What is everyone doing?

[dgs49]

My wife prepares a virtual Roman Feast for thirty people every Thanksgiving. It includes Italian Wedding Soup, two or three kinds of salad, pasta, braggioli, as well as the traditional T'giving favorites: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and dessert.

Unfortunately, the number of people supping at our house had dwindled by death and estrangement from about 20 people to 7+2 toddlers. But my wife has not scaled back one molecule of food from the traditional meal.

While I enjoy the atmosphere and being together with what's left of the family, the waste of food drives me nuts.

Friday and Saturday will be cleanup and putting up Christmas decorations (me outside, her inside), though we won't plug them in until the first week of December.

[wesw]

sounds good.

I miss the big family dinners. once all the grandmothers died the bonds were kinda tenuous....

it turns out that my son and his girl will both be working doubles. her at the nursing home and him doing work millwright work while a mill mill is shut down for the holiday

[oldr_n_wsr]

Friday and Saturday will be cleanup and putting up Christmas decorations (me outside, her inside)

I know that routine. I bought a bunch of new LED lights last year so i hope I am not wasting hours/days fixing the light strings.

Thursday I go play football with my old high school buddies and some of our sons. Been playing every thanksgiving since 1974 (I think it started in 74). Getting a little slow, but the offspring pick up the pace and us od men try and keep up. Hopefully there will be some substitutions so we can catch an oxygen break.
After that it's dinner at my sister in laws then off to my cousins for dessert. Will be a little sad without Aunt Dottie. We do have to figure out who is hosting Christmas. Aunt Dottie always hosted it.

[Crackpot]

Oldr thanksgiving of '74 I was only weeks old

[MajGenl.Meade]

Thanks for that, CP... way to spoil a Wednesday. I have underwear older than you! I guess tomorrow oldr and I will give thanks for being vertical and ventilating and get back to our breathless, limpy gimpy lives.

[Lord Jim]

Oldr thanksgiving of '74 I was only weeks old

[oldr_n_wsr]

Oldr thanksgiving of '74 I was only weeks old

Young'un

I guess tomorrow oldr and I will give thanks for being vertical and ventilating and get back to our breathless, limpy gimpy lives.

And friday and saturday and sunday......

[kristina]

Thanksgiving of '74 I was tending bar in a dive bar in Connecticut.

This year it's just me and a friend, at her house. Her family are all otherwise engaged, and my family is 3,000 miles away. We'll cook the smallest turkey she can find, and a bit of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy...all the regular stuff. I've made cranberry chutney, which sends leftover turkey sandwiches to new heights of deliciousness.

[Econoline]

We'll be having Thanksgiving dinner with my younger daughter and her husband in Battle Creek, Michigan; my wife and I may be their only guests this year, since my sister and my mother decided to visit my little brother in Atlanta. I may have to drive back to Chicago to work Friday night, but if I do I'll drive back to Michigan afterwards for the rest of the weekend.

[BoSoxGal]

I suppose it's kudos to me that I had a solid dozen invitations to Thanksgiving this year - what with me leaving soon and all.

I'm splitting the day between my two closest friends here, bringing a pie to each feast. Should be nice, though bittersweet.

Friday I'll be back at the consignment shop putting more of my junk up for sale; after spending today pricing all my Christmas decorations, I realized I'll be able to make some serious cash by selling my stuff and that it will help me finance my new beginnings, so I shouldn't feel sad about it.



If I can get rid of most of my stuff, I might be in a position to go abroad to live and work for a year, or two. I've always wanted to live someplace outside the U.S., for the perspective and to see some seriously old architecture, too.

[MajGenl.Meade]

BSG, having sold or given away everything three times when moving country/house (and I mean everything except what fit in two suitcases each), stuff begins to mean both a lot less and a lot more.

It's less because so much can be easily let go, with practice. It means more because one is grateful for what one has when one has it, that previously was taken more or less for granted.

Seriously old architecture has a lot to recommend it. Happy Thanksgiving!

[TPFKA@W]

Having survived a house fire as a young teen I have never, ever since then been a collector of crap. My husband OTOH takes up 7/8 of the house with his crap and hobbies. If anything happens to him it is my plan to sell everything or give it away and buy a pickup and a tiny house on wheels.

[TPFKA@W]

If I can get rid of most of my stuff, I might be in a position to go abroad to live and work for a year, or two. I've always wanted to live someplace outside the U.S., for the perspective and to see some seriously old architecture, too.

This is grasshopper think. I recommend ant think instead.

[BoSoxGal]

If I can get rid of most of my stuff, I might be in a position to go abroad to live and work for a year, or two. I've always wanted to live someplace outside the U.S., for the perspective and to see some seriously old architecture, too.

This is grasshopper think. I recommend ant think instead.

I understand why you might assert that, but I'm actually looking into - have been for a long while - prospects for working as an attorney in (on?) an island nation, where the work/life balance is much better than the U.S. (for my health), and where I could earn a very good salary with almost free housing ($25/mo. - seriously!) provided. Or a teaching abroad position with much the same circumstances, except I'd have to pay some toward housing expenses, but it would still be far cheaper than costs here in the States.

I'm thinking if I could get such a position, I would be able to repay the business debt I incurred in a relatively short period of time, as I wouldn't be expending $ on housing and would also be avoiding much of the U.S. tax burden during that time. I could return to the States with a clean slate financially and let my heart guide me from there?

But it's all speculation at this point. I'm headed to Maine first, and will take some time to figure out what I need to do to be healthy.

@w, thanks for what you shared in the other thread, too. It does help to remember how many folks are much, much worse off than my worst day. As much as the change and uncertainty I'm going through seem overwhelming to me at times, it's all still first world problems - and nothing compared to somebody battling for her/his very existence. That's one kind of perspective that only comes from a job like yours; the rest of us need reminding.

[TPFKA@W]

When you wrote about old architecture I thought of Europe or somesuch.

I was serious about being a public guardian. A lady I work with makes 5k a month doing it, says she has 164 in her load and it is non-taxable income and her mileage somehow makes it look like she makes nothing. Of course I have verified none of this and she may be blowing smoke up my ass. I thought of doing it myself since I could serve the underserved without the physical labor of nursing. I thought it might make a good retirement "job" but have not yet looked into it. I would think lawyer or nurse would be a good education to offer the best involvement.


Turns out going to the casino was a great idea-no kids which I hadn't even thought of.

[Lord Jim]

I won the bet...

Thanksgiving morning...



Tati owes me a tenner...

[TPFKA@W]

Well as I expected we got frantic texts from the step-spawn (his) asking us to dinner which for no logical reason the were having at 9am. We, bypassed dysfunction junction, heading on to the casino.

My family is just as bad, I was invited to great-nephew's wedding 2 weeks ago for this Saturday. We had alredy purchased tickets to an event for Saturday.

Jim are you really going to take her money?

[BoSoxGal]

I will definitely look into that @w, it sounds like work I would find rewarding.

[dales]

BELCH!

Didn't really eat that much over at my sister's house, even though it was right tasty!

[Lord Jim]

Jim are you really going to take her money?

I took it and then gave it back to her as an early Christmas present...