Friday, November 23, 2007

Post Thanksgiving Friday Five

Ah, the day after Thanksgiving--groan! Fortunately, I love Thanksgiving leftovers.

Thanksgiving is the American holiday when the greatest number of people travel somewhere else to celebrate. I am posting this from my son’s home in Minnesota where we are recovering from the food shopping and the preparations and the meal and the clean up. It is difficult to think of anything requiring much energy today, and I am enjoying my sweet baby granddaughter, so I will keep it simple.

For those of you not in the USA, I apologize for the nationalistic tone of this Friday Five!
1. Did you go elsewhere for the day, or did you have visitors at your place instead? How was it?
Kris and I cooked at Josh's house. Ken entertained Trinity--he has a broken leg and is pretty much off his feet. Kris' husband, Daryl, came over after work and he and Josh got turkeys on the grill. Smokey barbequed turkey is yummy! Trinity has found her voice. For a long time she was pretty quiet. No more. She smiles non stop, and she tends to yell happily. BAH! DOO JAH! Like that. She had all of us laughing.

2. Main course: If it was the turkey, the whole turkey, and nothing but the turkey, was it prepared in an unusual way? Or did you throw tradition to the winds and do something different?
See above. We've been grilling turkeys on the Webber grill for many years now.

3. Other than the meal, do you have any Thanksgiving customs that you observe every year?
We usually get out the Mah Jong set and play, or we play other games. This year we ate later than usual, and Trinity was cranky because it was her bedtime, so they went home and Ken and Josh and I vegged out on the couch. Josh was snoring in about five minutes, and Ken and I watched "The Incredibles." Maybe tomorrow we'll get some game playing in.

4. The day after Thanksgiving is considered a major Christmas shopping day by most US retailers. Do you go out bargain hunting and shop ‘till you drop, or do you stay indoors with the blinds closed? Or something in between?
One year Kris and I shopped on the Friday following Thanksgiving, and it was such a hassle we haven't done it since. But this year she is getting up to be at the store at six a.m. for someting she really wants, and she says she will go home and go back to bed. I will stay snuggled in bed till I have to get up, and then I will not likely shop. That could change, depending.

5. Let the HOLIDAY SEASON commence! When will your Christmas decorations go up?
I like them up right away. This year I'm not sure what will happen because Ken is unable to do any of the work. I'll be fortunate to get the tree up and the decorations lugged upstairs. No one will be visiting our place this Christmas (waah) so I'm not sure what I'll try to put up. The church will be decorated this week. On Dec. 2nd the local churches will have a sort of Christmas walk where we go to each church to see the decorated sanctuarys and read a portion of scripture. Our church is across from the high school, and our church is last on the schedule. From church we go to the high school for a community evening of Christmas music from local church choirs and other festivities. It's a nice way to begin the Christmas season.

18 comments:

Sally said...

Thank you for this F5, it has really highligheted some cultural differneces for me. Having Thanksgiving as a start to the holiday season marks it somehow, we just fall headlong into it if we are not careful!Blessings as you eat up the left overs.

revhipchick said...

wonderful play and wonderful friday 5!

smoked turkey on the grill sound delicious!

it sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving!

enjoy your community Christmas celebration--it sounds wonderful as well!

Elaine (aka...Purple) said...

Thanks for hosting the Friday Five. Fun time.

Cathy said...

I echo what others said - thanks for posting the Friday Five!
It is interesting on the decorating. We keep a very distinct difference in Advent and christmas - Advent has strictly the Advent Wreath and the church is kept very simple until Christmas eve service.

Most other traditions do it differently here.

Jan said...

Thanks for thinking of the Friday Five and for playing! I haven't visited you before and am glad I know where you are now.

Anonymous said...

Just do what I do when you have to shop during the holidays: pull the cart urgently, and start yelling "coming through, lady having a baby!" People get out of your way pretty well.

Nightmare

more cows than people said...

yes, great f5, singing owl! and trinity is adorable.

Anonymous said...

Great play...and I'm glad Trinity is finding her voice!

LutheranChik said...

Smoked turkey on the grill sounds great...we promised ourselves to use our own grill all year long, so perhaps some day this winter we'll be brave enough to attempt at least a turkey breast on it.

Diane M. Roth said...

Trinity IS adorable.

we won't do Christmas decorations for a couple of weeks, at least.

zorra said...

Mmmm...I love smoked turkey! Some church friends were planning to sit up ALL NIGHT tending their smoker; I hope they weren't too sleepy to enjoy their meal!
Thanks for posting this fun F5!

Lori said...

Grilled BBQ turkey sounds just wonderful!

And if you post pictures of your decorations then you will have lots and lots of us visiting this Christmas!!!

(hint hint)

Sista Cala said...

Sounds like you had a great time. My family actually voted to eat out this year. We enjoyed a bountiful buffet by the Cajun Cookers. The meal was American Traditional w/a few cajun flavored dishes.

Do you mind if I copy your picture of the dishes in the sink? It is one of those things that you never know when you might need it for a post or something. Yeah, I know that's a bit silly, but I am somewhat of a pack-rat/collector of odds & ends; even pics. P.S. If you let me have it, I promise not to tell anyone that it is your sink. (smile)

Auntie Knickers said...

Enjoyed your play, especially the part about Trinity's utterances -- brought back great memories!

Ruth said...

There are positives for working 12 hour shifts both Thanksgiving and the day after. Glad you had a good Thanksgiving. Hope you and yours have managed to recover by now and get some game playing in together.

chartreuseova said...

The church walk sounds like a great way to bring the community together to share the season.

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

Ruth, I was picturing you at your mom and dad's place. :-(

1-4 Grace said...

Grilled Turkey soudns really really good!
Glad to know others like getting the CDs out at this time. I am still stuck on my James Taylor from two yrs ago, but always in market for new ones.