We were up early and moving this morning. Mom whipped up a quick breakfast and we got ready. Then we headed out to have our pictures made. I guess Lisa had to take the appointment they had left, but why she made it for 10:30am is beyond me. I know she wanted to have pictures made while I was there, which was nice, and she had to get it done early so we could make Thanksgiving, but of course they were late. After a series of increasingly stressed-out phone calls (the last ones while Mom and I were actually waiting at the photographer's), they dragged in, bedraggled and harried.
Fortunately, the photographer's wasn't that busy today (apparently unlike last year), and they were able to get us into a room with no problem. The photographer we were working with was cute as a bug. He had crooked teeth which were somehow cute on him, and ran around without his shoes on (he was wearing argyle socks), which I found vaguely titillating. Of course he was about twelve. But he was very nice, worked well with us, and got some good shots. This despite Cole's hair being all over the place (of course he hadn't brought a comb, and doesn't use product), and Ava being Ava. She's a little ham though, and once he got her started, she was all about having her picture made.
I was all on board until we started looking at the proofs. I am SO freakin' FAT. My head looked like a gallon milk jug, I have no neck, and I now have that thing Dad does where when I smile my eyes disappear. There was a good picture of me with Lisa, and I want one of those, and I got some pictures of the kids, and one of us all together, but in general looking at those pictures was a real wake-up call. I have GOT to lose some weight.
Leaving there, we went to Panera for lunch. I was being pretty good. I ordered a bowl of tomato soup and a 'grown up' grilled cheese sandwich. Although the sandwich had 800+ calories, I reasoned that this was the wrong weekend to immediately begin a diet. Besides, we were having a huge dinner. Apparently 'grown up' grilled cheese has bacon on it. Although I ordered it without, there were dead pig shavings on my sandwich when I got it. That pissed me off. We were on a tight schedule to start cooking, and there really wasn't time to get it re-made. Plus I knew I was going to be bad today, and I didn't to start by eating pig. I just took the sandwich back and got my money. Soup was plenty, and it was pretty good.
After lunch, as we waited (and waited) for Ava to eat something, I divided us up into teams. I sent Lisa and Cole with Zack (who had joined us for lunch) to pick up the pictures and go to the grocery store. Mom and I headed back to the house to get the turkey in the oven.
I acted as sous chef for Mama today. She didn't need suggestion or invention - what she needed was help. I read a quote by a famous chef once, basically saying that the holidays were not the time to try new things. It makes the children cry and upsets the old people. I took that to heart. Thanksgiving is a time for tradition, not innovation; a time to make and eat the tried and true. To that end, I quieted my culinary voice and concentrated on my submissive streak. I tried to anticipate what Mom wanted and make it happen. Ingredients appeared and then were put away. Pots were scrubbed. I generally did what I could to make her work as seamless as possible.
Zack was joining us for dinner tonight. That wasn't a problem - he's a very nice boy - but I was a bit uncomfortable for teasing him the last time I saw him. Either it went over his head, or he was affable enough to forget about it. Either way he was as nice as ever, an I concentrated on behaving appropriately and trying to make him feel comfortable without being overt about it. He was, after all, a guest.
I put Zack and Cole to work getting Mom's new TV all hooked up and in place, and then sent them off to the Goodwill to dispose of the old one. They had the time, it weighed a ton, and it would have sat there at Mom's while she tried to figure out who to carry it out (or worse, recruited me for the job). By the time dinner was ready, it was in place, the old one was gone, and the packaging had been disposed of. I was having one of those days where All Moves To My Will. Mom actually had me mash the potatoes. They turned out really good, but they still weren't as good as the ones we had a Embassy Suites. I would love to know exactly how they did that.
Dinner was of course wonderful. Mom had made enough food to feed at least twice as many people as were there, and I ate like a HOG. We all went around the table and said things we were thankful for. I hit the three H's: healthy, whole, and HERE.
After supper, I started making things disappear. I scrubbed the big pots so they wouldn't tie up the dish washer. I had made the deal with Mom that if she would use the china, I would wash it, which I did. Lisa helped. I really don't mind washing china by hand, and with Lisa's help it was done in a jiff.
By that time the game was on. Mom and I had changed into our Carolina shirts (Mom even had matching earrings), but Lisa had forgotten her Clemson shirt in all the kerfuffle this morning. She had picked up a Clemson bag at the grocery store, but I felt that USC was better represented today. Lisa was a bit cocky at first, as Clemson played pretty well in the first half, but Carolina won (YAY!), and I noticed as the game went on, she got a bit more quiet.
Unlike Ava, who was wired for sound! After eating little lunch or dinner, she had scarfed down a complete chocolate turkey cupcake afterwards. As it got later she became increasingly hyper, as she usually does when she's trying not to get sleepy. The game ran late, and then they stayed and stayed. Cole had left with Zack already. I love Lisa and Ava, but I was Ava'd out at that point, and it was past my bedtime. They didn't leave until 11:30! I was wiped out. I stayed up while Mom as she put the finishing touches on the kitchen, but I was wiped. She sent me on to bed, and I went. Gratefully.
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