Monday, November 28, 2011

Didn't I say "never again" last time.....

I would say that I don't believe I've ever been so tired in my life, but I know that would be a lie. I HAVE been.....just last year as a matter of fact.

Every year I say "never again", only to repeat it every Thanksgiving and every Christmas. I've been trying desperately to "pass the torch" as they say, to my daughter. HA, She's no fool.....she's refusing to take the damn thing. I'm speaking, of course.....of the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. How we slave for hours upon hours only to have it devoured in less than 15 minutes.

And then..........there's the clean-up. Oh the dreaded cleanup. Everyone is so full, no one wants to move, but the food has to be put away, otherwise it will spoil. The dishes have to be done, otherwise the food will dry on them, making it twice as hard to clean. Thank God for dishwashers. When I was a teenager, I was the dishwasher.....me and my grandma. Now, teens disappear quickly after a meal, so mechanical dishwashers are a blessing. Nothing is more wonderful than to walk into a nice clean kitchen after a huge meal like that. Tell me what it feels like, will ya? By the time we get all the dishes cleared up, the men-folk have decided that they want some leftovers heated up......or maybe a turkey sandwich and oh yeah.....how about another piece of pumpkin pie. More dishes, more crumbs. It's never-ending.

Each year I cut one more thing out of the equation. Pretty soon, I'll be making turkey TV dinners in my robe and slippers. This year squash was the one to get the ax; last year it was sweet potatoes, year before that, rolls. Yes....we always had BOTH sweet potatoes and squash. Why? Well, when I foolishly accepted the torch from my mother, that was on the menu. I've been dropping items from that menu every few years....and the last few have bit the dust every year. In all honesty.....no one misses what I drop; there is just SO MUCH of everything else. Hate to admit it, but I have just about got it down to bare bones; if I cut much more, it will surely be noticed.....like the dressing for example.

My family LOVES my dressing. It's something they talk about in July and their eyes glaze over. Yes, I'm happy that I've made my contribution to history as the best lil' dressing maker around these parts, but I really do want to pass things along now. I'm tired. Really tired.

My email in box has been crammed with emails all shouting Black Friday. Never have I gotten so sick of a phrase in all my life.....except for this new one; CYBER WEEK or sometimes, CYBER MONDAY. Those emails began filling up my in box the very minute Black Friday was over. I have no idea what CYBER WEEK is....although I'm guessing it has something to do with GREAT, HUGE BARGAINS all week long if you buy online. BUY, BUY, BUY.

With the economy like it is..............how can people buy?

Ah.....but they ARE.

The stores are crammed. Black Friday found swarms of people climbing all over each other to BUY. I can understand a good deal...........but not this. And they don't stick to their word. Black Friday kept on boasting that you could get Black Friday deals early......like on Wednesday. Same with the Cyber Monday hoopla. Get Cyber Monday deals on SATURDAY....get a head start on EVERYONE cause only a choice several million people know about this SECRET. Bah.

So I hope everyone had a happy and a safe Thanksgiving. I hope you made some really good memories and most of all I hope you all really thought about why we should be thankful. And even though I've been grumpy about being tired, I do it because it's a joy to see my family come together for this meal of thanks in a land where we have much to be thankful for.

12 comments:

Debbie said...

I related to this hahahaha...

Since my Mom passed away 8 years ago, our Thanksgiving & Christmas has been different each year. What's left of us, seem to have decided that hugs and being thankful is just easier on all of us.

My son had to work, so I went and got some good take out and the day turned out just fine!

And the shopping...OMG sick sick sick of hearing. No jobs, no money and people are still buying?? I don't get it either.

Sending HUGS!

Kee Kee said...

This year I was a grouchy bee-otch and since it was just hubby and me, I voted NO cooking! We went to the Chinese restaurant. I am also ready to pass the torch. No one else wants mine either.LOL

Happy Cyber monday :)

THINGS YOU'D NEVER GUESS ABOUT ME said...

I've never been one of the herd mentality. I've never understood the surprise people experience when they realize Christmas is coming. The date hasn't changed for centuries. I've never understood the necessity to buy for others what they can buy for themselves: or give them junk in exchange for junk coming back.

Trust me. It is ONLY the herd mentality and you can tell a lot about a person who puts themselves in this position HAPPILY, only to complain about how crowded it was.

YOU, on the other hand, need to make your dressing, and ask what everyone else is bringing.

It they bring nothing, they eat dressing.

GROW SOME!!!!!! and then you'll have no reason to be exhausted or complain.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Every year I go through this same thing and then my husband reminds me it's for the family. Our kids love to gather and talk and eat, it's our favorite family holiday. They're all really good about bringing things and helping with clean up but it's still a very long rough day. I wouldn't dream of changing it however, as it only comes once a year and we all look forward to it, even it takes me 3 days afterward to recover.

Coffeypot said...

I love Thanksgiving...hate Christmas.

Peruby said...

Care to share your dressing recipe? No pressure - don't if you do not want to.

I am tired from being sick and I don't know what else but this year is very hard on me.

Golden To Silver Val said...

@ Peruby: Sure, I will gladly share. Send me your email address and I'll get it right out to you.

dc said...

Holidays are always stressful and if different ways. I would gladly have the headaches of cooking for the family and all those good smells and jokes and fun. My husb and his sister only want to go out to eat, no mess, no fuss. Blah!!!!!!!! I love the mess and fuss. so have been missing that for alot of years. Enjoy the family while you can. May I wish you an early Merry Christmas too.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Oh boy...how I related to this post Val. I think EVERYONE does. My Thanksgiving was very quiet this year...with only two of my kids; but we made ALL the goodies anyway. My other two girls and their families were together in CA...and I was very happy that they were able to be together if they ALL couldn't be here. Torch? I don't see anyone around here who's ready to have the torch passed on...so I guess I'm in the hot seat. I think I'm getting a little burned-out too. Hope your day was great... ~Joy xo

Robin said...

I apologize... my computer won't let me email you.


Hi,
I was a friend and reader of Carmon’s blog and I saw many of your comments there.
Carmon meant so much to me, though we never met in person. But that’s the way of the world, these days... you find you can truly love the intangible person.
Since she died I’ve visited her blog daily, out of habit and I’ve seen that you have visited often, as well.
I’ve logged in wanting to be there if Mike should write something. I wonder how he’s doing, how the animals are and I wish there were a place where I could speak to others who loved her. She left her blog with ‘approval only’ so whatever I or you have sent in the past couple of weeks... it goes into the ether....
People need a place to grieve and speak about the person they loved. I’ve created a blog, nothing remarkable... but a place where we can gather,
If you would like to have a place to go to talk about Carmon, say goodbye... whatever, the address is Carmonsrest.blogspot.com.
Write your comments, letters, whatever and if you have a photo or anything you would like to share send it to me..... robin_vice@yahoo.com and I’ll create a post with it.
I don’t expect this to be elaborate... just a quiet space for us to share our memories and love for her... and then leave her to ride Star into a new existence.
~Robin

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't let teenagers get away with disappearing after the meal. Once we got old enough, my sister and I did the dishes and let my mom rest after the turkey dinner. Of course we complained, but it taught us that Mom wasn't our maid.

I was reading in the newspaper today that a lot of people who splurged on the Black Friday deals are returning the big-ticket items because they need the money. I guess the credit card bills came in!

token said...

When I'm cooking for the whole relative pool I make most everything the day before and clean as I cook.

That way I get to enjoy the whole day, too!