What was my biggest Thanksgiving day disaster - and how could I have prevented it?
825732
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903911
Ate ate ate ate  and then ate some more..I am still stuffed.  We had family in from Michigan, Tennesee, and from Florida..So my house was very full.  It was very good tho.  We had turkey, ham, green bean cassarole, corn, chicken stuffing (home made very awesome), 24 hr Salad, bread, candied yams, blackberry cobler, peach cobler, a custard desert with angel cake (very awesome) chocolate cake, cookies of all kinds, and so much more..I still have a full fridge.\n\nI hope yours went well also.
822652
Thanksgiving's at my family's old house used to be crazy.  Family members from all over the US would gather in the small farmhouse, cooking dinner, playing football, and reminicse by the fire.  I remember fondly a Thanksgiving eight years ago.  I was stuffing the turkey and my mom was making pumpkin pie.  We didn't have a mixer, so she took out the blender and said "Yeah, you blend" I told her she was crazy and went back to fixing the turkey. My cousin walked in on my mom trying to make pumpkin pie in the blender and said "Ohh la la", out of suprise.  She looked at me with a serious look on her face "Lets sit in front of the fireplace" she said.  Just then, the lights suddently went out.  The phone rang.  It was my cousins. Due to the massive storm that had hit the area, they wouldn't be able to make it. "Bill Bailey won't you please come home", my mom jokingly told my cousins on the phone.  I heard my aunt screaming from the other room at my six year old cousin " you are not going to watch tv as we eat dinner." He responded by having a temper tantrum because he didn't understand power outage.\n\nDespite the power outage, the stove was gas so we were able to have a beautiful candlelight feast without the tv on or cousins watching tv.
706934
And on Thanksgiving, what are you Thankful for?\n\nGo to the hospital.  Free clinics.  Alternative medication.  Sorry.  In the face of adversity you have to be resilient and resourceful.  Best of luck.
1105357
To be honest, there is always something you will overlook.  I, the ultimate procrastinator, did not pack until the day before I left.  I was going to be 6 hours away.  You'd think that I would have taken a little more time huh.  There was no, \n"Mom bring that on the weekend on your way to...", it was ok I'll get it during Thanksgiving break.   I would make a list and divide it by categories, take a last look at your room before you leave, go through everything and hope for the best.  \n\nPS:  Don't pack everything you own.  If your future dorm was anything like mine, you will barely have enough room to walk; let alone store you entire room from home in.
762741
Since you got the first 2 covered, why don't you check out local organizations that will be serving dinner.  You could go and possibly make a few new friends.  Before you head out, though, you could take in the Macy's Day Parade on tv which is always good!  If those don't work for you, rent some great movies and make a day of the tv.  If you were closer, I'd invite you for dinner.  Happy Thanksgiving!
174110
cleaning my house, starting dinner, and packing for my trip to go visit my family.... but i got side tracked.... and now i'm stuck....
951518
I've been there! My husband has been deployed 2 of the last 3 thanksgivings/Christmases. \n\nThere are several options. You could volunteer. You could treat yourself to a movie (thanksgiving is actually a big day for theaters). \n\nAnother option would be to contact your husband's unit commander and ask if they are doing anything for the wives/families of the deployed. I know it is tradition in my husband's unit for the commander's family to open their doors to all singles/deployed family members/people who can't go home. That may be your best bet for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. \n\nHang in there. I know how tough this is. Thank you and your husband for giving to our country.
1144464
We were out "camping" in a trailer... My cousin and I spent the whole day fixing it up and making it look nice for the next day when the family would arrive.. Late that night we were fixing something underneath the "sink" and we heard a rustling.. so we were looking around all the cabinets to see what it was.. I opened up the fridge and this HUGE flying squirrell came rushing out and it smacked into my cousin and got caught in the curtains...   it took us 4 hours to get the poor 'lil guy back outside... Then he kept trying to get back in, finally he got the idea and ran off to wherever.
226974
Taking care of my uncle.  Had a full day planned - drop some stuff off at a charity on the way to his doctor's appt, pick some wine up for him to drink, stop at the Food Emporium near the return bus stop for groceries, stop at the bank to get cash for Xmas gifts for the staff at our apartment (we were away), stop at Duane Reade for milk, stop at the corner for bananas & other fruit, vegetables.  And somewhere in the middle get lunch since we were fasting for the doctor's visit.\nPlan didn't work out.  The charity had moved.  The first downtown bus wouldn't let me on with the stuff I hadn't been able to donate.  Getting off the next bus (I'd rearranged the stuff so I could close the cart), while running, trying to make up time, I managed to trip over the cart, went sprawling -- scraping shins, bruising backs (Don't ask me how I managed to bruise the backs) of my hands, and smacking my cheek into the sidewalk. (Luckily - no scrape. Doc says I'll have black eye.) I also bruised my shoulder but didn't realize that until this evening.  Someone who worked at the building was quite solicitous & wanted to call for help, was convinced I was badly hurt & didn't realize it - but we were late for the doctor - just across the street.  \n\nSo we ended up with two appointments (one for me and one for my uncle).  My uncle, as I suspected, was not well.  We were sent immediately to get a chest x-ray.  I had asked and there weren't any places nearby to donate the stuff I had brought, so, charity went out the window and I put cart and contents next to a trash bin on the street.  We took a cab to get the xrays. The cab left us off at the wrong street - but we wandered around inside the hospital until we found the right department. After the first xray, they decided they needed another more sophisticated one. They needed me to help my uncle into position. (He's had several strokes & isn't always able to follow directions well.)\n\nWe waited for our doctor to talk to the xray doctor. Then they decided a cat scan was needed. We sat for awhile again. But my uncle was just about faint from hunger - it was now about 3:30pm and he hadn't had anything to eat since the night before.  We were told there was enough time for us to go up to the cafeteria to get something to eat. So we did.  After the cat scan, I thought we were supposed to find out whether he would have to be admitted to the hospital or not.  The technician knew nothing about it - said I should call my doctor from the courtesy phone back in the waiting room.  Someone else was on the phone - forever.  Finally got to use the phone - took 3 or 4 tries to figure out that I didn't need to use the area code - weird.  Turns out that it takes awhile to get the results of cat scans so we could go home - but my uncle (86) needed to use the bathroom first.  While waiting, the doctor who reads the cat scans came by looking for us!! (nice hospital - Mt. Sinai, nice people!)  Said he thought it likely the fluid in my uncle's lungs was related to his heart and not likely to be cancer. I breathed a sigh of relief. With the heart, there's more time for us to be together, more things that can be done to improve his health.  \nWe got a couple of buses home.  The elevator was broken. AGAIN.  We had to take the front elevator, walk up a flight of stairs, walk across the roof and down a flight of stairs.  This took awhile. This broken elevator routine is getting old - even if my uncle weren't sick.  \n\nRemoved the pill from the pill box that the doctor decided my uncle shouldn't take any more, gave the rest with a glass of water to my uncle for him to take.  Fixed the top sheet on his bed - it keeps coming out because the mattress is too deep. Put my uncle to bed as he was exhausted from the long day. Called my mother (uncle's sister) to see if what she had before we left could be related to or provide some clue as to what he has now.
945778
I had a really wonderful and happy Thanksgiving.  I got to spend time with my family, and it was really special.  My grandmother died two years ago on the day before Thanksgiving, and this was the first time I have been able to be with all the family for Thanksgiving since then.  We all had a lot of neat memories and stories to share of Grandma and of my great-grandparents too.  I learned a lot of family history, and it was really great that everyone was so open about their feelings.  I also got to meet my cousin's new fiancee and see my uncle's new puppy and look over my parents' remodeling job on the house and visit with my brother about his job and eat so much good food.  I had a great time.  I was just really sad that my sister was not able to make it for Thanksgiving.  I have not seen her in 2 years and was really looking forward to being with her again.  But I was so excited to find out that she is expecting and couldn't travel because of the morning sickness being so bad.  I am so thankful for the wonderful time I had with my family this Thanksgiving.
853020
I took a day off and ate a normal thanksgiving. I regret it now! I forgot what it's like to eat a lot of empty carbs and fat! It's funny how in my mind things like green bean casserole sounds so good, but it wasn't that good and I don't feel well because of it. \n Tomarrow, a double work out!\n\nGood for you for sticking to your new eating regime!
798914
I once helped a friend and her 19 year old daughter out when they became homeless.  They were living in their car.  During this period I paid their car insurance, fed them,  loaned them money and let them spend the night a few times.\n\nI asked them to Thanksgiving Dinner, they came, they ate, they stayed 5 weeks.  When they left they never said a word of thanks \nNot one single word................\n\nI stood in the driveway waving bye........3 months later they asked to stay with me again?  My responce was, I can give you a couple bucks but I really don't want house guests right now.\n\nI think I would have agreed, if they had at least said "thanks" for all the help I had given before. Doing favors and helping out  friends is just something you do.  But I think the level of kindness becomes burdensome without appreciation.
984927
I think that you should contribute something in helping out. There's pleanty to do even if you're not cooking. That is how you show your gratitude if your mom or whoever is cooking is slaving over the stove for about 2 days.. then ha ve to serve it..THEN  have to clean dishes... \nand we ain't talking about setting the table,, prep work.. there's a lot of things that contribute to thanksgiving dinner!!! I am not cooking a lot for thanksgiving but my mother in law is, so i thought it was fair that I buy the turkey and I'm bringing some sides. She babysits my daughter all the time and I am trying to show some gratitude. So it's only fair that you offer some help even if no  one asks you.
835532
I'm still cooking & it's been waaayyy too many times already.  I keep shooing them off but they keep doing it when I'm side-tracked.  lol  Oops....speak of the.....gotta go, it's open again....\n\nLOL - Happy Thanksgiving.
912760
KC...Do not be get too worry about that...why not try to take a step back and give more thought into your work and be more prudent.  Anyone who is rushing to get things done will find that their quality of work get affected, resulting one to blame on him/herself.\n\nTake my advice to have a 5 mins time-out at the end of the day to conduct a mini self-reflection on yourself.  What things have you done today that is satisfying to you? what could you have done better today?\n\nYour two children are innocent...So do not bring your worries back home!  \n\nA penny for you thought!
697373
Even though your upset, don't make a big deal about it.  People are funny around the holidays.  For some strange reason, traditions are hard to break.  If 12 noon and 1pm is the tradition in this family, then let your family have their tradition.  It will cause too much of a "stir" for everyone to change things around.  Also, are there going to be elderly people there???  Old people don't like to drive at night (hard to see) so they usually need events to start early so they can get on the road before dark.  There are probably several reasons why they are sticking with the early dinner time so don't take it personally.  Show up when you can, give every one a big hug, eat some left overs and be thankful you have a family to share the holiday with and also be thankful that you have a job.   Happy Thanksgiving!!!