Thanksgiving stress?

[beefytee]

This is the first year we have had thanksgiving alone as a family. We always invite everyone but no one came this year.

It has been pretty relaxing.

[Tim]

I am glad my wife isn't a perfectionist in this area. She actually recognizes it in her own mother and rolls her eyes about it.

Of course, since Thanksgiving is at her parents' this year, her mom has been busy dusting the ceiling fans and washing the ceiling in preparation for the guests. She should be adequately frazzled by the time we show up tonight.

Holy Shi'ite Muslim!!! A normal post by JohnnyLingo that didn't include some underhanded jab at another board member! Frickin' A! This is progress, man! What did you do, get a mentor or something? Have you been working with Tony Dungy? I'm seriously proud of you, Lingo!

[cougjunkie]

Thanksgiving recap:

1. Walked in to MIL room to watch some football saw a clock on the TV, every hour on the clock was marijuana leaves. 31 year old BIL that still lives at home and is a total burnout gave it to her.

2. burnout BIL shows up with his boyfriend they spend the next 2 hours trying to up the shock value by taking part in various displays of PDA.

3. Wifes niece comes in, we start talking she told me she just got out of jail for her third DUI (she is 22) and her license was suspended for 2 years. Also she is dating a former Utah football player and current assistant. She does not like him anymore but is scared as he has threatened her if she ever leaves (yikes!)

4. Wifes nephew comes in (havent seen him in about 6 months) he is about 6'5 and is weighing in at about 135. His dad tells me he found cocaine and meth in his room and is not sure what to do. (Nephew is 17) I told him to call the cops, dad says he cant do that to his son and asks if I will talk to son. I take son upstairs to burnout BILs room and ask him if this is what he wants in the future. I think I scared him straight.

5. Other niece comes in (she is 18) with a brand new set of fakies on full display for all to see. Catch her uncle checking them out.

6. The rest of the family is in the living room sharing spiritual experiences and trek pictures. (Father in law is 80, he was raking leaves lost his glasses said a prayer and found glasses said it was like a needle in a hay stack, people shed tears).

What a day.

[byu71]

Thanksgiving recap:

1. Walked in to MIL room to watch some football saw a clock on the TV, every hour on the clock was marijuana leaves. 31 year old BIL that still lives at home and is a total burnout gave it to her.

2. burnout BIL shows up with his boyfriend they spend the next 2 hours trying to up the shock value by taking part in various displays of PDA.

3. Wifes niece comes in, we start talking she told me she just got out of jail for her third DUI (she is 22) and her license was suspended for 2 years. Also she is dating a former Utah football player and current assistant. She does not like him anymore but is scared as he has threatened her if she ever leaves (yikes!)

4. Wifes nephew comes in (havent seen him in about 6 months) he is about 6'5 and is weighing in at about 135. His dad tells me he found cocaine and meth in his room and is not sure what to do. (Nephew is 17) I told him to call the cops, dad says he cant do that to his son and asks if I will talk to son. I take son upstairs to burnout BILs room and ask him if this is what he wants in the future. I think I scared him straight.

5. Other niece comes in (she is 18) with a brand new set of fakies on full display for all to see. Catch her uncle checking them out.

6. The rest of the family is in the living room sharing spiritual experiences and trek pictures. (Father in law is 80, he was raking leaves lost his glasses said a prayer and found glasses said it was like a needle in a hay stack, people shed tears).

What a day.

Nice. Last February we lost one of my Mom's diamonds. Said a prayer and found it. 14 year old nephew was impressed.

[TripletDaddy]

Today was a fun day. The dust-ups were colorful, but nothing that stood in the way of everyone having a nice time.

My wacky chiro uncle-in-law busted out his latest toy....some tool he uses to measure a person's "energy." It was pretty cool. Not really sure how it works, but it seemed to be very effective at pulsating and making a cool clicking noise. He offered to work on anyone that needed help but nobody took him up on it. My son wanted to play with the energy pulse-o-meter, but my uncle-in-law said that it was pretty expensive.

The food was awesome. Everyone was full. I must have been high on turkey because I even enjoyed watching the Jazz game. I think it was the Jazz, anyway. This team was effective, passed the ball well, shot well, etc. In particular, a player named "Boozer" was playing especially well.

Right now I am typing as the fam is playing games. I don't play board games with the fam, and as I type this, I am reminded why I don't play them. The fam makes up rules as they go along and by 10:30, they are giggling at everything...most of it unfunny, and almost always accompanied by a, "I can't believe how loopy I am. I am laughing at everything." They are also arguing about the proper way to build houses and hotels on property.

today was a good day.

[Soccermom]

My MIL has turned into the snack police. When you have thanksgiving dinner at actual "dinner time," snacks are collateral damage. you can't expect people to sit idly by and not eat all day, esp after playing two hours of football in the morning.

She is afraid nobody will eat dinner. I think I hear this every year.

Do you folks eat Thanksgiving dinner at dinner or at early afternoon? Around 2 or so? We have done both. I enjoy eating earlier. Gives you time to digest and eat some more.

We like to eat between 2 and 3 so there is time for a nap before pie.

Thanksgiving is not really ever stressful for us. Aristides and my younger son always brine the turkey together the night before while I make the pies with the other kids. Then, the morning of Thanksgiving, we make breakfast while I prepare the stuffing, peel potatoes, and cut vegetables for a relish tray. Then throughout the day, we are in and out of the kitchen as needed to get all of our dishes ready. We usually start putting out the appetizers around 10:30 and munch on them up through dinner. We start with the relish tray and then add shrimp (though not this year) and then I make some sort of appetizer with brie. Very relaxing. Football is playing on the TV in the background while the kids are playing.

Then the time arrives when the turkey is done, carved, and we ring the dinner bell, gather round the table and all say what we are thankful for and then enjoy the food. Clean up is pretty simple, we play games or watch a movie, then eat pie, and then I do gingerbread houses with the kids. Oh, and we like to go out front and play football in the street with the neighborhood kids too.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is just fun and relaxing for us. The only time we have had a high drama Thanksgiving is the time we were at my parents' home and Aristides and I played Risk with my sister, BIL, and dad. That ended very badly. But, once we were all on speaking terms again, we all agreed to never play risk with each other again, and it has been smooth sailing ever since.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Post dinner I said how tired I was from not getting to Utah until 4 am. Then I went for a 3 hour nap. Woke up in time to watch the good part of the Texas/TA&M game.

[TripletDaddy]

We like to eat between 2 and 3 so there is time for a nap before pie.

Thanksgiving is not really ever stressful for us. Aristides and my younger son always brine the turkey together the night before while I make the pies with the other kids. Then, the morning of Thanksgiving, we make breakfast while I prepare the stuffing, peel potatoes, and cut vegetables for a relish tray. Then throughout the day, we are in and out of the kitchen as needed to get all of our dishes ready. We usually start putting out the appetizers around 10:30 and munch on them up through dinner. We start with the relish tray and then add shrimp (though not this year) and then I make some sort of appetizer with brie. Very relaxing. Football is playing on the TV in the background while the kids are playing.

Then the time arrives when the turkey is done, carved, and we ring the dinner bell, gather round the table and all say what we are thankful for and then enjoy the food. Clean up is pretty simple, we play games or watch a movie, then eat pie, and then I do gingerbread houses with the kids. Oh, and we like to go out front and play football in the street with the neighborhood kids too.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is just fun and relaxing for us. The only time we have had a high drama Thanksgiving is the time we were at my parents' home and Aristides and I played Risk with my sister, BIL, and dad. That ended very badly. But, once we were all on speaking terms again, we all agreed to never play risk with each other again, and it has been smooth sailing ever since.

Soccermom, there is a great beauty to your post. It is a simple slice of Americana with a comforting, Rockwellian vibe to it. Thanksgiving at your home sounds like a memorable and wonderful event. Seriously. That is great.

[cougjunkie]

I played in a Turkey Bowl this morning. We ended up playing tackle. If I can get out of bed tomorrow it will be a minor miracle.

[byu71]

I played in a Turkey Bowl this morning. We ended up playing tackle. If I can get out of bed tomorrow it will be a minor miracle.

I remember when we did that. In the snow was particularly fun. Aw to be young again. I get stiff getting in and out of a golf cart.

[TripletDaddy]

I played in a Turkey Bowl this morning. We ended up playing tackle. If I can get out of bed tomorrow it will be a minor miracle.

we played two-hand touch and I feel the same way. Our team was all the old guys....all of us in our 30s. We played against recently graduated HS guys. For whatever reason, they had a guy that threw up and a guy that had to "rest" because he was getting dizzy.

We generally play tackle but my BIL broke his arm 2 thanksgivings ago and we spent part of the day in the AF emergency room. We decided to go low-pro this year.

[cougjunkie]

I remember when we did that. In the snow was particularly fun. Aw to be young again. I get stiff getting in and out of a golf cart.

We started at 7:45 the temperature was 19 degrees! The ground was rock hard, but it was still a good time.

[cougjunkie]

we played two-hand touch and I feel the same way. Our team was all the old guys....all of us in our 30s. We played against recently graduated HS guys. For whatever reason, they had a guy that threw up and a guy that had to "rest" because he was getting dizzy.

We generally play tackle but my BIL broke his arm 2 thanksgivings ago and we spent part of the day in the AF emergency room. We decided to go low-pro this year.

By the way we had a guy like the QB you talked about earlier in the thread. He wanted to be QB the whole time but had a horrible arm, he was also 6'6 and nobody on the other team was over 5'10 I told him to let me throw him a few fades in the endzone. He was scared to get hit and kept dodging it.

Finally at the end of the game we had him open down the sideline I threw about a 40 yard ball on the money that hit him square in the hands and he dropped it. He came back to the huddle saying I overthrew him. This ball did not hit his finger tips it was dead center of his hands.

Also being the biggest guy there I felt like Mike Alstott and carried the ball a ton today, I am pretty beat up.

[CJF]

Thanksgiving was great. Birthday party for my dad yesterday and Thanksgiving dinner today. Two really big family parties in 24 hours and not a single issue at all and lots and lots of great food. I love this time of year.

[Surfah]

I remember when we did that. In the snow was particularly fun. Aw to be young again. I get stiff getting in and out of a golf cart.

I knew you were golf nut, but damn, control yourself.