Now that Christmas is fast approaching, I think I'll reflect on Thanksgiving. Yeah, I'm a bit behind again - oh well. It really is true that everything is relative. In the past it seemed a bit lonely at Thanksgiving when it was just the four of us, when there were no grandparents joining us. However, after last year when it was just the two of us, going back to four seemed like a much fuller table.
Our son-in-law, Ian, was supposed to come, too, but since he had a new job with no vacation yet, he was unable to be here. Laura doesn't get paid vacation with her job so she just told her boss she was leaving for about 10 days (although she really wanted to say she was leaving forever). It was so nice to have her here for that long. We really didn't want to fly Erin out here for just a few days for such a high cost. However, when we found it was going to cost almost as much to fly her to her grandmother's in Florida as it would to bring her home, we pulled out the well worn credit card and bought her a ticket. She said she really wanted a "normal" Thanksgiving.
I have learned that a normal Thanksgiving requires that I fix exactly the same dishes that I've been making for years. The turkey is always stuffed with a bread dressing and barbequed on our Weber. We started this when we first moved here and discovered that the oven was too small. Now we wouldn't have it any other way. The meal also includes mashed potatoes, gravy (if I can get it right), green bean casserole, cranberry jello salad, bisquits, and pumpkin pie.
It was wonderful to be together, if only for a few days. On Friday evening the four of us went to our local Festival of Trees, a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.
