Thanksgiving

It wouldn't have happened without my in-laws. I'd planned, weeks ago, my get-the-house-ready and pre-for-the-meal plans. Then Alan wrenched his knee.

The plans fell by the wayside in light of doctors' visits and having to be a gig chauffeur. But you know what? I was ok. Alan and I had some good laughs through it.

And when my in-laws asked if they could drop everything to come early and help, I said, "YES!!" I didn't care that bathrooms were not clean, beds were not stripped, washer and dryer were lost beneath a mountain of laundry. I didn't care that the shopping had not been done. I felt relieved. THANKFUL.

My mother-in-law was my "voice of reason" through the whole holiday. Because of her, we used pretty paper plates instead of my traditional Depression Glass. (Our dishwasher must be in league with Alan's knee. They both went kaput around the same time.) We started using paper plates as soon as they arrived. She was the warrior maiden of the kitchen, keeping up with the constant heave-ho of preparation and the meals that had to happen in the midst. She talked me out of baking a pie, and said Becky's one pumpkin pie would be enough. She was right. There were leftovers.

We usually hike on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Instead, we headed to Calvary Lutheran Church, where Amelia goes to pre-school. Amelia was singing in the children's choir, and the church spontaneously invited Evelyn to sing, too. Evelyn got to stand next to her boyfriend from last year, Isaiah, and I think she's still got air between her shoes and the ground. It was lovely to worship together, and the theme was "The Secret of Contentment." The message had TONS of Scripture, and the line that still rings in my ears from the gentle pastor's sermon, "What is the secret of contentment? Being close to Christ." Whew. I needed that.

Mom and Dad Blackman helped see me through as the preparations gradually picked up speed and flew out from under us. But the meal always gets onto the table, and it was GOOD:

1. Snubbing tradition, we traded turkey for pork tenderloin & cooked it two ways: a spicy rub & a rosemary/garlic/olive oil marinade. YUM.
2. Becky mashed the potatoes, done traditionally by hand w/lots of butter, cream, salt & pepper.
3. A carrot & grape side dish I got off the Pioneer Woman website that might have been yummier if I'd used baby carrots (that's what the recipe called for) instead of the gigantic, kinda sour, tasteless ones in my frig.
4. An AWESOME salad I've dubbed "Jen's Kathy's Salad" because Jen brought it from NZ by way of Kathy.
5. Homemade French Bread that was fun to make w/the girls but would have benefited from Bread Flour. "All-purpose" should really not be on that label.
6. Matt's mom made cranberry relish. Yum. I loved it on the pork!
7. The Blackman family traditions: sweet potato casserole (Becky), and Mom Blackman's ham biscuits, sausage balls, and Chex Mix.
8. The aforementioned pumpkin pie that Becky brought, compliments of Marie Callender. Topped with Cool-Whip, it was quite fine.

After dinner, Shelley and I took the three kids on a walk while my in-laws cleaned the kitchen and Alan, Becky, and Matt watched football. We were grateful for Esther's presence (Evelyn loved the hairdo she gave her) and for the time together. I was so glad that the whole thing could happen, and that we could all fellowship together once again.

Regrets? Yes--I have no pictures of all of us. But I don't think my mom is ever thinking of taking pictures while she's in the kitchen cooking a holiday meal, either. :)