Rounding Third

So.  Yesterday.

 

I started off by getting up early to sweat off the food I was to consume later in the day.  I say this not to brag, but because it was the only time I had to silence the guilt-o-meter going off in my head.  After all, this was our third Thanksgiving in a week.

I then set about cooking a giant turkey to feed 26 people.  Yes, that’s right, 26.  In my little house.  Hey, it could’ve been worse.  I thought it was going to be 28.

I also threw together a pot of mashed potatoes.  This dinner is a family potluck, and I left it up to Chris to orchestrate what everyone was bringing.  He told just about everyone to bring potatoes, but no one really stepped up.  Now, I couldn’t allow a Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes, so I added that to my list.

Chris’s sister called at 12:30 when we were expected her (she was bringing his mom) in about half an hour.  But somehow, the time got confused and they thought they were to be here at 2:30.  I was putting the food out at 2.  Oops (not my oops, but we aren’t pointing fingers here.  Much). They probably felt my icy stare over the phone lines because they got in the car pretty quickly after that.

Relatives started showing up and delivering side dishes.  You can see where this is going going.  Two more pots of mashed potatoes.  I was flush with potatoes, but not so much with desserts.  I had a pecan pie and a box of cookies.  In desperation, I called my parents with a mayday to bring a pumpkin pie.  You can see where this is going.  We ended up with 4.

Seriously though, it was a wonderful day.  We had plenty of food (really, come over for leftovers).  The alcohol was flowing (this is a good family for bringing the booze).  The kids ran off (with a little adult supervision of course) to the school playground to burn off their dinners for awhile, and everyone left me alone to clean up my kitchen.  Everyone left at the same time (I did not push them out the door; it was pure coincidence I swear) with smiles on their faces, and at the end of the day, we even had a plan for Christmas.  Awesome.

To cap it all off, I was able to make a girls’ night out with some fabulous women.  We ogled former relativity television stars and drank fancy drinks with exotic garnishes while wearing our most fabulous (and at least in my case, painful) shoes.  If only it could have gone on longer, but I was about to crash, so home at a relatively early hour it was.

Thanksgiving, you done me good this year.  Christmas, don’t let me down.