Takin' Balls, Havin' Turkey, Keepin' G-Kidz

I didn’t sleep that soundly but didn’t want to sleep the TG holiday away either. So despite waking a little tired, I pulled myself from bed near 730am. I don’t think Mindy even budged as I brushed my teeth, gathered my running clothes, then slipped out of the room and ultimately down the stairs. It was a lovely morning with the sun just about to pierce the horizon. I poked my head out the back door feeling a rush of cold air wintry air. I started a pot of coffee then headed to the living room to do sit-ups. After sit-ups, I knocked out windmills and curls. Headed to my PC with coffee at 750am.

I spent the next 90 minutes playing on my PC. The time went really fast. When topping off my coffee around 910am, I tuned the family room TV to Macy’s TG Day parade. I was just slipping into my running clothes when I was joined downstairs by Mindy and the pug. We didn’t have to be anywhere until her mother’s at 3pm. I hung out with Mindy for a few minutes ahead of leaving for a run.

I ran just three miles, treating it more like a weekend than a weekday. It was still pretty cold, only in the low 20s. Encountered very few folks out and about. Greeted everyone I saw. I raised the garage door as soon as I got back to the house so I could fetch the square shovel and again remove the ice from the front stoop and approach. At the same time, Mindy was just heading out to walk the pug in full winter garb, including a pair of Jacob’s old snow pants. She asked if I cared to join them. Just about done scraping away ice, I agreed to catch up to them as they headed on.

I joined Mindy and the pug a few houses down. Eiknarf was quick to relieve herself, both #1 & #2. Soon we were back at home once again topping off our coffee. By then it was already nearing 11am. While enjoying a little more coffee, I got a fire going, which along with the TG Day parade, it helped give the house that homey, wintry, holiday feel.

Mindy picked up where she left off the evening before with decorating the house for Xmas. In addition to decorating, she was giving the downstairs a thorough cleaning, too. It must’ve been near noon when I started making sauerkraut balls. It took about 45 minutes to shape them into balls, coat them in flour, egg bath, and finally bread crumbs. I did my best to clean up/rinse the dishes I dirtied along the way. Otherwise, making sauerkraut balls can be a messy game. Short of putting up the Xmas tree, Mindy had the entire downstairs decorated for Xmas by the time I was done making the balls. I placed the deep fried balls in a casserole dish in a warm oven until we were ready to leave. I also whipped up a dipping sauce using ranch dressing, horseradish mustard, and hot sauce.

Around 130pm, Mindy I headed upstairs for a nap and eventually showers. Napped for maybe 30 minutes. Time for a shower. Mindy took one first. Asked that she leave it running once she was done. Years of experience shows that we’ll be ready about the same time. Downstairs around 230pm, we still needed to cut up several blocks of cheese and prepare a relish tray. While Mindy cut cheese, I called my mom. April answered instead of my mom. As usual, she thought I was Glenn. Went on for a while until I finally shared that it was me, Jimmy. Silence immediately befell her.  We’re not close. She soon put my mom on the line.

Mom shared that she cooked a turkey with all the fixins’ and was celebrating with Charles, April, Ronald, and his parents. She asked about dad’s condition, and I shared what I knew. We talked for maybe 10 minutes. It was 310pm before Mindy & I were ready to head out, and ten minutes later before we actually left. We had to warm and load the Pilot. Oh, we opted to take the pug with us too. She was very excited to be going for a ride.

It was a cloudy and cold TG afternoon. Traffic was light, which is what I expected for a holiday. We arrived at Mawmaw’s near 330pm. We were the last of the 4 sibs to show up. That’s generally not the case. Meh! Eiknarf peed before we headed inside. I carried the laundry basket that held all the food. Mindy headed in with the pug.

And just as we do most holidays, we set up appetizers in the lower level. I was anxious to try one of our sauerkraut balls with dipping sauce. I poured myself a St Joan’s shortly after our arrival, too. The balls were well received as was the heaping tray of cheese, of which there must’ve been six or seven varieties. Dinner wasn’t for a while. Spent the next couple hours visiting.

Just about the time we were getting ready for dinner, Jimaken dropped the kids. Glad they made it in time for dinner. However, even though they were there in time for dinner, neither kid ate much because they’d eaten TG dinner at their aunt’s house just an hour or so earlier.

As for TG dinner, there were lots of options: turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn pudding, and in/out-of-the-bird stuffing. I had a little of darn near everything. Despite not making a pig of myself, I was felt more than full. I’ll attribute that to enjoying too much cheese and one too many sauerkraut balls before dinner. We sat around the dinner table for an hour or more. Niece Lindy and fiancé, Josh arrived just as most of us were finishing up. Feeling incredibly nappy, I excused myself from the dinner table and headed immediately for the downstairs and a comfy chair near the TV. There I eventually stole a brief but restful nap. Ahhhhhh!

It was near 730pm when we shared dessert. There were a few options: pumpkin pie, Boston crème pie, cupcakes, and pecan pie. I had a small piece of pecan pie. It was good (very sweet) – just like the woman who made it.  Earlier that evening, and I believe it was even before we sat for dinner, we agreed to keep the boys overnight so that Lindsey could work. Once again, she apparently waited until the last minute to make Black Friday childcare arrangements. But we haven’t had them a lot of late, and they do behave pretty well. Of course, I was would be working so the burden would be mostly Mindy’s. Both of us wanted to do it. When given his options Landon always wants to spend the time with us.

By the time the Pilot was loaded for home, it was almost 820pm. Wished everyone well then headed after the boys. Mindy sent Lindsey a text letting her know that we were on our way. We arrived to get the boys within 5-10 minutes. Once at home, I walked the pug before heading inside. Mindy joined making sure I had everything out of the Pilot.

Once settled inside, I gave David a call to confirm his plans to drive to CMH the next morning. Said he was indeed coming. Looking forward to skiing with us. Should be fun. While Mindy toiled upstairs and down, Bella tried using their laptop, which hasn’t been fired up for a couple months now. In passing, I observed her dealing with multiple pop-ups and unable to get to the You Tube feed she was trying to access. After discouraging her from clicking on anything, I asked if I could take a look. Unexpectedly, I spent the next hour dealing with cleaning up the kids laptop. During my toil, Mindy shared that he laptop is running ridiculously slow too. I briefly took a look at her laptop too and suppressed a handful of unnecessary applications. That improved the performance considerably. I shared that I really need to spend an hour on it as well, but didn’t have the energy or time right then.

Mindy and I eventually headed to the livingroom while the kids played on the laptop and Kindles. I poured myself a Centennial from the growler setting out on the deck. Fresh and cold! Just prior, I took a Tagament after feeling a little heartburn or reflux. It usually starts working almost instantly. This time, however, not so much. In hindsight, I probably should’ve skipped the beer. Mindy declared it bed time around 1030pm and encouraged all the kids to shut it down and head upstairs. The boys asked if we could set-up the air mattress but we declined. Nope, you’re sleeping in the guest room.

Lying in bed by 1040pm, I wasn’t feeling that sleepy. But once Mindy started rubbing/scratching my head the sleepies quickly arrived. Good night turkey moon!