Thanksgiving, 2020

Thanksgiving, 2020 is pretty much history for us. It was a fantastic day. You all know how long I’ve dreamed about being close enough to celebrate holidays with Chad and his family. It was all I had hoped it would be.

We had planned to eat around 2. Chad and Nicole got here around 11 because Chad brought his dishes to bake here. Nicole’s parents got here around noon. The turkey was ready by noon so I took it out of the oven and put in my cornbread dressing, green bean bundles, and got the potatoes ready to boil. I had already made the rolls and they were rising, and I finished the giblet gravy. Chad had made a corn/crawfish casserole and a white bread dressing with Italian sausage and Craisins. It was delicious and for the first time, I heard from Vince that he doesn’t like cornbread dressing. What?? Nicole’s mom made a pot of noodles, cranberry sauce and Watergate salad. It was a feast for sure!

Chad made a cannoli pie. I had made pumpkin and chocolate pies. I was too full to even eat one bite of dessert but I kept some of Chad’s pie. I sent them home chocolate and pumpkin pie and there’s plenty of it here for us.

Last night I was responding to some comments on the blog and I wrote out a long response and then deleted it. We have so much to be thankful for. Neither of us, nor anyone in my immediate family has had COVID. Even though my parents and my uncle suffered major losses with the back to back hurricanes in Lake Charles, their homes are being repaired. They had good insurance; they’ve lived their all their lives so they knew people or knew people who knew people to help get the jobs done. My parents I think are only waiting on painting to be finished and new floor coverings to be installed. My uncle had a bit more extensive damages but his repairs are coming along and both have safe places to stay and are being cared for by family members who live closer than I do.

Of course, the greatest thing I’m thankful for is our move to Missouri. So many things had to come together for this to happen like it did and I’m thankful for Vince agreeing to do it, working through the things that had to be worked through to make this deal work; getting the moves all scheduled. I suppose like most husbands and wives, there are days I want to scream at him but he’s such a good man and he may not be the type to bring home jewelry or buy new cars but he takes care of me in such an amazing way. I may not always sound thankful for Vince but I am always thankful for him.

Speaking of not being thankful . . there are two sinks in the dressing area part of Addie’s bathroom. The former owners have two girls who grew up here. One is out of college now and one I think is still in college (away). I’m sure the adults never used that bathroom. One of Addie’s sinks wouldn’t drain. I’ve mentioned it to Vince several times. It still doesn’t drain. This morning Addie said “Should we put a note on the mirror for people not to use that sink?” I told her no . . it’s slow to drain but it would eventually drain.

In a minute, Vince came through with his bucket and tools. I said “NO! PLEASE! Not Thanksgiving morning. We can get through the day without that sink. Please don’t start that at 10:00 before company is arriving in two hours!” Oh . . no . . he was going to do it.

The minute he took the pipes apart, that whole side of the house smelled like sewer. I was making rolls. Vince said “Can you come help me?” NO! I cannot!! I didn’t want to go in there and throw up because of the smell, nor did I want whatever was in that pipe on my clothes while I was cooking.

About that time, Chad called. We talked. I didn’t know Vince was coming into the room. Chad said “Do you need me to bring anything?” I said “a body bag!” Vince said “Why do you need a body bag?” I told him . . any husband who decides to repair the plumbing two hours before guests arrive on Thanksgiving day may find himself in a body bag! He laughed and said “It’s fixed. Chad doesn’t need to bring a body bag this trip.”

So . . the meal was great. Everyone sat around and talked for a good while. Nicole’s dad is a builder and Vince wants to have a more secure door put on our safe room so her dad looked at that and gave Vince some ideas of who to call to get that project done. They left about 4. They wanted to get home before dark. Nicole’s mom has had a run of bad luck – totaled a car by hitting a deer; hit a coyote with the new car a couple of weeks ago and hit something else recently so she’s a bit nervous about driving at dusk.

Chad, Nicole and Addie stayed til a bit after 7 so we had a great visit with them. Life is good!

One last thing I’m thankful for – I don’t think we have a single place we need to be tomorrow. We should be able to stay home all day. I need to get my car aligned, now that the shocks have been replaced, before Vince leaves so we do need to call about that early next week but I see us staying home a whole lot over the next couple of weeks.