My sister and I have been trying to perfect Thanksgiving for years. At various times we have eliminated some dishes and added others, monkeyed around with the size of the turkey, and the like. Traditionally, our Thanksgiving season began when my father, Jack, harumphed, said we should make it easier and use paper plates and just buy turkey parts, and then gave us each $50 to buy food. Last year, lacking Jack, it was my sister who suggested the turkey parts, which thankfully we didn't do.We came very, very close to our goal this year. In fact, we achieved it, only to find out it wasn't what we wanted after all.
A big part of our goal was not to have an obscene amount of food left over. What we were going for was not having to throw food out because it was stuff left that no one was going to eat. And I would have to say that the food we put out last night was just about exactly the right amount. There was just the perfect amount of eveything. We did it! And there's the rub.
We just didn't have enough leftovers. Yes, yes, I know, that was the plan. But we planned so carefully this year that there was barely enough for us to eat today, and I ask you, is that not part of Thanksgiving as well? The turkey is already gone. Sweet potato casserole, gone. We never got rice pudding to take home; there wasn't enough of it left. We've got pumpkin pies because I made three of them, and stuffing, although the spare stuffing dish slid out of the fridge this morning onto the floor, so the Hubs is going to find half as much as he thinks he has when he gets home tonight.
Next year, a slightly bigger turkey, I think, although we may have fewer people. My brother-in-law's daughter and her husband drove down from Massachusetts, but by this time next year they'll have a few-months-old baby, so they may not want to make the trip. On the other hand, my nephew's girlfriend will be there, and, halevei, my girls will have guys to bring.
On the cold war front, it is damn cold out there and I simply cannot adjust to it. I was alternately hot and cold, hot and cold, all night long, but I think not hormonally; it was a weird reaction to my weird reaction to the sudden cold on the way home from my sister's last night. Today too I've had a fleece on and off, on and off. My feet have taken on the traditional icy-cold that marks the winter season for me. On the one hand, I've got to be grateful I don't live in the upper midwest, where it gets really cold, but on the other, I've got to wonder why I don't live somewhere where it's warm. (Oh, that's right: few hurricanes, no earthquakes, no tornadoes, all that stuff, plus everyone I love lives here. Right.)
I need to investigate what's wrong with K's computer, but I dread going there. I think it's a hardware problem, actually, which means it'll have to go back to the store to get fixed. Ugh. What is it with computers? Why can't they just work?
