Memorable Thanksgivings

The Christmas ads are intensifying, and they're really starting to catch my eye. I just saw a HyVee Christmas ad for all the gifts you can buy while you're there picking up your groceries. I must admit, the Cuisinart stand mixer, with free juicer and free bowls, looked intriguing to me!

The Christmas car ads have been on for a few weeks now – hubby commented on how early they started. It's a good thing, though, that so many ads are already on, because they reminded me that I hadn't done any Christmas shopping yet. I'm not alone, but for several years I've done the vast majority of my shopping online and have done my shopping in September or October.

I got online Sunday evening and got the gifts ordered, glad that I wouldn't have to watch the calendar and hope they arrived on time. Monday, I got an email that one of the gifts was unavailable. So much for what little planning I'd done! Bless hubby, he got on Amazon.com last night and found a comparable gift. So after a brief hiccup, we appear to be set.

Now I can back up and get ready for Thanksgiving. I'm making the dressing for our annual get-together, so I got the bread out of the freezer today and got it cut up to dry out. Tomorrow I'll cut up the celery and onions and get them sauteed. I love the smells of the season!

I've been trying to come up with memorable Thanksgivings throughout my life. When I was little, Dad's family (or at least part of it) enjoyed Thanksgiving together. The gathering was usually at our house because we had more room. I liked to help as much as I could. When I was small, I got to help stir the pumpkin pie filling while Mom added the ingredients. Back then, spices came in small metal boxes. There was a sliding cover on top that allowed for sprinkling; to measure the spices, you had to pop off the lid. One year I was stirring really, really well.....and the lid popped off the nutmeg before Mom expected it to and she still held the can so it was tipped over the bowl. I stirred, nutmeg poured, and Mom got a tad bit excited. She got me stopped before I stirred the lid into the pie filling, and she was able to remove enough of the nutmeg that no one could tell what happened.

I think it was Thanksgiving the first time one of the older boy cousins brought a girlfriend to a family get together. I enjoyed having another girl in the bunch. We younger ones played games after we ate.

As we get closer to Christmas, I have tons of Christmas memories. But try as I might, I just can't come up with a lot of Thanksgiving memories. Perhaps if I'd received gifts for Thanksgiving, it would be more memorable!

Even though Dad's been gone 21 years, I can say (with confidence) what his most memorable Thanksgiving was. Mom and I went to Jefferson City with my uncle and his family to visit my grandparents. Dad stayed at home because we had cows to be milked – and his project for the weekend was to put together a metal doll house that was to go under the Christmas tree. Evidently “insert Tab B into Slot A” wasn't as easy as it sounds! From what I heard years later, before that dollhouse was finished Dad used a few words that he wouldn't have said if I was within earshot!

Luckily, that doll house and I enjoyed many happy hours together. I'm sure Dad was glad that his frustration resulted in something good.