Food Coma

I slept past 8am, but not by design. In fact, I was slightly troubled waking so late. However, I quickly got over it after realizing there were no hard fast deadlines in jeopardy of being missed. I started some Starbucks then whipped out 55 sit-ups. I took a short PC break before doing 53 push-ups. It was a gray TG day with the temperature hovering just under 40. Ykraps and I took to the barren streets just after 830am. During our walk, we passed the elderly couple I see almost every day out for their usual morning stroll. We exchanged your typical holiday pleasantries and went about our business. Now at home with coffee, I spent a short amount of time on the PC before readying myself for a turkey day run. The run was abbreviated - just three miles. It felt good. Back at the house I tuned the TV to the already in progress Macy’s TG Day parade, and then I created an assembly line of sorts to prepare my world famous sauerkraut balls. Mindy finally got up around 10am, or just as I finished rolling the sauerkraut mixture into 57 balls. The next step was to roll them in flour, then an egg bath and bread crumbs. I cleaned the Fry Pappy earlier then poured in fresh vegetable oil. It was fully preheated by the time I had all 57 balls rolled, floured, bathed and crumbed. I deep fried five at a time placing the finished product on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. I didn’t sample one until they were all done. Yummy! Even with the best laid plans, making sauerkraut balls is a messy process. I have it down pretty well, yet it still took a good 15 minutes to clean-up the mess and all the dishes. Next on my to-do list was topping the cheesecake. I pulled it from the fridge while Mindy fetched a fancy cake platter. We worked together to slide it off of the springform base and onto the glass cake platter. But since I used parchment paper the slide went smoothly. I topped the cheesecake with the entire contents of a large can of chocolate frosting along with some magic shell chocolate and caramel topping. Lastly, I sprinkled the top with a handful of mini-chocolate morsels. It looked terrific! We weren’t expecting the kids until noon, but they made somewhat of an early return. They were home at 1120am, just as I finished cleaning up the kitchen. They weren’t home long before I offered Jacob the opportunity to help me hang icicle lights from the shed. He was excited about the offer. We bundled warmly and headed out. It was much cooler than even I expected, and with a cool breeze the feel of winter was definitely in the air. Chrissy blessed us with a box of 50 plastic Xmas light clips shortly after we got home from Target Wednesday night saving me a trip and possible delay. I allowed Jacob to climb the ladder and mount the clips along the shed’s roof line. It took some patient coaching and doing but he got them all up. He seemed to enjoy himself. I was most impressed with the patience he exhibited. Next, we stretched out the new icicle light sets. I bought heavy-duty sets without realizing it. They were a bit more difficult to stretch out and get the ‘icicles’ to hang correctly, especially in the frigid temps. We managed the tedious process together as a team. Soon it was time to hang them along the roof line. I allowed Jacob the opportunity to hang them initially. He learned very quickly how difficult it was to hang them taughtly while maintaining safe balance on the ladder. He asked me to takeover after a couple ladder moves. However, he continued helping by bringing me more clips and stretching out each set of new lights. It took three sets of lights to complete three sides of the shed. We didn’t bother hanging them around back where no one would see them. The entire process took well over an hour – certainly longer than I expected. The last thing we did was mount the dusk-to-dawn timer and extension cord. After a final inspection we headed inside. As luck would have it, after putting the ladder away and getting inside I noticed a section of the lights not working, the same section that blinked on & off a couple times as we stretched out that particular set. Crap! It was bugging me but I wasn’t about to drag the ladder back out to make the repair. That would have to wait until Friday, because I needed to get in the shower. We were planning to be at Gloria’s around 230pm and it was already around 130pm. Where had the day gone? While I showered, Mindy packed our delectable dishes (fruit tray, cheesecake, and sauerkraut balls) for transport. That helped significantly. Just before heading up for my shower, I placed four CBC IPA’s in the freezer planning to take them along too. It was just after 2pm when I emerged after a shower dressed & ready. Mindy had everything loaded in the Honda including phones, cameras, kids’ toys, and food. All I had to do was grab my jacket and lock the door behind me. Off we went. We placed a call to my dad along the short drive to Gloria’s but got his VM. He was doing TG with brother Bobby and family. Earlier in the day I phoned my mom to wish her well too. She was hosting brother Tommy and Charles, although at the time, Charles was a no-show. They were starting their meal without him. Tommy needed to be back in town to open one of his shops around 4pm. I left a VM for Lindsey & Ashley too. We didn’t call or hear from Courtney. She’s pretty much written us off since early October. Can anyone say dysfunction? We arrived at Gloria’s around 230pm. Aside from Gloria, there wasn’t a soul there. I asked Mindy if she had the plans correct, or if she called ahead to confirm the start/suggested arrival time. I felt a little funny showing up unannounced. We entered through the garage and left the cheesecake in back of Gloria’s Saturn with the rest of her desserts. That’s a good way to keep them cold given the winterish-like temps (upper 30s.). Mindy was correct. We were using the lower-level as base, placing all the hors devours along the south wall counter. I asked that she keep our beer and wine in the Honda for the time being. Meanwhile, I found a cozy spot on the loveseat to watch the rest of the early NFL game – Detroit versus Green Bay. It wasn’t long before everyone else began to arrive.

The entire family was in attendance along with Pat & Mel, longtime family friends who’ve spent each Thanksgiving and Easter with us, at least since I’ve been around. Pat & Mel spent their summer vacation in Oregon, and brought a handful of photos for us to check out. They flew into Seattle/Tacoma and drove down the coast to Portland, taking in Astoria, Seaside, and Mt Hood along the way. They ended up at Crater Lake. They had a picture from Multnomah Falls that was all too familiar to Mindy & I. They marveled about Crater Lake describing the initial view as surreal. We snacked on hors devours and enjoyed festive libations until 5pm or so when dinner was finally served. If my math is correct, there were 20 of us. Dinner was traditional – turkey, stuffing, taters and gravy, green beans and rolls – delicious too. After dinner, we retired once again to the lower level, where everyone - minus the tiny ones – participated in a game of Apples-to-Apples. There’s no doubt that the game is a lot more fun with a larger group of players. However, there were 17 of us playing. That might be a few too many. As luck would have it, I won, netting five green cards over the span of about an hour. I’m guessing everyone felt as happy as I when the game finally ended. I failed to mention that over the course of the late afternoon evening, Jacob netted himself $7 from collecting on dares. I know he spent some time in the trash can and also along a fence. I know Jacob well. He’ll go to extraordinary lengths for cash, including dragging logs and eating worms. Dessert was served around 730-8pm. There were three choices: traditional pumpkin pie cheesecake, and Boston cream pie. I had cheesecake. I was getting a case of the yawns, feeling both tired and full. We started gathering our things and left for home at 9pm. I think I speak for everyone. We had a nice TG together. I walked Ykraps as soon as we arrived home (915pm). I hadn’t planned on being away that long. I’m sure he was ready to burst. It was chilly too. For the first time all month long, I could feel winter’s familiar nip in the air. I poured a Jack & Coke once back inside. We tucked the kids into bed at 10pm. Bella asked me to pop popcorn. That wasn’t in the cards but I was a tiny bit hungry. I snacked on a few chips before bed.