It was a gorgeous day, including the first official snowfall of the season. We’d had a few flurries but nothing that counted, since it didn’t stick to the ground. Last Thursday, we awoke to see a dusting of white on the back yard and the park, which was almost as awesome as the smell of the turkey Jay got up early to stick in the oven.
I love Thanksgiving.
Back when Jay was at MCTC, the Marauders nearly always had a game on the road the night before Thanksgiving. Jay would get home sometime in the middle of the night and he’d always pop our turkey in the oven before going to bed so we’d wake up to a house filled with the aroma of roasting bird.
The only thing better than waking up in a house that smells delicious is adding the sight of a fresh snowfall to the mix.
This year had it all.
And then some! After all, this is the first Thanksgiving since the Grandkids moved back to town. We were all here this year, except Adam, who was off hunting with his dad.
I had promised to provide cranberry sauce and cookies to both the dinners we were attending later. I’d baked the cookies the day before; gingersnaps for Pivecs and devil cookies for Hubbells. All I had to do in the morning was the cranberry sauce. Easy peasy. The only thing easier than cranberry sauce is ice water.
I can just imagine the reaction if I ever volunteered to bring the ice water.
Katie came over to the house early. She and Josie had volunteered to bring a pie to dinner and they chose an ambitious recipe.
“Hi Mom!” Kate said when she got to the house. “I forgot to bring a pie tin so I’ll have to use one of yours!”
The only thing wrong with that plan was that I had given Katie all my pie tins years ago.
No problem; my brother Andy started hosting Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. He and his brood moved into a big, wonderful house about a mile from us and as soon as they remodeled the kitchen, took the burden of the day off our ancient Mom. Mom loves to cook a huge dinner for her entire family and no one is better at it than she is but she deserves to relax and just enjoy the holidays, so Andy took over. Anyway, I had planned to drop off the cookies and cranberry sauce at his house in the morning so I borrowed a pie tin when I did.
A couple of hours later, we headed west to the Pivec Gathering.
No sooner than I walked in the door, I realized I’d forgotten the cranberry sauce.
Fortunately, Katie and Josie had stayed behind, waiting for the pie to cool. They grabbed the jar of cooled sauce and brought it along and prevented my forgetfulness from ruining Thanksgiving.
We’ve been doing Thanksgiving at Pam and Steve’s for decades. As with most families, the median age of the gathering has changed over the years. Long ago, there were dozens of little kids and young parents. After Josie was born, there were many years with no new kids. For quite a few years, Josie and Carolyn were the only kids left in the family and they kept getting older and older…
If it hadn’t been for Sophie, we wouldn’t have had any kids at all for a dozen years!
You might think that sounds nice but a family with no little kids is just waiting around to die.
Kind of like Europe.
This year, Matt and Janelle were back up from Indiana with their two six year olds, Julie was up from AZ with her little girl, Ben and Lauren have just had a second little girl, Mary and Phanie’s kids are toddlers now and Tyler and Megan have brought their little wranglers up from Texas. We had a noisy house bursting with little kids even before Frank showed up with his two boys.
It was great.
We all ate until we were ready to explode, then Jay and I packed up the car and headed to Andy and Vi’s, where second dinner was ready and waiting.
Zack picked up his own car so he could head to work at 8:00. Black Friday is the worst. It’s one thing for merchants to have sales on the day after Thanksgiving to get shoppers in and kick off the Christmas season; it’s a different thing entirely to open up on Thanksgiving itself, so as to ruin a great Holiday for everyone who works for you.
Oh well. At least Zack only worked till Midnight. My sister in law, who runs a big, national department store, has had to be out there all night long on Thanksgiving. She’s had to work on Christmas, too.
That’s why some folks make more than minimum wage, kids.
That’s also why I’m self-employed. Well, that and an inability to play well with others.
Second dinner was just as delicious as first dinner.
Once again, there were tons of kids in attendance to keep the decibel and excitement levels high. Andy still has two kids who aren’t teens yet and MJ has three little ones and of course, Babydoll and Babalouie. They love Andy’s boys almost as much as they love MJ’s girls, so a terrific time was had by all.
I remember when we used to party into the night. We’d eat, have dessert, watch football, play board games, eat again, play more board games…
I was asleep on my feet by 7:30.
Jay had already left so I hitched a ride home with my sister, Katie. I could have slept till Saturday but the kids came over on Friday so their parents could take advantage of the shopping day. We spent most of the day cuddled in the recliner together, watching movies. I think the kids were as tired as I was.
Saturday, the Tommies and the Johnnies met on the football field at UST to duke it out one more time. I had originally planned on going but in the end, I just didn’t have the energy. Jay, Ty and my brother Bill (a UST alumnus) were all at the game.
Here’s what you need to know: Vikings/Packers and Minnesota/Wisconsin (who were facing each other at the Bank at the same time) are great rivalries but no fiercer than that of St. John’s and St. Thomas. The Tommies vs. the Johnnies are like Army/Navy; if it’s the only game of the season your team wins, it’s a good year.
The Tommies ate the Johnnies alive.
Happy Thanksgiving.