Instead of doing the traditional Thanksgiving meal with my family last Thursday, I thought I would mix it up a bit. You know, by painting a women’s locker room and attempting to volunteer at a local soup kitchen… yes, I said attempting.
As the only single sibling in the family, I had no significant other’s house to go to on the actual day of Thanksgiving. My family is very understanding of scheduling, so we traditionally never celebrate the big holidays on the actual day. This means our Thanksgiving meals are on the weekend after and our Christmas celebrations are a few days following Santa’s arrival.
This year was no exception… and I received the following e-mail from my Mother:
Hey, Merv (my family nickname)!
I’m doing some meal planning for the Thanksgiving weekend, and I’m wondering if you know yet when you’re coming (I’m thinking of ordering some of Salud’s pancit noodles, but I don’t want to do it until I know people will be here who will eat it.)?
The Thanksgiving meal will be around 2 on Saturday, and the Christmas parade begins Saturday at 7 for those who want to go. There will be a brunch on Sunday at whatever time seems to suit the most people. Otherwise, there are no scheduled activities that I’m aware of (I did get a new version of Catch Phrase — Catch Phrase Music Edition — if we want to try that).
You’ll bring the chocolate turkey — and maybe some pickles? Thanks!
Love ya!
Mom
Because I was to be home Saturday for our meal, I planned to head home Friday. I told my boss I would gladly work Thanksgiving if I was able to take off Black Friday to head home… and, luckily for me, I could. The catch was that my “job” would be to paint the women’s locker room at work.
I arrived Thursday morning with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, a bagel with veggie cream cheese and a boom box. I met the facilities director (Scott) and we painted the day away (I’m actually not too bad of a painter, if I do say so myself.). My plan later in the day was to volunteer at a local charity group to help serve a hot Thanksgiving meal.
The problem was that no one wanted me. I called as many places as I could, but everyone was happily staffed with volunteers (a very good problem to have).
Luckily, I had been invited to a friend’s house for dinner with his roommate’s family… where I had lots to be thankful for!
The Final Dish: Stay tuned for the dish on all the good bites from my Thanksgiving meals.
