Weekend 3- way: talking turkey

So it's over, Thanksgiving 2009. While Ellie and I were having a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner, either with in-laws at home, or in in-laws' homes, Snaquie Jacquie was with her nuclear family blowing through her $50 meal stipend at the Lowe's Coronado Resort. And while I know for a fact that Ellie and I both had Champange, I'm willing to be that Jacquie did too. Right, J?

So what else did you have? How was the 2009 edition of Thanksgiving?

Give me your worst and best of Thanksgiving 2009. Was the high point the intense tryptophan high? Or the bountiful lefties? The low the fact that the Waldorf salad you ordered actually turned out to be wheat berry?

Spill...

Jacquie:
Yes, it was non-traditional. But lovely. Honestly, I would rather have spent the day with family or friends, but I knew that when that option did not present itself, I had to take the turkey by the horns (?) and make this Thanksgiving a great one. And it was!

So, high point/low point. Good one, Beth! I've got to say that there were very few low points, and although the high points were abundant, it is easy for me to name the highest because I was actually cognizant of the exact moment. I had gotten up early to drop off the dog at the boarder and then had an intense, awesome workout before coming home to rally the troops. It was a stunner of a day, wasn't it, Beth? Mid-eighties , for the love of pie. I rushed and fed everyone, gave them a pep talk about how we were going to eat at 5:00 so we had to let ourselves get really hungry for the optimal buffet strategy. I got everyone out of the door and to the hotel, rejected one room and accepted another (beautiful, you'll see), we got into our bathing suits and grabbed the cooler. We found the perfect spot, the kids jumped into the pool, I took out my book, toasted my husband, and then looked at the time: 1:02 pm. High Point.

My, how I do go on! I should save some detes for an actual blog post. But I was asked for a low point, and I've got one for you. It was the moment I realized that I had missed the whole chilled seafood section of the buffet! I was on my way to the chocolate fountain to fill that one last iota of free-ish space in my celestial gut when I spied the towering display of shrimp, crab legs, sushi, and smoked salmon. I was pissed! I really had no choice but to exchange my little dessert plate for yet another platter sized dish - I needed enough space to ensure that the chocolate wouldn't run onto my shrimp!

Ellie:
Oh, Jacquie, that's a terrible low. How did you cope? My low point is really really easy, because it was my low before Thanksgiving, and has been my low ever since. I have a vicious case of poison ivy on my arms from raking my sister-in-law Kelly's leaves on Monday, and it's driving me quite crazy. Not only is it absolutely puke-inducing disgusting, and not only does it feel like my skin's on fire, but it's also making me feel sick. It is the bane of my very existence.

My high point was the moment the 4 of us sat down to dinner, loaded up our plates, and then compared them for the old Hanrahan tradition "Who's got the best-looking Thanksgiving plate?" Mumsie won. I'm pretty sure it was fixed.

Beth:
Mid-eighties for the love of pie is right, Jacuqie! And the loveliness of the day definitely played into my high point. At about 12:30 we strapped the wee one into her stroller, then walked the 3 blocks to the bay for a brisk walk bout. I'm an extreme weather wimp, but was forced to shed my sweater and walk in just my cami -- it was glorious (not me in my cami, obviously, but the perfectness of the day!). Upon arriving home we found that our neighbor/friend had stopped by with Champagne, and seeing as we were not home, proceeded to walk it across the street to our other neighbor/friend's house. Somehow sensing this, we greeted the across-the-street neighbors before even checking in back at home. Mmm. Champagne toasts, on Thanksgiving, in the eighties. Does it get any better?

Low point? They were few. No Thanksgiving meal lows, like Jacquie experienced. (Good for you, J, for soldiering on!) And luckily no itchy poison ivy either. My low point is the same as it's been for the past few years: no big girls on Thanksgiving day. Sigh. They did call Thanksgiving morning to offer my the cumpulsory, "Happy Thanksgiving, Mom!" before handing off the phone to their sister or the receiver and running off to play. And though I know they are having a ball with their grandparents and cousins, I can't help but miss them....