We're having a "How the heck did we get into this mess?" day.
Two weeks ago a good friend invited us over to their house for Thanksgiving. Score! Gratefully accepted. Even better, they're oenophiles who'll appreciate the suspenseful thrill of a donation of our old bottles that have been sitting in our house for about a decade. They understand that our "collection" is either a yummy vintage or toilet cleaner... we're just not sure which is in what bottle. One of them (the bottles, not our friends) even came from a "bottle your own" winery and another from a grateful stamped-concrete contractor. The stories are probably worth more than the contents.
A few days after our friend's invitation we were also invited by our neighbor, the excellent cook who buys curry powder in five-pound bags. We explained the schedule conflict and she's good with that. So we're lunching at her house and dining at our friend's house. Our neighbor's been widowed for just over a year, but all of her adult children are in town this week so it'll be the usual huge family affair. We're all just hoping to get through it without (too many) tears.
Tuesday evening we got a "mission creep" call from the good friend to prep mashed potatoes for 12. No problem, happy to handle that. Luckily there are enough potato flakes and spices in our pantry to avoid a trip to the store. Hawaii never has a large potato inventory at any time of the year, let alone holiday season.
Last night our neighbor asked to borrow... our oven. Apparently we're cooking turkey #2. So this morning we're strolling up the street a few doors, hauling a broiler-panned bird back to our house, cooking it, and returning it. I'm not quite sure how we'll get a hot fowl back up the street, but we'll figure it out. We haven't turned on our oven since our daughter was home from college in July, but I think that'll be fine too.
So somehow we got invited to two places for Thanksgiving yet ended up cooking most of one on our own.
I'm going to feel a frisson of fear every time the phone rings today...
Two weeks ago a good friend invited us over to their house for Thanksgiving. Score! Gratefully accepted. Even better, they're oenophiles who'll appreciate the suspenseful thrill of a donation of our old bottles that have been sitting in our house for about a decade. They understand that our "collection" is either a yummy vintage or toilet cleaner... we're just not sure which is in what bottle. One of them (the bottles, not our friends) even came from a "bottle your own" winery and another from a grateful stamped-concrete contractor. The stories are probably worth more than the contents.
A few days after our friend's invitation we were also invited by our neighbor, the excellent cook who buys curry powder in five-pound bags. We explained the schedule conflict and she's good with that. So we're lunching at her house and dining at our friend's house. Our neighbor's been widowed for just over a year, but all of her adult children are in town this week so it'll be the usual huge family affair. We're all just hoping to get through it without (too many) tears.
Tuesday evening we got a "mission creep" call from the good friend to prep mashed potatoes for 12. No problem, happy to handle that. Luckily there are enough potato flakes and spices in our pantry to avoid a trip to the store. Hawaii never has a large potato inventory at any time of the year, let alone holiday season.
Last night our neighbor asked to borrow... our oven. Apparently we're cooking turkey #2. So this morning we're strolling up the street a few doors, hauling a broiler-panned bird back to our house, cooking it, and returning it. I'm not quite sure how we'll get a hot fowl back up the street, but we'll figure it out. We haven't turned on our oven since our daughter was home from college in July, but I think that'll be fine too.
So somehow we got invited to two places for Thanksgiving yet ended up cooking most of one on our own.
I'm going to feel a frisson of fear every time the phone rings today...
Time to start interrogating the two youngest children and completing a 100% toy inventory...It is interesting these 'minor disasters' seem to happen at the most inconvenient times. We're currently visiting DD#2 and family for the holiday and the plumbing in one of the bathrooms developed a blockage (don't blame me - it happened just as I was arriving). Fortunately they have two others that remain operable...