Nov. 24: Ahhh, a quiet day to take a deep breath and look back on the last week. Our Thanksgiving turned out pretty well. I was kind of expecting it to be “not-bad” if all went well, but I would actually say that it was a pretty nice day. It’s been hard to approach the holidays with Mom being gone. Michael and I planned out Joe came home from Bowdoin on Tuesday night. It was his first time back home since September. Joe, Michael, Becky, and Lisa came over on Wednesday, and we made pies and prepped items so everything was ready to go for Thursday morning.
Maretta and Kyle drove in through the snow on Wednesday night. On Sunday morning, Maretta watched Andrew while Bryan drove to Janesville to get Mum and I wrapped up most of the rest of the meal. We headed to Terry’s house around
11:30 where we used his multiple ovens and warming ovens to get the meal ready for a 1:15 dinner.
Pictures of the day are in the gallery.
We had a group of fourteen for our Thanksgiving meal: Terry, Tom, Terry’s neighbor, Connie Maxwell, Nancy Thurow, Mum, Dad, Bryan, Andrew, myself, Michael, Lisa, Maretta, Kyle, and Joe. Our menu was smoked turkey from Greensburg, Texas, spanikopita made by Lisa, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green beans, pink salad, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and Grandma’s turkey (sugar) cookies.
After dinner, Andrew went down for his nap really nicely, Dad did a massive dish-cleaning job, and we all attempted to digest. Dad headed to Monroe in the evening to take a Thanksgiving supper to Grandma and uncle Gary. The boys (Bryan, Michael, Joe, and Kyle) broke out the poker set, and they had fun playing together well into the evening.
On Friday morning, we gathered together again for a day-trip to Chicago. Eleven of us made the trip: Terry, Connie, Bryan, Andrew, myself, Michael, Lisa, Maretta, Kyle, Joe, and Becky. We drove down to The historic Women’s Athletic Club in downtown Chicago. The reason we were crazy enough to brave a trip to Chicago on Black Friday? Ron of Japan shrimp sauce. Mom ate a Ron of Japan while she was pregnant with each of us kids. I ate there when I was pregnant with Andrew, and so a trip was required to ensure the quality of this little one on-the-way.
After a really nice lunch at Connie’s club, some of us braved the incredible crowds to venture onto North Michigan to see the decorations and, er, experience the chaos. A little bit was more than enough, but it’s not often that I have the opportunity to shop in Chicago. So we spent a few hours poking around. Then at 5 we rejoined the rest of our group at the club and moved on to Ron of Japan. Andrew did a great job all day despite his lack of a nap, and we made it all the way home, even though we almost ran out of gas in the last half-mile.
Overall, it was a full, fun day. I wish my health had been better. Bryan was sick on Sunday-Wednesday, and I got sick Tuesday-today. Just a normal, winter sore throat, stuffy nose and cough thing. Hopefully I didn’t infect everyone I cooked for on Thanksgiving!
Hope your holiday was a good one!
~Althea