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SSSOOOOOO....fuuuulll...and sleeeeepy....
Nov. 26th, 2009 11:55 pmHappy Thanksgiving to all the Americans on my list :)
Geez Louise, this was a great one. My Dad and (his live in girlfriend of forever) Madie, Laura and Frank with Brian, Grant and I with our kids, and my brother Bob were all here, and Shaun came, too. My Dad arrived yesterday - he and I stayed up talking until 5 am last night and just said SO many things that we've never said out loud before, together - about the time period when he totally gave up on life and did nothing, about all kinds of stuff. Not bad or tense at all, either, just...honest and candid. It's weird and scary how my health and medical issues mirror his. He is really a bigger, maler, older, beat up version of me. We were comparing benign back cysts and belly scars from intestinal surgeries and talking about the pain we both get in our wrists, when we weren't comparing recipes.
On the other hand he arrived stoned and, blah. I dunno. Yeah.
My kids loved him. My little kids especially. Jake desperately didn't want him to leave.
Laura, Frank and Brian stayed way later than Dad had to leave by. I introduced them to the hilarious horror that is peopleofwalmart.com and we all generally lazed about overly stuffed without bothering to turn on lights as it got dark out. Shaun is still here, playing Street Fighter with my brother.
Having double teamed the feast, I have to say Laura and I MADE IT HAPPEN. We brought the thunder.
She made:
-sweet potato casserole
-A-MAZ-ING homemade mac n cheese
-A-MAZ-ING pumpkin cheesecake (!)
-peas with shallots and bacon
-delicious gravy full of fresh herbs (sage and thyme, mostly)
-small no dairy green bean casserole
-small cranberry sauce, with orange
I made:
-22 pound turkey, brined overnight and then roasted & stuffed with aromatics a la Alton Brown
-about 10 pounds of garlic mashed potatoes
-massive amount of traditional green bean casserole
-VAT of whole berry cranberry sauce
-apple pie
-pumpkin pie
-pumpkin bread, x a lot (loaves to take home for Shaun and my Dad, muffins as snacks throughout the day, plus ours)
-peach ginger iced tea
And we had pop-can crescent rolls and Stove Top stuffing, cheating though they may be, because I love them both and we just only have so many resources here. Also lots of sparkling and regular grape juices and ice cream and cool whip for pies.
Anyway, yeah, *burp*.
SHAUN HAS NEVER HAD CHEESECAKE! How can this be? I should not even be surprised anymore, over the years we've given him his first taste of things like, oh, STRAWBERRIES? WHAT?! And he'd never heard of neopolitan ice cream when we were 25. There are just tons and tons of things like this, with him. Fresh fruits and common pizza toppings and totally standard desserts and all sorts of things he just gives you this blank look when you ask if he wants some - I don't understand it.
We took the table outside and put both leaves in and had a little kids' table and it was all good in the hood, on the deck. My Dad carved the turkey and we all went around and said what we were thankful for, and as an aside it has also been nice to enjoy the fruits of my labors, i.e., the clean house I slaved over for almost 24 straight hours before guests arrived. Especially with touring my Dad through for his first time here. Combined I really re-realized how much I love this house, and how perfect for us it is.
I also always come back around to truly LOVING our dining table around holidays. It's just so damned awesome. Ananda made place cards for everyone's seats, with little symbols on each of them. For instance my brother's had a skull on it, haha. There've been many jokes today about how perky and enthusiastic he is. Again, haha.
I feel like a jackass right now because I was just going to see what pictures we had taken and what I would post and I'm just overwhelmed by what a massive fatass I still am, and how none of the pictures are focused right or have the right lighting or blah blah blah. Screw that, whatever, back to Eat to Live tomorrow :p
Aaron stepped on some nail that was in the yard for who knows what reason. Really kind of jumped on it and punctured pretty bad. Frank (paramedic) called the hospital to find out what they thought of when he had his last tetanus shot and the condition of the nail and all that. Seems fine. Lots of neosporin. Annie got a little woozy from the blood but I kept her in the kitchen while Grant cleaned him up in another room.
*yawn*
Geez Louise, this was a great one. My Dad and (his live in girlfriend of forever) Madie, Laura and Frank with Brian, Grant and I with our kids, and my brother Bob were all here, and Shaun came, too. My Dad arrived yesterday - he and I stayed up talking until 5 am last night and just said SO many things that we've never said out loud before, together - about the time period when he totally gave up on life and did nothing, about all kinds of stuff. Not bad or tense at all, either, just...honest and candid. It's weird and scary how my health and medical issues mirror his. He is really a bigger, maler, older, beat up version of me. We were comparing benign back cysts and belly scars from intestinal surgeries and talking about the pain we both get in our wrists, when we weren't comparing recipes.
On the other hand he arrived stoned and, blah. I dunno. Yeah.
My kids loved him. My little kids especially. Jake desperately didn't want him to leave.
Laura, Frank and Brian stayed way later than Dad had to leave by. I introduced them to the hilarious horror that is peopleofwalmart.com and we all generally lazed about overly stuffed without bothering to turn on lights as it got dark out. Shaun is still here, playing Street Fighter with my brother.
Having double teamed the feast, I have to say Laura and I MADE IT HAPPEN. We brought the thunder.
She made:
-sweet potato casserole
-A-MAZ-ING homemade mac n cheese
-A-MAZ-ING pumpkin cheesecake (!)
-peas with shallots and bacon
-delicious gravy full of fresh herbs (sage and thyme, mostly)
-small no dairy green bean casserole
-small cranberry sauce, with orange
I made:
-22 pound turkey, brined overnight and then roasted & stuffed with aromatics a la Alton Brown
-about 10 pounds of garlic mashed potatoes
-massive amount of traditional green bean casserole
-VAT of whole berry cranberry sauce
-apple pie
-pumpkin pie
-pumpkin bread, x a lot (loaves to take home for Shaun and my Dad, muffins as snacks throughout the day, plus ours)
-peach ginger iced tea
And we had pop-can crescent rolls and Stove Top stuffing, cheating though they may be, because I love them both and we just only have so many resources here. Also lots of sparkling and regular grape juices and ice cream and cool whip for pies.
Anyway, yeah, *burp*.
SHAUN HAS NEVER HAD CHEESECAKE! How can this be? I should not even be surprised anymore, over the years we've given him his first taste of things like, oh, STRAWBERRIES? WHAT?! And he'd never heard of neopolitan ice cream when we were 25. There are just tons and tons of things like this, with him. Fresh fruits and common pizza toppings and totally standard desserts and all sorts of things he just gives you this blank look when you ask if he wants some - I don't understand it.
We took the table outside and put both leaves in and had a little kids' table and it was all good in the hood, on the deck. My Dad carved the turkey and we all went around and said what we were thankful for, and as an aside it has also been nice to enjoy the fruits of my labors, i.e., the clean house I slaved over for almost 24 straight hours before guests arrived. Especially with touring my Dad through for his first time here. Combined I really re-realized how much I love this house, and how perfect for us it is.
I also always come back around to truly LOVING our dining table around holidays. It's just so damned awesome. Ananda made place cards for everyone's seats, with little symbols on each of them. For instance my brother's had a skull on it, haha. There've been many jokes today about how perky and enthusiastic he is. Again, haha.
I feel like a jackass right now because I was just going to see what pictures we had taken and what I would post and I'm just overwhelmed by what a massive fatass I still am, and how none of the pictures are focused right or have the right lighting or blah blah blah. Screw that, whatever, back to Eat to Live tomorrow :p
Aaron stepped on some nail that was in the yard for who knows what reason. Really kind of jumped on it and punctured pretty bad. Frank (paramedic) called the hospital to find out what they thought of when he had his last tetanus shot and the condition of the nail and all that. Seems fine. Lots of neosporin. Annie got a little woozy from the blood but I kept her in the kitchen while Grant cleaned him up in another room.
*yawn*
