Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Jellybeans]

HappyThanksgiving everyone. Hope all of you have a wonderful time with your friends and family. :-)

[BrianJ62]

HappyThanksgiving everyone. Hope all of you have a wonderful time with your friends and family. :-)

Same to you Jellybeans.

[SometimesBites]

Happy Thanksgiving, fellow snarkers! I don't drop in on the prayer closet nearly enough, but I do enjoy the mutual camaraderie. I do a slow roast turkey (24 hours) so I'm lying in bed, reading your posts, and smelling that glorious roasting turkey smell. All the pies are made (pumpkin, key lime, and chocolate bourbon pecan), the spuds are mashed, the dressing assembled...all that's left is to make the gravy and bake the broccoli souffle. God, I love this boliday! Love, smiles, and safe travels to all. xox

[allonsyalice]

That sounds so delicious, SometimesBites!! It's times like these where I really really wish i could get a homecooked meal

[SomePity1066]

SomePity, yes I took it in a fun way. I do not know you, what your belive system is and it just sounded interesting.

Oh, crazycatlady, I know you did !  I was just posting in my usual herp-derp way...  ;)

 

In addition to the obvious holiday most of us are getting ready for by putting on our big stretchy pants, it's also National Cake Day !!! I plan to eat myself into a food coma by 5 PM, rally by 7 for round two, and then watch the original Star Wars until my eyes glaze over and some nice person puts my tired bones to bed. 

[frenchtoast]

In addition to the obvious holiday most of us are getting ready for by putting on our big stretchy pants, it's also National Cake Day !!! I plan to eat myself into a food coma by 5 PM, rally by 7 for round two, and then watch the original Star Wars until my eyes glaze over and some nice person puts my tired bones to bed. 

That sounds like the most awesome day ever! We pushed our TG meal to Sunday (not realizing that MA stores are closed on Thanksgiving so my mom, who is a cashier at WalMart actually has the day off and can watch her beloved Packers take on the Bears). So, I'm here, hanging out, catching up on The Last Kingdom, trying my darnedest to remember what happened in the books. And later, I'll be watching Captain America Winter Solider since the trailer for Civil War was just released and then, for giggles, maybe watch Ant Man. 

 

I love this time of year. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Even those not necessarily celebrating. For those finding this time of year of difficult, I hope you find comfort and peace. And may the memory of your loved ones become a source of solace. {{{Hugs}}}

[bigskygirl]

All of the talk about food makes me hungry. My husband is on his way to TN, so we will have Thanksgiving dinner next week. I do not plan on going outside or drive anywhere until my doctor appointment next Monday with the allergist along with running a few errands since the snow is causing my eye damage and light sensitivity to act up along with my allergies and headaches. It is a balmy seven degrees outside with a light fog.

 

The good news is two organizations are paying for my new eye glasses so the eye doctor office can put in the order next week. My vision changed again, and my eye doctor wants to changed the prescription for reading. She also is hypothyroid and sees the same specialist I do, and she wears an mouth appliance (her husband is a dentist) because she grinds her teeth and has a hard time sleeping.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! {{{HUGS}}} and try not to eat too much.

[amitville]

HappyThanksgiving everyone. Hope all of you have a wonderful time with your friends and family. :-)

Same to you Jellybeans

[Jellybeans]

Well, how can one end up with leftovers before Thanksgiving dinner is served? My son is not coming today. His car is out of comission.

Made a decision about Christmas. We're having a normal meal. Like a bowl of cereal or something. :-p

[Sew Sumi]

Happy turkey day, everyone! I'm off to have some institution food at the MIL's senior living complex. It's also the hubby's birthday, so there will be presents! Yay!

[Missy Vixen]

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I am so thankful for all of you. I hope you have a wonderful day with those you love the most.

[Love2dance]

Well, how can one end up with leftovers before Thanksgiving dinner is served? My son is not coming today. His car is out of comission.

Made a decision about Christmas. We're having a normal meal. Like a bowl of cereal or something. :-p

Oh, JELLYBEANS, so sorry your son can't make it. That is so disappointing. Just not fair.

Wishing the Small Talk members who inspire me every day a Happy Thanksgiving.

[lookeyloo]

Jellybeans - as my grandma used to say when something didn't please her "feh, poo poo poo". Maybe you and your son could Skype or do face time.

Is there a way to "like" a post on the iPhone?

[bigskygirl]

My husband's flight has been delayed in Detroit, Michigan. I have been getting flight schedule update phone calls since he landed in Detroit. I hope he does not arrive too late in Memphis because he has a two hour drive from Memphis to his step father's house after his flight lands.

[GeeGolly]

Hoping everyone has had or is having safe travels, good food and warmth today. Happy Thanksgiving!

[crazycatlady58]

So sorry Jellybeans . Hopefully Christmas will be better.

[emma675]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope the family drama was minimal (but also looking forward to the stories in here, hee!). Ours was drama-free and I actually didn't eat too much; I've lost 40 pounds over the last year and I just don't eat as much as I used to. But it was still yummy and I cooked myself into exhaustion yesterday.

 

frenchtoast, what did you think of the CA Civil War trailer? It hit me in all the feels--I can't wait and yet I know I'll be miserable seeing them turn on each other. I'm conflicted!

[MargeGunderson]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope the family drama was minimal (but also looking forward to the stories in here, hee!). Ours was drama-free and I actually didn't eat too much; I've lost 40 pounds over the last year and I just don't eat as much as I used to. But it was still yummy and I cooked myself into exhaustion yesterday.

 

frenchtoast, what did you think of the CA Civil War trailer? It hit me in all the feels--I can't wait and yet I know I'll be miserable seeing them turn on each other. I'm conflicted!

How did your pie crust turn out? I have to confess that after all of the advice I gave you in the baking thread, my pie crust slumped when I blind-baked it! Good thing I had a backup crust. I hope it turned out well!

[XinaMarie]

The electricity went out at about 3:00 am. We couldn't seem to get any outage information because we are out in the country and all you could get was voice mail asking to leave a message. By 9:00 in the morning my MIL was threatening to serve Sonic hamburgers.

Fortunately they have a gas stove, so MIL went to prepare side dishes, but could not figure out why it wouldn't turn on. I had to explain to her the starter uses electricity and she just needed to strike a match.

My FIL called the sheriff department and we were told a car struck a pole and 800 houses were without power. Power was restored at 10:30 am, but there was much, much handwringing in the meanwhile. We finally got a call back from the electric company in the middle of dinner around 4:00pm telling us power had been restored. DUH.

My niece had to make fresh churned butter for a school project. It was very easy to make and delicious. Why did people stop making their own? Is it cheaper than buying the raw ingredients.

Other than having to repeat everything for my MIL who is hard of hearing, things were marvy.

Edited November 27, 2015 by XinaMarie

[Sew Sumi]

The hubby and I got Jesused to death by the MIL this afternoon. When she started trashing Muslims, I was at least able to tell her that no one is changing anyone's minds here. We were only allotted one glass of champagne at the senior facility, not nearly enough to be able to block out the bible quotes and Muslim trashing. We couldn't leave fast enough.

 

Now I know what it's like to hang out with any of the adult Duggars for more than two minutes. 

[frenchtoast]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope the family drama was minimal (but also looking forward to the stories in here, hee!). Ours was drama-free and I actually didn't eat too much; I've lost 40 pounds over the last year and I just don't eat as much as I used to. But it was still yummy and I cooked myself into exhaustion yesterday.

 

frenchtoast, what did you think of the CA Civil War trailer? It hit me in all the feels--I can't wait and yet I know I'll be miserable seeing them turn on each other. I'm conflicted!

There may have been a heavy sigh when Tony says, "So was I." It is going to be so hard so hard to watch because neither of them is entirely wrong. I will admit to feeling bad for Tony--after seeing him in Ultron try so hard and make things worse. But he's trying to be as "good" as Steve in his way and it just keeps literally blowing up in his face. On top of what's going on on SHIELD, it's just so sad. I'm still not over the Lash reveal and what May is going through. 

 

Wow, it seems so depressing but it's not. Just a lot of feels.

[GeeGolly]

The hubby and I got Jesused to death by the MIL this afternoon. When she started trashing Muslims, I was at least able to tell her that no one is changing anyone's minds here. We were only allotted one glass of champagne at the senior facility, not nearly enough to be able to block out the bible quotes and Muslim trashing. We couldn't leave fast enough.

 

Now I know what it's like to hang out with any of the adult Duggars for more than two minutes. 

... and may God bless you for that.

[Micks Picks]

The Duggars trash Catholics.  Not being "of the world" they may not know anything about Muslims….yet.   I'm glad everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, except for Jellybeans, and hey, shit happens.  That's just the way of it.  I had a nice time too.  The guests at the dinner were nice.  And my dog Mikey got a birthday dog cake.  I din't know pet stores sold them, but they do.  After dinner we guests had to do a scavenger hunt and take pictures of everything we found on the list.  It was fun.

[bigskygirl]

My husband's flight finally got to Memphis. He is probably on his way to the house. I have been sick all day long due to my blasted allergies, and I am very cranky because I am sick and miserable.

[Sew Sumi]

Ben posted about converting Syrian refugees, so...

[emma675]

MargeGunderson, the second crust was perfect, lol! Whenever I try a new recipe, I always know to double it because I always manage to screw up the first round. I didn't have beans or pie weights, so I had to dock it, but it turned out fine. Thanks for all of the advice over in the foodie thread!

 

frenchtoast, I have the same thoughts. Tony tries so hard and yet it never goes the way he hopes. And Steve is genuinely good and he and Bucky have lived through so much crap that was not their faults. I hate that their little Avengers family is falling apart. And Agents of Shield has pulled me back in again. It's so good! I'm a little bummed that it's going off air for three months, even though I adore Agent Carter.

[ChocolateAddict]

We don't do Thanksgiving (no pilgrims in Sydney!) but I can sympathise with difficult relatives.  My grandmother is super conservative and I'm the classic uni student greenie.  Whenever she starts talking about how you just can't trust "Those Muslims" or about how "The Asians" are buying up all the property, I'm sitting there trying not to explode.  She is the Queen of Generalizations so if one person of Middle Eastern heritage was rude to her once, it will become a life lesson on how "Arabs" don't have manners.   Sends me up the wall! Thankfully she isn't coming to Christmas this year since we are celebrating with the other side of the family (although we will no doubt have the guilt trip lasting December to March) so I won't have to listen to her complain about whatever the right-wing conservative shock-jocks have been farting on about.  

[bigskygirl]

I could have went to my mother's house for dinner, but I do not want to end up in the state mental hospital or the county detention center. My family can drive me crazy or close to murdering someone within five minutes.

[Sew Sumi]

We don't do Thanksgiving (no pilgrims in Sydney!) but I can sympathise with difficult relatives.  My grandmother is super conservative and I'm the classic uni student greenie.  Whenever she starts talking about how you just can't trust "Those Muslims" or about how "The Asians" are buying up all the property, I'm sitting there trying not to explode.  She is the Queen of Generalizations so if one person of Middle Eastern heritage was rude to her once, it will become a life lesson on how "Arabs" don't have manners.   Sends me up the wall! Thankfully she isn't coming to Christmas this year since we are celebrating with the other side of the family (although we will no doubt have the guilt trip lasting December to March) so I won't have to listen to her complain about whatever the right-wing conservative shock-jocks have been farting on about.  

Are you sure that your grandmother isn't in fact my MIL??? It would blow the MIL's mind if she realized that those Eritreans serving her lunch and dinner in the dining room are Muslims (which they likely are). Your reference to Asians reminds me of the worst tirade: she said that some acquaintance was okay, "for being Asian." Bad enough, but  actually heinous as I had to remind her that her only granddaughter is half Chinese. 

 

For real. 

 

I get that she lives in the land of generalizations and has never had an opinion that was truly her own. She is what a lifetime of non-critical thinking looks like after 83 slip-shoddily thought-out years. If I ever get to be that person, just put me out of my misery. Please and thank you! 

[SomePity1066]

We don't do Thanksgiving (no pilgrims in Sydney!) but I can sympathise with difficult relatives.  My grandmother is super conservative and I'm the classic uni student greenie.  Whenever she starts talking about how you just can't trust "Those Muslims" or about how "The Asians" are buying up all the property, I'm sitting there trying not to explode.  She is the Queen of Generalizations so if one person of Middle Eastern heritage was rude to her once, it will become a life lesson on how "Arabs" don't have manners.   Sends me up the wall! Thankfully she isn't coming to Christmas this year since we are celebrating with the other side of the family (although we will no doubt have the guilt trip lasting December to March) so I won't have to listen to her complain about whatever the right-wing conservative shock-jocks have been farting on about.  

I hope you made it through with your sanity intact, Chocolate Addict ! I know exactly what you mean about "those" kinds of relatives - sending you "up the wall" is the perfect way to put it !!!

 

I hate to put it this way, but all of the people in my family who had the racism thing going on are all dead, so that's that. There's no more talk at a holiday dinner table about "those damn fer-ah-nerz". It made it doubly galling for me as the most vocal ones were themselves not native-born Americans, or were first generation ! Sheesh !

 

I wish I could visit you in Sydney, even if you don't have Thanksgiving ! Until recently I had relatives in Melbourne and their stories of the beauty of Australia and its people made me want to move there. I'd even get over the sharks, snakes, and spiders the size of hubcaps ! And you're a lucky duck - Handel's Messiah is at the Sydney Opera house next week - if you go please enjoy ! 

 

As for my Thanksgiving ? I'm currently not wearing pants - that pretty much sums it up  ;)

[Sew Sumi]

LOL! I'm still fully clothed, but it's only 7 here. Hubby uncorked a bottle of pinot grigio for us to enjoy as we continue to decompress. :)

[Jynnan tonnix]

We had a smallish group (just eight of us total). My dad is still in hospital after his quintuple-bypass surgery, but is finally out of ICU, so there's that to be thankful for.

 

On a slightly more annoying note, our dishwasher (only about 2 years old, but past its warranty date, of course) decided it was not going to actually run any water over the dishes anymore last night. And though doing all the dishes by hand is actually faster and more efficient in some ways, I'm still ready to get the blasted contraption fixed and go back to being spoiled.

 

Then, after getting the turkey in the oven this morning, we started seeing all sorts of smoke coming through the vents, and discovered that the aluminum roasting pan had a small hole in it and the whole floor of the oven was covered in grease. Luckily I had an extra roasting pan and we have a second oven in the basement, so it was a fairly quick process of moving the bird from one to the other then turning on all the fans and opening all the windows to get the smoke (which was billowing through the house by then, setting off alarms) out before company arrived! Got the oven cleaned up so we could still use it for the side dishes.

 

Overall a very good day :)

[Micks Picks]

I used to always get equipment failures when hosting a dinner.  The sink or toilet or dishwasher, something always went major wrong.  I have to laugh at Sew Sumi and Chocolat's comments about the relatives.  You will be old some day, and since things are cyclical by nature, the young ones will have opinions opposite to yours one day.  I now realize that older people at a certain age tend to say things I never heard them say before, and they don't have the filter anymore.  I don't even know if they know what they are saying, or the effect it has on others.  That's because I knew them years ago and it doesn't seem like the same person.  Alos critical thinking skills doesn't mean that another person will come to your conclusions.  They may use those skills and even be a capitalist.  So I would not count on critical thinking getting you an agreeable companion.  I think everybody has a general world view, and we fit what we learn into that world view.  

 

My Thanksgiving was ok.  There were a couple of people there with opinions opposite of mine but they were thoughtful and I think we could have had a good exchange if it was not for the hosts who jump in and squelch all such topics.  They don't know much, and don't listen.  One works for the prisons and was saying they are letting out non-violent offenders early due to budget problems.  Some were women who had served 20 years.  I said they may in fact be violent but may be in prison because they pled to lesser included offenses and got lesser sentences instead of a trial.  He said yeah but they weren't violent.  His sister got what I was putting down, but he just won't listen.  You can commit a violent assault but be sentenced for drugs.  Because you are serving out a drug sentence doesn't make you non-violent.  Oh well, dinner was good.  And we did a scavenger hunt afterwards so that was fun.

[theredhead77]

The hubby and I got Jesused to death by the MIL this afternoon. When she started trashing Muslims, I was at least able to tell her that no one is changing anyone's minds here. We were only allotted one glass of champagne at the senior facility, not nearly enough to be able to block out the bible quotes and Muslim trashing. We couldn't leave fast enough.

 

Now I know what it's like to hang out with any of the adult Duggars for more than two minutes. 

 

You should have brought an Adele CD (reference in case you missed it elsewhere)

[Love2dance]

My husband's flight finally got to Memphis. He is probably on his way to the house. I have been sick all day long due to my blasted allergies, and I am very cranky because I am sick and miserable.

Awww, BIGSKYGIRL, so sorry you were sick today, but glad your hubby finally made it to Memphis.

[BOOgen3]

In our 30 years of marriage, we have avoided the family drama of Thanksgiving (or any other holiday for that matter) by never celebrating with anyone but our own little family of three. When our son was four, we began to go away for the long Thanksgiving weekend, usually up to one of the "historic" hotels in NH or the Adirondacks. To escape family we even went as far as taking him to Prague and London for week-long breaks. The last few years we have just done dinner locally at Old Sturbridge Village (think Plimouth Plantation plus 200 years). Quiet, quality family time (and a big-ass pumpkin pie from Costco) is the best I can hope for on any holiday.

[BetyBee]

We don't do Thanksgiving (no pilgrims in Sydney!) but I can sympathise with difficult relatives.  My grandmother is super conservative and I'm the classic uni student greenie.  Whenever she starts talking about how you just can't trust "Those Muslims" or about how "The Asians" are buying up all the property, I'm sitting there trying not to explode.  She is the Queen of Generalizations so if one person of Middle Eastern heritage was rude to her once, it will become a life lesson on how "Arabs" don't have manners.   Sends me up the wall! Thankfully she isn't coming to Christmas this year since we are celebrating with the other side of the family (although we will no doubt have the guilt trip lasting December to March) so I won't have to listen to her complain about whatever the right-wing conservative shock-jocks have been farting on about.  

Hello.  It's my first time posting in the Prayer Closet, and the above quote reminded me of a funny experience we recently had.  We were staying at an inn in Southern Wisconsin, having our "continental breakfast" and the very nice clerk greeted a guest in his 90s.  He said that he was doing well, although he had recently experienced a shock and described it thusly: "Imagine my surprise when I was helped off the plane by one of "those people" - a woman in her "Sharia clothes" pushing my wheelchair!"  The clerk asked if she was helpful and he admitted that she was very polite and helpful despite her "Sharia garb".  My husband and I just sat there trying not to laugh!  

[neural-plasticity]

You should have brought an Adele CD (reference in case you missed it elsewhere)

This is great. I come from a VERY conservative family, too. I've found the best thing to do is just sit in silence. Sometimes I can't, but it doesn't change anyone's mind anyways.

The last three years I've been going to my husband's family's thanksgiving and missing my own family's, which has been hard because I'm pretty close with everyone. I mentioned my SIL before who's never met a stranger and loves talking about herself, her daughter, etc. to anyone. My MIL and all of her sisters absolutely love her. I'm much more quiet - definitely an introvert - and often just sit in silence throughout the whole day. They really couldn't care less about my schooling, life, anything, and they make it pretty obvious (you should've seen their luke warm reaction when my husband announced we were engaged - awkward). It really started to get to me for some reason yesterday. Sitting in silence when you miss your family is emotionally exhausting.

Luckily, thanks to some last minute change of plans, my husband and I were able to drive up to my hometown later than evening (our hometowns are about an hour away from each other), where we were able to meet with my family. My husband was able to drink and play cards with my cousins, uncle, BIL, and dad, while I got to take care of my cousin's daughter and baby twins with my aunt and mom (the cousin was out "Black Friday"* shopping).

*Black Friday in quotes because it was THURSDAY at 6pm. :|

[XinaMarie]

My MIL picked a zit inside her nose and gave herself a horrible case of cellulitis. Her nose looked a deep purple the day before Thanksgiving and now it has lightened to a medium red. She is taking antibiotics, but she keeps Touching and dabbing at it. Now she has developed a pimple on the outside of her nose. And she wants to know if she should do something to get rid of it. Her vanity is going to end up killing her. The infection was introduced in the first place by introducing a staph infection through the wound.

Thanksgiving dinner conversation was pretty benign, but the night before was awkward. The teens and I would look at each other and sing, "Hello!" and crack each other up. It helped ease my stress at least.

[kokapetl]

My MIL picked a zit inside her nose and gave herself a horrible case of cellulitis. Her nose looked a deep purple the day before Thanksgiving and now it has lightened to a medium red. She is taking antibiotics, but she keeps Touching and dabbing at it. Now she has developed a pimple on the outside of her nose. And she wants to know if she should do something to get rid of it. Her vanity is going to end up killing her. The infection was introduced in the first place by introducing a staph infection through the wound.

Thanksgiving dinner conversation was pretty benign, but the night before was awkward. The teens and I would look at each other and sing, "Hello!" and crack each other up. It helped ease my stress at least.

Jesus Christ.

The doctor told her not to touch it right? If she has a concern, send her to the emergency room to ask a doctor (who will hopefully helpfully scold her). Does she not understand the red is an improvement on purple?

She sounds like she also might be swayed by gross photos of people who didn't leave well enough alone.

You don't wanna see her next year with no nose.

[emma675]

Jeez, does she not understand that a blemish is temporary but losing your nose to a staph infection is permanent? 

 

And I cannot say 'zit' or 'pimple'. Those are my gross out words (i.e., words that make me cringe and gag to say or hear). I have a friend who can't stand 'moist' or 'nipple'. It cracks me up that most people seem to have words that totally gross them out.

[XinaMarie]

She had it for a couple days before she came out to the country and my FIL made her go to their neighbor who is a nurse to look at it. Her whole family could beg her to do something, but this woman tells her and she scrambles ASAP to the local urgent care. Not only was her whole nose purple at first, she also had swelling under her eyes. To me that is scarier than her nose.

Anyway, she does not know what kind of bacteria is the cause of the cellulitis. I just read that the two likely are staph or strep. It really is getting better, but she is concerned enough about the pimple that she is going back to urgent care again today for a follow up. The swelling under her eyes is gone. She acts like ha ha ha, I have this hideous thing on my face, but I think she is really anxious about it. She is in her 70s but was quite a beauty in her day and she is very vain. I think she is more worried about how she looks than what it means to her long term health.

[frenchtoast]

I had cellulitis on my face and had to go to the emergency room as it got bad over the weekend. (Didn't know what it was, kept hoping it would get better and kept getting worse so the the ER we went.) They gave me IV antibiotics and told me to come back for next dose. When I returned I felt so terrible and had a fever and was admitted to the hospital for two days (admitted Sunday night went home Wednesday). My son was in Kindergarten and my daughter was little and I was (and am) a stay at home mom. It really threw everything out of whack not having me home taking care of everything.

 

The reason they admitted me is because cellulitis on the face is super scary since it can easily be transmitted to the brain. Not that I mean to worry you, but we kept that from my mom who was already panicked. So, yeah, it's definitely something to be taken seriously. But long term, I've been fine. It's my understanding that it makes me more susceptible to more cellulitis infections.

 

On the plus side, when the admitted me, they gave me morphine.

[XinaMarie]

Yes the brain is what I was afraid of. And she is elderly and doesn't spring back from stuff easily. Basically what happened to you is what happened to her. Didn't know what it was, kept thinking it would get better, happened near a holiday. Anyway, I think when it spread under her eyes the seriousness was realized. She still is not back from urgent care. I would feel better about it if she did get something by IV. I am reading too much and scaring myself. And I have been watching that show Mobsters Inside Me.

I have always been very much in the "little bit of dirt don't hurt" camp and do not freak out over germs, but that show will want you to don a hazmat suit at all times!

Edited November 27, 2015 by XinaMarie

[frenchtoast]

I should probably specify this was about 7 or 8 years ago, so it's not exactly recent. I should have said "...go to the emergency room as it got bad over a weekend" and not "the weekend". Ooops--articles don't usually cause me problems.

 

The antibiotic took a while to be administered, though. I want to say at least a half hour, if not an hour. 

[Muffyn]

Wednesday night a friend asked me to watch his daughter for a few hours.  His distant cousin had been released from prison and they were having a welcome back party.  My friend did not want to bring his daughter because the cousin is difficult to deal with, but he needed to go so he didn’t create any bad blood with this guy.  I had never met my friend’s daughter before but I agreed to watch her for a few hours if she could join me while cooking – basically drop her off at my house rather than me going to his house because I had some serious baking and cooking to do. 

 

His daughter is really sweet and helped me with the baking.  She stirred custards, kneaded dough and really seemed to enjoy learning more about baking.  I rarely spend time with kids but we got along really well.  Her parents broke up about 6 years ago, and her father is single.  Suddenly, out of the blue, his daughter asks me, “Are you and my daddy fucking?”  That is an exact quote.  Not are you together.  Not are you dating.  This adorable little girl with a mop of curly black hair and huge brown eyes casually dropped the f-bomb as if it was nothing.  I was so shocked.  Something about someone young enough that “daddy” seemed perfectly natural for her to say also using fucking really threw me. 

 

At the same time, I swear like a sailor.  I clean up my language around kids however.  I did pull it together enough to explain we are friends only.  Given her language choices, I am questioning whether I secretly have a child.

[Jordan Baker]

And I have been watching that show Mobsters Inside Me.

 

Funniest auto-correct I've seen in a while. I'd definitely watch this!

[Happyfatchick]

Muffyn, that was definitely one of those moments: do you recoil in horror or burst out laughing

Tits is my "don't go there" word, or titties. I HATE THAT!!!

We had a nice crowd -13 or 14. My cousin who lives with my mom decided to have a couple people over and cooked there separate from us. She had found herself out of a job when we were looking for a sitter, so she moved here from Nashville specifically to move in with mama and take over daily care. I love her to pieces, and she's EXCELLENT with my mom and I don't know what we'd do without her. (There is a "but"...). Her brother and our other cousin are my peeps. These are the guys I spend 100% of my free time with. We. Are. Tight. The sister/cousin, on the other hand, is an alpha (as am I). So we cross swords sometimes over territory. Holidays are always sword fights, at least on the periphery. Mom is up much more, sleepwalking sleepeating, more or less a non-entity. We had agreed earlier in the week that we'd have it all together if mom was able. Then she proceeded to do up her own dinner and THEN tried to steel guests that I was expecting. Her brother (who is my BFF), delivered some smoked ham to her before dinner, and she bullied him into staying. When he finally arrived at our house, my husband told him, "man, she cuuuuuuussssed you!!!" I'm still sideways about that. She told him that the two of them ought to be having thanksgiving together and he shouldn't be over here with us. Wuss. He apologized and was appropriately ashamed of himself for letting the bully have her way, but still...he did it. And for her: RUDE!!! They aren't close, they fight like cats and dogs. All that amounted to was her getting one up on me.

The rest of us had a lovely dinner. It seems to me like thanksgiving is where you dress nicely to overeat with people you dress in jeans or sweats to overeat with every other "occasion" in the year. I'd invited my neighbors who recently moved here from Michigan and have no family close by. We'd talked in the yard a few times, but this gave us a chance to get to know them. Nice, nice people. I always try to find someone who has nowhere particular to be on thanksgiving and make them welcome. One year I invited a woman (and her husband) I'd met on the golf course. Makes it more interesting!

A little further into the brain of my rival alpha: her other brother drives truck and made a week long vacation out of a delivery back in the summer. He brought his 2 teenage sons and his wife. They had no plans how to entertain the teenagers, and the brother and wife left several times to make deliveries during the week. So I took the boys swimming and kayaking with my own grandson, and one day my husband took them all to 6 flags. I was honestly trying to be nice and keep the boys occupied. But the sitter/cousin was going NUTS. She would call and reschedule times I'd set up with their parents almost every time, and tell me HER time suited THEM better. Then they planned a dinner with another relative (not related to me one night). Not my dinner, not my plan. SHE (the sitter/cousin) called to TELL ME I wasn't invited.

I say, "my God, how stupid do you think I am???"

She says "well, do you have a problem with us just being our family for once???"

I've never been so insulted in my LIFE!!! I wasn't trying to hog their time, I was trying to keep them busy while their parents were gone!!! So: you want me gone? Poof, I can make that happen. I didn't call, I didn't care WHAT they did from there on out. The night before they left, the mother calls and wants to know if I maybe want to take the boys swimming tomorrow. Sure...if you're sure I'm not interfering. "Please! Please take them swimming". So we arranged to go around 10, I was going to feed everybody sandwiches around 1 and they would be on their way back home.

Next morning Alpha/cousin calls me up and says "1:00 doesn't suit for lunch, they want to be gone by then". I threw the phone across the room. And fed them all lunch at 1:00. Best I could do. Guess what time they left? Anybody??? FIVE THIRTY. Talk about a love/hate relationship. There's really only room for one alpha in this group, and I had that spot for YEARS before she came along, and will have it YEARS after she's moved on.

I know that's convoluted and you could care less, but it's very therapeutic to type out the fact that she WILL move on one day.

ETA: until then, I will be nice to her, she cares for my mother. Plus she has a pasta salad recipe I MUST shake out of her one day.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Happyfatchick

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Today sucked. I guess most of you heard about the shooting in Colorado Springs. Four cops shot, don't know how many civilians yet. Took place three miles from my home. :-(