Holiday

[50Mickey]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Now that my parents and only sibling are no longer here dinner will be at my house or my daughter's. It will be a traditional turkey dinner with all of the trimings. No way would I miss out on Thanksgiving to go rogue. But Christmas is another story. A few years ago my husband and younger daughter and I decided to skip Christmas dinner for a movie and pizza. This is our new tradition. 

[PA Mom-mom]

@Mominohio  We have a DS like that. Are they going to show? Not? I try not to worry about it anymore. They are equal opportunity offenders, however. The in-laws are perpetually confused about their whereabouts. We are required to do Thanksgiving for our extended family, because my SIL always does Christmas. My DD usually comes up for Thanksgiving because she is a hunting widow;  and I'm glad, because I really need her help lately. I think Thanksgiving is the most physically strenuous of all the holidays. But, I know how you feel about not knowing what to do for a holiday when you have no real plans. Our children come in for Christmas "Elevensies" the week after Christmas. So that means we only go to my brother's house for Christmas. While that is something, believe me it's not what we were used in the past. So, we just pretend it isn't Christmas until our children arrive.

[pattypeep]

@MominohioAll three of our children are in different states, our friends have dinner with their families, so dh and I are having Thanksgiving in the Hawaiian Islands on a cruise ship. 

[PA Mom-mom]

@Mominohio  Why don't you ask your DS and his GF to help you prepare the Thanksgiving meal and help decorate and set the table, etc.? Tell them there will be lots of good food tasting and wine or beer or harvest cocktail or iced tea (or whatever the beverage of choice is). Ask them if they have recipes they would like to try. I wish I would have thought about this a few years ago.

[1Snickers]

     @Mominohio   With my son's family I never know!

  I don't cook and his (ex?)wife works retail Black Friday. 
  My granddaughter has done the last two Thanksgivings or brought the food to my son's, but she just had her second baby. No way can she do it!
   I suggested Cracker Barrel either eat in or take out but my son grimises. 
    They never decided Christmas Eve so I ordered enough for 6 at Publix for my son younger granddaughter and myself. (Son and wife are seperated ). Then they all wanted it at his house, one turkey breast went fast. Plus there are always extra people. It's insane!
It's a quandary what to do. My husband cooked so it was easy!

     I think I will just not mention it and see what happens, but have a frozen turkey dinner in the fridge.

[GCR18]

There is always family drama when the holidays roll around.  This year is no exception.  I've decided to do what I want to do this year.  I'm not going to get dragged into the drama yet again. 

The family lives a plane ride away.  It's too much going for thanksgiving and Christmas.  I made arrangements for my mother.  I've already told the rest they can go with her, but nobody could commit.  I won't mention it again.  My plan is to have no plan.  I have four days to do whatever I feel like.

[blackhole99]

As far as I know it will just be the 3 of us this year, I'm cooking of course. I'm doing filled turkey breast and pumpkin/ricotta filled shells, green bean bake and pumpkin pie. Not a lot of fuss and hopefully, not too much left overs.

[RedTop]

To me, Thanksgiving is just another Thursday in November.   It has never really been a gathering for a meal holiday in my family, and at this point never will be.  

As a child/teenager, Thanksgiving was when we killed hogs, and when my dad and brothers hunted.   I married into a family that always killed hogs on Thanksgiving.   In both families, the turkey meal was eaten on Sunday, just like a normal Sunday meal.   Nothing special.

I always worked Thanksgiving; my husband and brothers hunted, and eventually I had daughters in the woods too.   In the years since I retired, I get up on Thanksgiving morning, cook 2 large turkey breasts, the dressing I probably made 3 days earlier, bread, and generally one vegetable, plus cranberry sauce, have it ready by 1:00, and everyone eats when they are here, and hungry.   We don’t make it a dinner thing.   

[Drythe]

Have always wanted to spend a quiet Thanksgiving at the beach with DH and our dogs.

Hasn’t happened yet, not looking hopeful for this year either, but a girl’s can dream.  Right?

[panda1234]

---

@amyb wrote:

---

@Sooner wrote:

---

@Mominohio wrote:

---

@Sooner wrote:

Home, pj's, ham sandwiches, fireplaces lit, enjoying the Christmas decorations.

---

@Sooner 

Aaahhhh! Fireplace. I haven't had one for 25 years after having one my whole life before. I so miss them. It's more than miss. Its a yearning. I've even thought about having one built here, but I hate to think what that would cost. If we were going to do it, we should have done it when we first bought. Not sure how many more years we'd get to enjoy it for what it would set us back. 

But anyway, enjoy your fireplaces!

---

@Mominohio We do!  We love them!  They are all gas logs. I wouldn't go back to wood for anything.  What a mess and a bother and as surely as it is a cold bad night you have to go OUT if you want wood!

We had one in the den and in the kitchen at one house and switched them to gas and there's no going back for us!  LOL!!!  Also, critters and snakes LOVE woodpiles. 

---

I'm with you...have not burned my real fireplace for a while, after having two experiences with a downdraft that created much soot damage to my walls and carpeting. After having just painted, not going to burn it anymore. Kind of a shame since it's still a big black hole in the main area of my living-room, that I try to make cozy with flameless candles.  I own a condo with electric heat, and unfortunately cannot switch to a gas line here.  If I ever have my own home with a fireplace it's going to be gas all the way! Whenever I'm in a hotel or restaurant with one I love them...just as cozy, but cleaner and no hassle of cleanup, or dirtying your environment.

---

@amyb  I have the same black hole in my family room. I put some logs in a grate with mini lights on a timer and it looks cozy at night.