Notes to Self

      

  

 Dear friends, family, and frenemies,

The directions read: "Take out the neck and giblets from the two body cavities of the thawed turkey." Sounds simple, doesn't it?  It doesn't sound like that process will involve knives, tongs, multiple trips to the sink to warm up my hands, a wrestler's arm muscles, gritty determination, ice chunks flung on the floor, and vocabulary that would not pass the tiztalk censors. Yet I fall for this ritual every year.  What is my problem?  Last year I told myself to put a turkey breast in the Crock-pot instead.   Why didn't I follow my own advice?  That's what I'm trying to figure out.

    A few years back I started writing notes after each Thanksgiving to make the next year's get-together better.  They can be very helpful.  For example in 2017 I noted that my son-in-law Cody likes IPA (indie pale ale).  That one is simple.  In 2024, I note that "Cody likes wine and doesn't need beer."  Okay, that's even easier.  Other notes seem to remind me of past fiascos:  no bowls of M & Ms for the kids, absolutely no stickers.  This year I'm reminded to "buy more ice cream for Declan."  How tragic to run out of ice cream at Grandma's house! I don't want that to happen again.  So, I have bought a few extra tubs this year.  The only problem is that my husband has discovered them, and there may yet be an ice cream shortage.  A girl can only do so much.

    In 2019, I advised myself to offer only one pie, one cake, and one kind of cookie.  Then in 2024, I said, "Forget pie and cake; everyone only eats grab-and-go items." Hmmm.  I'm okay with forgetting the cake, but no pie on Thanksgiving? So, I've compromised and bought a Mrs. Smith's apple pie just in case. And won't the kids be disappointed if I don't make chocolate chip cookies AND lemon squares.  All are in the freezer, as well as brownies and oatmeal cookies. I advised myself to forget the fresh vegetables; they are too much trouble.  That one I can do.  I've also eliminated vegetable soup for the day before Thanksgiving.  We now go to Shakespeare's Pizza instead.  And, in case you are interested, my notes claim that five large pizzas will feed us all and provide supper for another night.  Smart plan.  I am learning.

    I told myself to buy store-bought potatoes, gravy, dressing, and green bean casserole.  Would anyone really notice?  I don't think so. But I have already prepared the green bean casserole and dressing.  What is wrong with me? I will attempt to make gravy, but I have two tall jars of it, just in case my efforts fail.  Nancy has agreed to mash the potatoes.

    The hardest one to cross of the 2024 list is the red Jell-0 with bananas and whipped cream.  No on seemed to want it last year.  I grew up eating this before sitting down for Thanksgiving.  It was our appetizer.  Ask my siblings.  I loved putting a dollop of whipped cream on each guest's serving and sprinkling it with colored sugar.  My kids have enjoyed that task, too.  While my childhood pre-Thanksgiving cocktail of apricot nectar and ice cream (my sister will confirm, this, too) has gone by the wayside, the red Jell-O appetizer has remained.   The Jell-O does take up a lot of room in the fridge, and no one seems to care about it....Can I do it?  Can I cast aside my family tradition  to get with the times that don't recommend added sugar, artificial red food coloring. empty calories, and high fat content?

    Well, I could go on, but it is the day before Thanksgiving, and I do have a few things to do.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and don't forget to take notes.

Gabbing before gobbling,

I remain

Tizzie/Tiz/Liz/Elizabeth/Tizmom/Grandma

There's more...

Tizhap:

You have to keep this one to yourself, okay?  My husband doesn't know about this one.

A while back I lost my car keys.  However, my daughter had attached an Apple Air Tag to them, for just such an instance.  I was in luck. Once I figured out how to search for them using my phone -- I won't say how long that took - I began my quest.  The phone beeps showing you where the keys are.  Remember playing Hide and Seek and being told when you are getting "hotter" or "colder"?  It works something like that. It's not an exact science, but at least I knew the keys were at my address.  My beeping phone took me through most rooms of my house, up the stairs, down the stairs, into the garage, into every crevice of my car, back to the house,  back into the garage.  Of course, I was trying to do this without anyone noticing my actions.  Who knows what other  dumb things I had done that day?  I hate to make myself look too bad.   Anyway, I finally determined that the keys must be in the garage.  Holding my phone like Sherlock's magnifying glass I was directed around the garage.  Finally, I landed at the one place I did not want to investigate: the garbage can.  I took out the first bag, rifled through it, and there they were.   Had I waited one more  day to search for the key, my trusty Air Tag would have led me to the city dump.  Now that would have been a good blog.