Thanksgiving

The week before Thanksgiving, the Boy texted me that he'd gotten a piercing in his eyebrow. OK, I was afraid he was going to get a tatoo, so I guess a piercing is better than that. But he acted afraid of what his father would say, but what COULD he say? He just shook his head.

I love our turkey. I adapted an easy roast chicken recipe I saw on TV once (which is also great.) First empty out the turkey. Then I take apart at least 2 heads of garlic but leave the skins on, and scatter them on the bottom of the pan. Put the turkey on top, and pour a few cups of wine over the top of the turkey. Bake as directed.

Since I don't have a roaster, I also use those cooking bags for turkey, and a disposable roasting pan. It smells SO good once it gets cooking, and it's just so easy. Tastes great too. Yum.

I was telling the Boy about my recipe (once he got here) and how easy it was, and that song popped into my head, "Just put it in the bag." I heard Whoopi Goldberg on the View talking about how she gets up all night to baste the turkey (it's a tradition), and there's just no need for that. Just put it in the bag!

This year I noticed that I've been making the same mistake for several years now. If it says the turkey will be ready in 3-4 hours, I tell everyone it's ready in 4 hours. But it's always ready in 3! That's kindof OK, because I have to bake the sides, but that doesn't really take a whole hour.

And this year the Boy was a little late. He hit traffic, and his new girlfriend was bringing him. She couldn't stay, tho. So it was a little ackward. We were hungry, it smelled so good, but we waited for the Boy. When he finally got here, he introduced his girlfriend (v. pretty and seems nice), and we wanted to EAT!! So she kindof had to leave right away.

The meal was nice, and the Girl helped me quite a bit. It's a lot less stressful when I have such good help.

We had a nice visit with the Boy and I tried to be as pleasant as possible. He is really riding that line between childhood and adulthood, and even said, "I want all the perks of growing up but none of the responsibility!" when we were urging him to check something out with the school counselors.

We were asking him about his new girlfriend and he said he knew her last year, but she was dating a real jerk. The Girl and I both wondered aloud how he managed to do that again. He acknowledged that he only has to do the minimum and she thinks its great because she had such a bad boyfriend before him.

He also let it slip that he'd met up with her family a few times during the semester. I was surprised to hear that, as he only visited us ONCE all semester, when we asked him to come take care of his dog so we could attend a funeral in Indiana. He said it was because he was afraid of what we would say about his piercing.

He also surprised me by saying he needed to give us his Christmas list! We said, "What?!" We were already done and weren't planning on giving him much anyway. He's not a kid anymore! He doesn't get to give us Christmas lists anymore! He just doesn't know that yet. He asked us for things like presents for his friends and a plane ticket to visit his girlfriend!

I asked the Girl if I should tell him, and she said no. I said, "What if we just tell him we're already done shopping and he can use his money to buy what he wants?" and she said no. Next thing I knew, she was checking online and actually working to get him something he asked for (Clippers tickets). She offered to pay half. Isn't she the best?

On Sunday his girlfriend came back to spend the day and take him back to college (he still doesn't drive.) I had taken some steaks out for dinner, so I told him to let me know if they wanted to stay for dinner. They went out to the mall and visiting friends, and I didn't hear from him again until around 5, when he called to say he and his girlfriend would be there for dinner, and could he bring his friend too? (so his girl wouldn't feel put on the spot)

We went from 3 for dinner to 6, just like that! Luckily I had enough food and it came out well. I've been sauteing chard in garlic and olive oil, and it is SO good! It's good with rice or mashed potatoes.

The Boy called us a week later to ask what restaurant we go to in Chinatown and where it was. It seems he likes to show his friends the cool things we've done with him. I told K he'd probably do that with his kids too, and then they'll grow up and not visit him all semester.

But really, I'm thankful. I have a nice, handsome husband. A smart, charismatic son, and a beautiful, kind and helpful daughter. I have a roof over my head and more than enough to eat. I have my health.

Thank God.