First off, you spoke my very mind about not being able to shelter these kids from the World That IS. (Which is why I finally gave up trying to curb TV watching. TV EXISTS and that’s a fact.)

We’ll be driving like you, but we do it after bedtime in the hopes of our spirited toddler (ha, Tracy Hogg!) sleeping all the way through. My parents’ in Florida. There will be too much food and, I have a feeling, too much talk about what of my Grandmother’s furniture do I want. (She died in August.) Lovely.

But I’m very thankful all the same. :)

I am crossing off the days to Thanksgiving on my calendar because we are having turkey with bourbon/brown sugar/mustard glaze, creamed corn with bacon, brandy-orange sweet potatoes, burnt-sugar pumpkin pecan pie, and cranberry martinis. You will notice that there are three types of alcohol involved in dinner–beat that, Pilgrims!
The turkey is fun to make because you mix up the glaze and rub it under his skin.

The downside of Thanksgiving is that my entire family will be there, including Poisonous Aunt. I cannot guarantee that I will not throw a pie at her.

I’m in Canada, so my Thanksgiving was a month or so ago. But for this weekend, I’m driving to Buffalo with a friend on Saturday morning to see what all this American-ThanksGiving-Sales are all about! I hear Target has some kind of weekend-long bust-out? Horray!

The video was great. Wouldn’t have known it was her, would you? It’s kind of apropos that this morning I was reading some of my online friends talking about how leaving for work without makeup made them feel… Honestly, I wonder how it got to be like that for them. (As a non makeup wearer except for really special occaisions, I’m either totally ignorant or really lucky.)

Thanksgiving was supposed to be spent flying with my one year old to join him and his dad in Wisconsin. Since the child has been really sick for the last two weeks since husband’s mom’s funeral I think I’m opting out of family time and the hassle of flying. It’s also my mom’s first Thanksgiving since my dad died, and I think we’ll spend it with her. Hubby has a class reunion and wedding, not to mention the bars in Wisconsin, so he’ll be busy all weekend anyway.

My side of the family is celebrating Thanksgiving this Sunday. I am making homemade dressing for the first time ever — keep your fingers crossed for me! We’ll gather at my brothers house, and all the rugrats will play to their hearts content while the adults watch, thinking about how lucky we are. We’ll probably even drink some wine (or beer). We’ll have Thanksgiving on my husband’s side on Thursday. There will be far less kids there, as his family is small, and we are the only one with ankle biters. But, it will be enjoyalbe nontheless. There will be wine involved. And probably card games.

Very rarely are we able to have Thanksgiving with just the 4 of us (plus the dog – we miss him because he usually ends up at the kennel over the holiday), but we have been able to swing it this year. I will let the kids (ages 15 and 18) choose the menu, and they usually like to go the non-traditional route when they can. We’re of Swedish and German descent, but we may end up with spaghetti, lasagne or burritos — and that’s OK. We’ll stay at home on Thursday, maybe put up the Christmas tree, and then will have guests (brother, SIL, 2 toddlers) Friday through Sunday.

We’re leaving tomorrow for my in-laws’ in Maryland (5 hour drive), staying the night, and then hitting the road again for Long Island. There we will visit friends, who have 3 children under the age of 5. I almost dread this, because my husband is already sketchy on the whole “having kids” thing, and I’m afraid this may put him solidly into the “no” category. Thankfully, there will be lots of beer, I’m sure. Lutherans can still drink, right?

Tuesday night we’ll head back to Maryland for the Thanksgiving festivities. My in-laws kitchen is under renovation, so I’m fairly certain Thanksgiving dinner is the only home-cooked meal we’re getting all week.

Eating Stuffing. Lots of it.

Also, I’m a girly girl who loves watching football.

There may also be some kind of nap-like activity going on.

That video was totally crazy! Maybe we should have some sort of mandatory fashion/beauty service core in this country–every woman must model clothes/makeup at least once in her adult life so we can all see some REAL chicks for once. Jeezus!

Also–Swistle? Umm…yoo hoo, Swistle? Hook us up with the recipe before we all go into salivation overdrive!! The boyfriend and I are flying way up to north to see the family in Western NY and I’m sure they’d love me forever if I whipped up one of those doozies. Excited to see my family (hello little Sister, I know you’re a Sundry lurker!) and chill out and eat (and eat) after my Master Cleanse!

Oh yeah, and I say send Riley to sleepaway camp (one of the non-rich kid ones). Every summer. 2 weeks with no electronics, kids from all social strata, playing in the woods, campfires, singing dopey songs, flirting with girls he’ll likely never see again–the best child formative experience in this former camper/counselor’s book :)

This weekend, I’ll be rooting for OSU in the OSU/Michigan game, and the Browns in the Browns/Steelers game, even though I’ll be at work all day, both days this weekend (retail at Christmas is hell…I love this job, but I don’t think I’ll ever do thgis kind of job again).

Thanksgiving this year is just my mom making dinner for the five of us (this year, it’s my boyfriend’s turn to come over to my house). Though, if I can get out of Thanksgiving at my house, I’ll totally go to my boyfriend’s family’s house and spend it there.

My partner and I will be driving up to my parent’s house (another “don’t ask-don’t tell” visit)…in central TX…out in the middle of nowhere where you can really see the stars at night…taking the 10lb Chihuahua with us for personal torture…Thanksgiving dinner is ribeyes, baby!!! I will get to spend time with my sis’ kids and on Friday we will watch the annual football rivalry…Texas A&M–Gig ‘Em, Aggies!!!! vs Texas…then back home for the weekend with my partner’s daughter and her boyfriend. Looking forward to our Harry Potter movie extravaganza weekend…now there are FOUR movies to watch!!!!–a new holiday tradition with my non-traditional extended family.

We’re going to my parents’ house in Virginia (also a 5-hour drive, so not too bad) on Tuesday afternoon. Haven’t been home for Thanksgiving in two years (last year we were both sick as dogs but still managed to cook an entire HUGE Thanksgiving meal at home just for the two of us…it was delicious), so I’m looking forward to the time.

I think my main contribution (other than just general helping) is going to be making the pies. I make a killer pie crust, and when you combine that with my mom’s amazing apple pie filling, well…it’s fabulous. (Pumpkin pie is great in my crust, too.) My husband’s contribution will be eating (if he has his way) THE ENTIRE TURKEY because he is obsessed like that.

There will definitely be some football-watching, too…husband went to Texas A&M and is therefore a HUGE fan and MUST watch the A&M/Texas game on Friday. There are lots of warnings being put out to my parents about any swearing that may occur. (Pickles and Dimes, high-five for being a girly girl who loves watching football! That’s me all over.)

I’ll be spending Sunday at my grandmother’s farm with the extended family, fielding questions about why I’m not married and popping out babies yet and keeping my mouth too full of good farm food to answer. And then I plan to spend Thanksgiving Day and perhaps one other day at “home” home with my parents, making awkward attempts at conversation over the singed turkey (we always set off the alarm at least once, my mother is domestically disabled) and feeling immensely homesick for DC. And then sneaking back to Washington with loads of leftovers in tow, so I can have a re-do once I get home to my apartment, and nap through the remainder of the holiday on a tryptophan high.

My fiance are going to Hawaii – luau for Thanksgiving dinner sounds great to me!

Barb, totally didn’t see your comment – Gig’em Aggies, indeed! (I’ve really turned into a fan in the past few years.)

No Thanksgiving in Brazil…
I´m jealous!!!

Okay, first things first, was Emily serious when she said she might not fit into her 5s? If so, I’m going to have to throw the “You, Bitch” flag on that one. I mean that in the most endearing, I’m fucking-jealous-of-you way. Well, our Thanksgiving plans will consist of my husband’s parents and his sister and her husband and daughter visiting and staying with us for two days. I know I shouldn’t care, but I’m nervous as hell and, well, I thought I was doing a nice gesture by “inviting” his sister and mother to prepare a side dish and offer them to share MY kitchen, to which his sister replied that she was already planning to make something and was sure her mother was too and that we would all ‘just squeeze in the kitchen.”. Am I uptight? Probably, but this shit just really stresses me out. AND, they will want to rub their grubby hands all over my kid, which also stresses me out. Oh, and, did I mention they are sleeping over for TWO nights. It’s not that I dislike them, and truth be told, spending time with my family stresses me out too (though not in the same way). My god, I think I need to revisit the possibilities of Zoloft. For Christmas, we’ve already decided on the weekend before to visit family so that Christmas weekend will be celebrated by our family of three, no guests! Do I smell a Scrooge in the house? Seriously, though, Emily, if you are a size 5, I’m doing a congratulatory cabbage patch for you. Oh, won’t you please share your dieting secrets with moi? And if you are NOT stressed about seeing family for the holidays, I’m doing an even bigger dance for you, and will you please tell me HOW YOU DO IT?!

Going to my mom’s house in the country! With farm animals!

Okay, so there aren’t any farm animals anymore. Just four dogs. And a cat. And all the children running around, including my husband, and they could totally PASS for farm animals. Cute ones.

I’m cooking the turkey! I’ve done it for the past 3 years, and it always makes me feel so GROWN UP and RESPONSIBLE. And then I have to wash dishes, which totally sucks. I’m going to try to talk my family into using paper plates instead of china this year.

How do you think that’ll go over?

Going to my parents’ house, about 2 hours from ours. Mom is hosting instead of Grandma this year so I get to help her cook. Then on Friday we will watch the Texas A&M/Texas game, as my husband and I are both A&M grads…much cursing to be had, I’m quite sure. Oh, and also shopping.

My husband and I have a rule that we alternate between his family, my family, and ALONE (no family but just the two of us). This year, we are alone so we plan to have a spiral ham and other yummy eats, plus sit around and watch football ALL DAY. Yeah….you have guessed that we don’t have kids….lol.

I’m very sorry for your suffering. I can only imagine how that’s going to go. My thoughts and prayers are with you! Though in jumping-ahead-in-time retrospect, maybe they should be with Riley… =P

I plan to go home, meet my family’s new puppy(OMG HEART), and then spend the next four days studying for two finals and writing an 18 page economics paper that’s worth a third of my grade. Exchange rates and bilateral trade flows, yeehaw!

Did Swistle ever tell us about that pie? Well, what caught my eye even more than that was Alexa’s mention of the most fabulous-sounding concoction – “BURNT SUGAR PUMPKIN PECAN PIE.” Please, Alexa, tell us about that!

And I am all about the size 12’s, girls – I hope I fit into those after next Thursday (and good luck on the size 5’s, you little twig). Better yet, I am all about sweat pants or those awesome velour pants from Victoria’s Secret. Break out the cozy pants – it’s the holidays!! I was going to try and lose a few pounds but now I guess I can just wait until January and do it with everyone else. Thank goodness for the power of rationalization – I almost missed out on snacking my way through the next month and a half.

Now tell me about the PIE!!

We’re free of family obligations this year, so we’re going to a restaurant of my choosing for dinner. Two criteria must be met: 1) lots o’ champagne must be available, and 2) all-you-can-eat-buffet. Hmm, guess I need to get on that too.

I’m working all weekend. Then I’m going to work all Thanksgiving weekend. I do plan to take Xmas day off, though.

My husband has a big birthday Dec. 2nd, so we’re going to celebrate with family when everyone is together over Thanksgiving. We’re suprising him with a “This is Your Life”/Merv Griffin-style hybrid “talend”show in our living room. We are all going to perform funny and embarrassing (for him and for those performing, as we have little talent) songs, skits and monologs.

I stupidly invited my husband’s brother, sister & spouses to my house for Thankgiving. I’ll be the oldest there. It’s my house. That kind of means that I’m in charge. And I’m the worst. cook. ever. (say it again with the Oprah “bellow” — woooorst cooook evvveerrrrrrr. The timing will be off. Everything will be bland. And I’ll be stressed to the teeth freaking the f out. What the f was I thinking? Is there any going back?

Mom, Dad, brother & girlfriend, sister & boyfriend, mother-in-law & husband, my cousin, two friends, and three dogs are coming for Thanksgiving. The majority of them are staying all week.

I bought plenty of margarita supplies. I plan to keep everyone drunk.

2:00am — Produce newscast
10:00am — Cook side dishes
12:00pm — Thanksgiving meal with boyfriend’s family, sleep
6:45pm — Lighting ceremony on the Plaza
7:00pm — Chiefs vs. Broncos, more sleep
2:00am — Produce newscast

Welcome to sweeps, baby.

Where’s the chocolate pumpkin pie recipe??

I plan to make homemade a egg custard pie, chocolate meringue pie, and a pumpkin pie. (maybe a *chocolate* pumpkin pie??) and macaroni and cheese. I’m still one of the young uns in the family so I get side dishes. mmmmm….. pie……. enough to feed around 25.

Today I have packed six 30-gallon tubs worth of stuff in anticipation of Thanksgiving, plus probably more because I am not done yet and you can never pack too many baby clothes for my 4-1/2-month-old son. I get to load it into the back of the pickup myself, while also making sure the baby doesn’t choke, or choke on, the cat, and then drive to pick up my husband from work at 5:30. He may be a little late because they usually play a foosball tournament on Friday afternoons and he can’t let down his foosy partner. Yeah. Foosball. THEN! I get to drive 400 miles (the first 40 through rush-hour St Lous traffic, all with a baby of as-yet-tb-be-determined temperament) to northern Indiana, where my husband will look at me incredulously when I tell him we have to UNPACK the truck (who knew?).

Tomorrow, although Indiana is where my parents live, AKA the only babysitters we have, I can’t leave the baby with them because I am attending my friend’s wedding and she wants the baby to be there because he is cute and she is lobbying for her own baby already. For which I had to buy a dress two sizes too big (and have it altered) and a fucking ginormous nursing-mother bra (which I will probably leak through and have to do the walk of shame). And I won’t get to partake of the open bar, goddammit. But my husband will — foosball AND booze, the fucker.

Sunday, he gets to leave and live the life of the bachelor for four days while I spend the same four days prying my mother out of my ass with a spoon. She’s taken all next week off work to hang out with me! And narrate every fart-bubble smile my kid makes! Hey look! He smiled! Hey! I think he pooped! Hey! He can wave this toy! Hey, he has 4,327 hairs on his head! Hey! he smiled again! Hey! Hey!

Thursday, my husband comes back just in time to eat Thansgiving dinner and watch football (I’m sure no babies allowed during the game), and then I am going to cook two turkeys and two pies for my dad’s family’s Thanksgiving the next day, for which I had to pack three tubs worth of kitchen implements because my single brother (who is hosting, because his house has minimal furniture and a bigscreen, perfect for buffet tables and, augh, football) doesn’t even own a cutting board. or salt and pepper shakers for christ’s sweet sake.

I’m sure that my husband will look at me funny when I tell him that everything we unpacked needs to be packed again.

Saturday, we’re getting up at the asscrack of dawn to drive back to St. Louis to attend another friend’s wedding where, once again, I will get stiffed on the open bar. At least my kid will look cute in his teeny little suit I had to buy. (Keep an eye on flickr for the pictures…) And I get to wear that fucking Dolly-Parton-boobed dress a second time at least. Thanskgiving Sunday we’re going to a children’s birthday party. On Monday, I swear to god I’m going to move out.

This should have been a blog entry, but lord knows I couldn’t post it on my own blog becuase my mom trolls that thing like it was oxygen. Thanks for the space to vent!

Driving from PA to MD for dinner with the extended family. Girl-time with my fun cousins, then on to catch up with my parents for the first time in ages. Driving home again Saturday so I can spend the rest of the weekend with the bf. If you don’t get enough pie there, let me know. I’ll share. :)

Thanksgiving Day, we will be fixing some sort of anti-turkey dinner, as we will be turkeying on Friday iwth my mom and stepdad, I think. Plans just changed an hour ago. Saturday, we will be having a brunch with my dad, his girlfriend, my twin, my brother, wife and two kids, and my half-sister. Sunday is the usual church, lunch nd relaxing from the weekend. This all might change, but I’m writing this, hoping that’ll make it solid. *smile* Ian will enjoy seeing all the people, there’s no mistaking that. I hate the thought of having to explain why we go so many places on Thanksgiving when he’s old enough to ask. Sorry for the gloom.

You’re totally right: I mentioned the chocolate-crusted pumpkin cheesecake and then I just breezed out of here without a backwards glance. Thanks to the people who came to my blog to say, “Um, HELLO?!”

I’ve posted the recipe on my blog. But for god’s sake, people, be careful with this.

It’ll just be the two of us, so i think a Jennie-O turkey breast in a bag is in our future. Sigh. I have family here in Atlanta, but they’re all eating with people we do not know, hence we were not invited (okay, we weren’t invited because we are total strangers to them. But why wouldn’t you want total strangers over for thanksgiving?).

My sister and her husband are spending this week in New York, and then on Thursday they will be watching the parade. In person. While I watch it on TV.

Bah.

Linda – I’m so right there with you with regards to husbands’ “but I only get to do this….” once in a while thing. Although ours isn’t about elk hunting…it’s golf with his dad and brothers. Yeah, I get to entertain my MIL and my little one while he is out for hours and hours. My MIL uses this opportunity to tell me where we should live (right next door, dear God!), what I’m doing wrong, that she doesn’t get to see the baby enough and compares us with all of her friends’ kids. ARRRRRGGGHHH! ah sorry…thanks for letting me get that out.

As for Thanksgiving, we are going to the in-laws. I’m going to do my best to smile most of the time. Overall, they aren’t that bad – just too intense. Good luck with the ride next week. :)

I have sent Swistle’s recipe to myself. It looks delicious!

Amanda –

I grew up in northern IN! We lived in Crumstown and I went to school in South Bend.

originally our thanksgiving has been this: cook a huge meal wednesday night at home to snack on, attend lunch at an elderly aunt’s on the actual day, come home and eat OUR left-overs all week-end, box everything up to make frozen dinners sunday afternoon, and then eat chinese food on sunday night to clear our palates of all things thanksgiving-like.

new plan:
my meal for the three of us us changed to the actual day and now includes the elderly aunt and her alcoholic son/chauffer. so, three expanded to five- still manageable. but NO wine!

…then seven (my son’s new girlfriend and his male roommate whose parent’s are out of town) – still doable, but harder.

…and is now up to nine- the two little girls my son forgot to mention belonged to his new prim schoolteacher girlfriend (no baby daddys in sight!). i am scrambling to get enough chairs. the girls may end up eating on the floor at the coffee table on pillows.

my husband also insists that a true thanksgiving dinner attended by his elderly aunt must have a fold-out honeycomb paper turkey (popular in the ’40’s!) which i thought would be impossible to find, but target had a big one for $3, and tonight wally world had a pack with a small turkey for the girl’s table, so maybe they won’t feel left out. if i do all plastic at the kiddie table and take over half my dishes, we can make it! now, what to cook…?

the aunt has volunteered to make the dressing, as no one but me likes dressing with sagey country sausage in it. the complete menu is as follows:

turkey
dressing
gravy
cranberry sauce
mashed potatoes
sweet potato casserole
squash casserole
corn
lima beans
green bean casserole (eaten only by my son, and now includes cheese and bacon in it)
Stouffer’s lasagna
deviled eggs
relish tray with sweet pickles, olives and green onions
rolls
cornbread
iced tea
pecan pie
coconut cake

my husband will make the corn bread and mashed potatoes, my son does the deviled eggs and green bean casserole, his aunt concocts the dressing, lasagna by Stouffer’s, and the rest will be lovingly cooked….by ME!

That is an amazing and very sad video, thanks for passing on the link.

We’re hosting a couple of friends here. It’s our first Thanksgiving on this coast, and there will only be 4 adults, and I’m a little sad about that. I really enjoy hosting a full house. On the other hand, less sharing of the pie! ;-)

I too, am a hunting widow. I too, want to kill my husband for even thinking the phrase “But it’s the last chance to fill our freezer for the winter!”. To that I say, THAT IS WHAT SAFEWAY IS FOR. Sorry for the yelling.

We throw Thanksgiving here at our house. My family, sometimes my husbands’ family, and we take on the fire department guys who are on duty and need to stay in district. I love hosting Thanksgiving, mostly because I can eat way too much and not have to worry about buttoning my jeans to go home. I just go rummage around in the closet for some ‘eating clothes’. You know, drawstring, stretchy, maternity.

Going to my sister and brother-in-law’s house. Again. Begrudgingly. To keep tha peace. Next year, there will be NO PEACE! I refuse. Dammit.

However, I will be cooking that weekend. Woopie.

Our tradition for the past 9 Thanksgivings is to drive to Mississippi from Atlanta to visit with our friends. Okay, so we “get” to make what should be a 7 hour drive in 8-8 1/2 because we have an 11, 4 and 2 year olds (I have to go to the bathroom…Mom, Gabrielle has a poopy…million stops). Yeah, boo materialism…*thank GOD* for the car dvd players! Oh, I totally agree with you on the whole keeping up with the Joneses, but we survived our road trips without the dvd players…I’m not, absolutely not going back now!

Once we get there, my dear friend will cook all the usual Thanksgiving fare and I’ll make the sour cream, cheddar and chive potatoes and green bean casserole (I know, it’s complicated, but I’ll suffer through). She loves to cook, and everything is fabulous!!! My kids will be entertained by her kids and we will hang out and play games, laugh and have a wonderful weekend.

Oh, and my friend and I will on Thursday evening flip through the ads to decide which stores has which bargains that we will actually enjoy getting up in the middle of the night for…with the aid of Krispy Kreme. It’s our tradition and with anyone else, I couldn’t imagine it…but she’s just that much fun!

I hope you have a great holiday, Linda.

We are going to have the usual Thanksgiving feast with my family (no nasty traffic or driving at all for that manner, because I live behind my mom!)

It is going to be a bit hard for me this year, I just cut out all meat from my diet, so that means no turkey, and no cranberry-sausage stuffing.

I am making new recipes this year; apple sweet potato cassarole, and cranberry pumpkin muffins.

Leah… I am meeting the parents for the first time too and I have the added joy of my 11 and 9 yr old sons that I will BEAT WITH DRUMSTICKS if they don’t behave!! His Mom is a legendary cook in the area and I was thinking of making a pumpkin cheesecake……. but she is LEGENDARY! I am thinking stretchy pants………….

Have fun everyone and ENJOY the hell out of each other!!

In the spirit of JB, my brother will not return from his hunting trip in South Dakota until Wednesday…even though our parents are arriving on Tuesday…

My parents are coming to meet their grandson, and we will go get my 13 year old step daughter, my “Hollywood” cousin and that one crazy aunt that EVERYONE has (She stares into space and laughs and when you ask her what she is laughing at all she says is, “Hmm?”). SHE IS ON MY HUSBAND’S SIDE, THANK YOU. I plan on eating a lion’s share of yams and home made mac n cheese, enjoying my newborn son. I will be breaking out the maternity pants again so I can eat until I look about 8 months along.
YAY!

Thanksgiving usually entails us driving 5hrs north to the MiLaw’s house, dinner there one day, travelling another 45min to the FiLaw’s house for another day, then fighting traffic to get back home (along the same route everyone takes from upstate NY/VT to NYC). Fun, huh? It’s great seeing everyone, but such a pain. THIS YEAR I’m super pregnant so we’re not.going.anywhere. Unfortunately my husband hates turkey so we’re not having that either, but I’ll take the long weekend with my boys and *no traffic* over turkey any year!

OMG, I am LMFAO at Amanda’s post above (number 80, or “LXXX” in Sundry-comment-Roman-numeral-speak). The rest of you people, go back and read it! I liked: “I couldn’t post (this) on my own blog because my mom trolls that thing like it was oxygen.” heeheehee… love it!

Thank you Amanda, your post helped alleviate a bit of my funk/depression after watching the Dove video. I had the same reaction that Sundry did. First of all, here’s a girl who is ALREADY very nice looking… so they make her all up to hide everything wrong, OK whatever. But when they got into the computer manipulation of her “not yet perfect enough” face, it sorta freaked me. As in, my gosh, do “they” now expect us all to go out and get plastic surgery so we can look like that?

The best of Thanksgivings to everyone, and I too will be expecting unlimited pumpkin pie available at my stepsister’s where I’m certain a feast of unbelievable size and variety will be served.

thanks for the video link I saw it somewhere and then couldn’t find it again to show my husband
thanks it’s great

Going to San Fran to see Mom and friends. Thanksgiving is not so much Thanksgiving as the First Day of Christmas. On Friday we will tromp into the woods (read: tree farm) and whack a couple Douglas Firs. Then we will shop. Even though we always say we wont, we do.