching kids’ movies on TV. Oliver has only climbed the tree once so far and has not managed to take it down. Saturday, we had Brandon and Kara over for dinner and a movie (I snuck the green bean casserole in, though I spared them the turkey, but really only because it was still frozen).
Over the weekend, I continued my cleaning quest, and now I’ve vacuumed the whole house (except for Jesse’s office), including the baseboards and under the stove and refrigerator, as much as I could. I cleaned the ceiling fans and the bathrooms and got caught up on my filing (major undertaking there), organized my coupons, broke out the flannel sheets. Vacuumed again. And again. If we had holiday weekends at home every month, my house would sparkle it would be so clean.
Sunday, we had a big Southern lunch at Brandon and Kara’s—fried venison, cooked carrots, and rice and gravy. I never knew you could put gravy on top of rice, but apparently you can. It was all delicious. Oh, and Kara made chocolate sugar cookies that were absolutely addictive. I found myself craving them today, and I emailed her asking for the recipe.
After church Sunday night, we went over to the Paschals’ adorable new house and ate ham sandwiches and popcorn. I helped as Kirsten arranged her study, a lovely little room that has a half-library half-coffee shop feel to it. We all basked in the fact that they live just minutes down the road. On our way home, Jesse and I started timed the trip but forgot to look at the clock when we got home. Add to this the fact that Warren and Sharon (and Story!) will also be moving to our part of town in the near future (if the stars finally align), and we’re getting that much closer to the sitcom “everybody drops in and says witty things” ideal.
So, the holiday wasn’t what it usually is. But we weren’t as alone as we might have been, and there’s still a lot to be thankful for.
I’m still jonesing for some leftover turkey sandwiches, though…
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I’m glad your different kind of Thanksgiving turned out to be better than you’d feared. We had a little bit of an unusual holiday as well, but I guess we just try our best to adjust to situations as they come, and it seems that they usually turn out pretty well in the end.
I had fun playing holiday guest in Zea’s done-up dining room, and she sent me home with leftovers in this cute tupperware with sections for the different dishes. There was something quite all right about a plate of T-giving leftovers the next day!
And I have to confess that I have a disturbing LOVE of gravy. All I need is a spoon. But that’s gross, so it’s also cool to pour a batch of it on pretty much anything starchy: biscuits, rice, noodles, potatoes, grits, you get the idea….
It sounds like you had a good holiday after all. Congrats on your black Friday deals! I didn’t brave the stores, and in fact hope that I won’t have to do all that much shopping in person this holiday season. Online shopping is so much easier!
I’m a little afraid to put up a tree this year because of Edgar, our kitten. Spunky is pretty good with trees, preferring to drink the tree water to toppling the whole thing, but Edgar is an adventurous little booger. I’m sure he will climb it and break all my ornaments. But a holiday season with no tree? I don’t know if I can take that!
You know, I feel like we all should drop in on each other more than we do… I mean, there are like 8 couples living within 2 miles of each other…
Sabrina: are you also good at making gravy? Because I am terribly intimidated by it and therefore never make it.
Yana: we used to tie our tree to the wall so that Oliver couldn’t knock it over (he climbs it every year, without fail). Now we have a sturdier tree with a heavier base and so far–knock on wood–he hasn’t brought it down. But yes, they don’t understand why we put up a large tree-shaped thing in the living room and then covered in cat toys and then expect them not to play with it. Crazy humans.
Dave: you should totally just show up randomly at people’s houses. We’ve been doing Sunday nights after church at the Paschals’ place lately. Lots of fun.
Gravy is easy, although there are lots of different kinds of it and methods for making them. But to just make up some gravy quick without all the fuss of pan drippings and whatnot (which is also good and, of course, the origins of gravy-making), you can just mix cornstarch into broth (chicken, beef, whatever you want) and bring it to a boil and voila! But it tastes better if you start with a roux (brown equal amounts of butter and flour together in a pan) and then add in the broth and stir just until it comes to a boil.
I’ll have to give it a whirl!