Greg’s Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving. The food is put away, the dishes are done and the place looks halfway normal and now it's time to rest. The ladies of the family are discussing where to go shopping tonight or tomorrow morning and we're still not sure which it is. As long as they find 'Black Friday' fun, that's all that matters. I'm recovering from my turkey coma and getting ready for the Patriots game at 8 on NBC.

I don't think I've ever seen the Sun Journal so big. The newspaper was filled to the gills with flyer ads for 'Black Friday.' My wife goes every year with her sisters and her mom. I went along once years ago and found out that it's not for me. I volunteer to watch the kids because I just can't take the crowds at such an early hour. I'll pay a few dollars more for the same item at a later time. Actually, some deals are so great that it really does make sense to hit the store and wait in line. I saw "all-in-one" printers for $40! Way back when we bought ours we paid $100. That's like 60% off, crazy!

The dinner was great. We were a table of 11 this year, down from past years where we've had as many as 21. One moved away to college, two moved out of state for work and a few couldn't make it because of other plans. Lynn got up at 6 am to prep the 22 pound turkey and put in the oven at 325F. It took about five and half hours to cook. While the bird roasted we took in the smells and watched the Macy's parade as we always do. Lynn and her sister Sylvie did all of the cooking. I cleaned up after. This is usually the tradition, but cooking seems like a lot more fun than cleaning. Too bad I can only cook foods with directions on the side of the box. Three runs of the dishwasher later and we're finally done and it's time to relax. Turkey, salad with oranges and apples, mashed potatoes, carrots and I say this jokingly but the dreaded green bean casserole. For dessert we had apple and coconut cream pies. Tremendously yummy.

Stacy, Lynn's sister carved the turkey as I do not do the the first cut because I always butcher the gorgeous looking fowl when I try. Thanksgiving was pretty flawless except for accidentally ruining the extra or leftover gravy. It was in the bottom of a double boiler pot beneath a strainer in the sink. I just saw the goop and onions in the strainer and thought they were just dirty dishes.

The cousins played well together. Right now they're upstairs watching a movie except for Vikki who just had a tubby. About an hour until Patriots and Jets kickoff. After all of the craziness of the day, Vikki did finally make it in her game day jersey. Lets Go, Pats!  Hope all of my readers had a great Thanksgiving and get a bit of a nap before rushing to the stores.