Not Our Typical Holiday

By this time before every Thanksgiving I can remember, I've been up to my schnutz in turkey brining, pie-making, stuffing chopping, and all  requisite  pre-Thanksgiving acts.  Not this year.  Not one pie; not an ounce of turkey, not a morsel of sage stuffing...

Not sure why this was important to me this is year, but it is.  Maybe I just needed a break from what has always been my most favorite holiday of the year.

The kids are all busy:  The youngest has to work; horses don't take care of themselves, the eldest and daughter-in-law have an infant, and the middle child wanted to get together with friends.  And this is good.

Tomorrow, Richard and I will ride up to PA to see my mom and have a Thanksgiving brunch with her, and then return to an evening of football, my crab dip, and a chopped salad.  And above all our profound thanks for all that we have.

For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be, what is once well done is done forever. (Thoreau)

I believe that everything we do has consequences. We are not always cognizant of the effects of our positive actions, but they happen like a rippling in the water and something as minuscule as a smile can set off a wonderful chain of events.
On Thanksgiving, because my husband was ill, we had to call the children and our guests to let them know they needed to search elsewhere for turkey. All did with no problem except for our youngest daughter who lives outside of DC in a very urban, congested, and busy area. She had gone shopping for their dinner and when she got home realized her wallet with credit cards, license, and thirty dollars in it was gone. The last time she remembers seeing it was at the cashier. She returned to the store to ask if anyone had turned in a wallet, re-traced her steps in the parking lot, and then called her sick dad who from his bed called and canceled all of the credit cards. He comforted her, telling her it was only a wallet, and told her she needed to get a new license. (She was willing to have done the calling herself, but my husband is a hands-on kind of dad. I have a strong sense he'll be doing this kind of thing from the beyond as old habits die hard). She accepted her loss well and said she needed to be more careful.
And that, we thought, was that. On Saturday, however, she got a letter from the police telling her that someone (the police did not have a name) had turned in the wallet. It included an inventory; everything, including the cash, was still there. So to the kind and honest soul who turned in the wallet, I say 'thank you.' Not just for returning the wallet, but for creating this incidence of goodness. Let the rippling begin.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

I spent the entire day editing two reports that are going out to clients tomorrow. It got so bad that I had to work out with weights about every 10 pages or so. (Do you know that all it takes is 20 minutes of sitting for blood to pool in your feet and your seat? (This according to Dr. David Sousa in How the Brain Learns). When I was teaching, after about 20 minutes, I'd make the kids stand up and do toe rises or walk across the room and share something they'd learned that day in class with another student) (Yes, they all did it. They did anything I asked because they thought I was crazy.) So basically what I'm saying is that right now I'm almost brain dead but because of pumping iron, could probably lift a Volkswagon with my legs!

The good news is I'm finished this project and can start thinking about my count down for Thanksgiving: when I'll shop, what I'll shop for, and when I'll start cooking. Tomorrow I'll clean out the refrigerator. Saturday I'll clean and maybe finish up the leaves. Looks like Sunday may be shopping day. Tuesday, I'll drive up to PA to pick up my mom and when I come home will set the turkey in buttermilk brine (see Williams-Sonoma). Wednesday, I'll bake the pies, an apple cider reduction, make the stuffing and lay out the dishes and linen. I'll also do all my prep work for the sides. We're eating early on Thursday -- about 1:00 (it's an Italian thing) (It also means we'll have time to work in another meal; we're not stupid :). The turkey will go right from the brine (and a quick dry-off) to the oven. I'll probably start roasting it at 5:30 a.m. It should finish by maybe 12 and then I can cook all of my sides. Our three children, their spouses/significant others will be here as will our grand children (9, 6, and 7 months). If there's no fighting, I might even be able to take a photo for our Christmas card, but I probably shouldn't wait until after dinner to do this. Sometime, remind me to tell you about The Great Tampon War of 1994...