There's this clip of an episode of Family Feud from years ago, where the guy (with a British accent) gets to the final round and for some reason, answers "turkey" for every question. Since then, saying "turkey" with a British accent hs become a family joke. You can imagine how it comes up often around Thanksgiving.
I had a fun-filled trip home for Thanksgiving. I got on a plane on the Friday before Turkey Day so I could get home in time for my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. I arrived late that night and was greeted at the airport by a friend, who hid me at her house so my dad wouldnt know I was in town. The next day I hid at her apartment before heading to the party venue to begin setting up. Set up and sneaker ensued, as I drove my mother to her house, where my dad was watching football, then drove around the block and picked her back up, without being seen by my dad. (There were some good games on...it was easy.)
We continue setting up and people begin arriving. I greet everyone (some of whom I dont even know) and let them know what time daddy's due to arrive and make introductions. When mom and dad arrive, the guests all sing happy birthday and my dad turns bright red. Which doesnt happen often. I think he was surprised.
The next day mom and I went to church, which was lovely. It was a good day to be in church and good to see people I havent seen in a while. Then we ate the first of 7 meals of leftover barbecue and chicken. Then, in true homage to my roots, I took a nap.
Spent the next couple of days visiting with friends, shopping and getting ready to host Thanksgiving.
Yeah...host Thanksgiving.
My mother's entire family gets together for holidays and this year they nominated mom to host it. Partly because everyone was heading to her town for a football game this weekend and partly because my mom's sister Staci (who usually hosts) passed away earlier this year.
So because mom is the oldest female of her family and because she lives in the same city as the Wolfpack (who were playing at home that weekend, a game to which 80% of the family had tickets), mom was hosting. Which meant I was Janey Lou* all week.
I went to the grocery store, picked up food, called around for recipes, attended a "how to make good stuffing" lesson, went back to the grocery store, emailed directions, made hot beverages and generally played Jr. Hostess.
During the actual Thanksgiving meal, I sat at the counter with the "kids" (my 11-year-old cousin JP Runt and my 45-year-old aunt, Miss Wolf). Miss Wolf and I ate some of each of the 481 items on our buffet then went back for seconds. At which point, JP Runt (widely known as the most picky 11-year-old in eastern NC) proclaimed us the "most eatingest girls he knows." We took it as a compliment and proceeded to head outside and kick his brothers' butts in basketball.
After our game, we headed back inside for some musical entertainment, putting together an impromptu concert of Christmas carols and ABBA.** Key learnings from that adventure: vegetable steaming trays make a good tambourine, JP Runt is not a good front man and Miss Wolf does a great soul pianist impression.
Thanksgiving was sad and hard because it was the first holiday without Aunt Staci, but it was good to get together as a family and celebrate all the things we have to be thankful for.
Also, it's a lot of work to host that kind of family extravaganza. I think I slept for three days when I got home to Seattle.
*Janey Lou was a lady Great Aunt Miriam hired to help with cleaning and cooking and hosting large events. Ever since then, my family has adoped it to refer to anyone who is helping the main hostess with this type of activities. Its uses might include: "I can't meet y'all for lunch; I have to go home and play Janey Lou for tonight's Christmas party" or "Can somebody come play Janey Lou and pull the biscuits out of the oven?"
**Photos and video of the concert ARE in existence and are available upon request.
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