Thanksgiving Plans?

[PrincessFiona]

What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving????

We are probably going to just have a quiet family thanksgiving this year without any visitors from out-of-town....with the usual turkey/stuffing and cranberry sauce...yummy!

kris

[DCJenn]

This year there are so many people coming that it's going to be nuts-

My parents, and Rick and me, my brother and SIL, my SIL's mother, my mom's sister, my cousins (2) and one friend od my cousin who goes to college here and isn't able to get home, Rick's co-worker and his wife. My friend and her husband and baby will of course come over after they do her family thing.

Plus, my parents are putting their house on the market in January so, this is going to be kind of poignant, too. This is the house they've lived in since 1973!

Jenn

PS- the menu will be the same- turkey, mashed potatoes, green peas, my layered yam/apple thing, cranberry sauce, stuffing (2 kinds) and apple and pumpkin pies.

My sister and I will be visiting our parents for about a week. It will probably be just the 4 of us for dinner, unless my cousin's family (on my dad's side, and of course my mom's not crazy about them) joins us.

BF will be stuck here working. His family doesn't do the traditional turkey dinner, so last year was his first time when he spent Thanksgiving with my family.

[Meenah]

My Mom is coming this Thursday and will be here for 2 weeks. My sister from North Carolina, my niece from DC, her friend who now lives in NY and her roommate. Oh yeah my husband and daughters and my next door neighbor and her three kids. I'm really looking forward to the day and will enjoy the cooking.
Luanne

[BonBon]

Luanne, I really enjoy the cooking, too! I spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday preparing.

We decided to celebrate the day at our house. My mom, 2 brothers, SIL, their four kids, aunt and uncle, their daughter and BF and their baby are coming. Total of 12, which is perfect because I only have 12 chairs. (four of the guests are babies so they don't get a chair. )

I am so excited - I only eat this stuff once a year! Mmmm!

[Liz2254]

My family doesn't really do Thanksgiving since my mom died so I'll be spending it with BFs family again this year. I'm sort of entertained since he has some family drama unfolding between SIL and and his mother.

First, there's the adoption thing. BF is half Filipino so SIL and BIL have been trying to adopt from the Phillippines. They changed their minds but have yet to tell MIL and she's planning her vacation around it. Then there's the issue of BIL not finishing college and telling his wife that his parents wouldn't let him go back. It's not true but it's what SIL believes and it's been burning her up for a long time. And now BF is waltzing through his second graduate degree. He is the child who could do no wrong.... it's usually very irritating.

To bring this back around to Thanksgiving... I stirred the pot a little bit more. MIL sent me an e-mail telling me what she was making (not a Thankgiving-y item in sight!) and asked me to bring a veggie dish and a dessert over to SIL and BIL's for Thanksgiving dinner. I knew this didn't sound like SIL. So... I just forwarded that little e-mail along and asked her what she'd like me to bring. Innocent, right? Right... I know I contributed to it a little bit but they take the bait so easily!

Guess it's not very thankful... but it sure is fun.

[SueC]

My dh is moonlighting (cha-ching, they pay almost double on holidays) from 10-6, so we're obviously staying in town. I think the kids and I will probably head to my sister's house and cook together and then dh will come over when he's done so we can have a late Thanksgiving dinner. I'm mostly looking forward to putting our tree up this year--I can't wait but I'm making myself wait until after Thanksgiving.

We're having a small gathering this year. I'm really going to miss the group of friends we spent Thanksgiving with in Denver.

My mom is driving here by way of Wisconsin -- she's picking up my FILs car and driving it to us.

It we be just us and my mom this year. We're going to have turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashers, sweet potatoes, and cranberry relish. And that is it! With a smaller group, we are paring it down to the essentials. I might get some bread for the kids. Oh, and my favorite pumpkin pie, of course.

I'm making an airplane cake for a birthday party this weekend. That's the main cooking focus and then I'm going to decide how I'll prepare the turkey and stuffing. Yum.

[migirl]

We're going to my parents' for Thanksgiving, but we'll probably only be there on Thursday and Friday. We're telling our parents about the baby next weekend, so I'm anxious to get back to see my in-laws on Saturday to be able to tell them. I can't wait!!

Our plans seem to change with the day. As of right now, we are going to Hunstville, AL to have my BIL and his wife make the spread for us. All we have to bring is a couple pillows and a blanket.....I am sure it is for the nap after dinner!!

[mommax3]

I thought I had already posted here, but I guess not. DH is on call tonight and Wed - Mon @ 7 a.m., so obviously, we are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving! We all took Friday off and went up to KS for a quick weekend with the in-laws. We also went to a KSU game, which my boys loved, even though they lost. So that was our family time to make up for this week.

We are going to rent movies and video games and just kick back. Hopefully L&D won't be too busy, but just in case, we all decided to be non-traditonal and have home-made pizzas for our holiday meal. I am still going to make a couple of pies, though! I'm hoping to do some other cooking, too, but just familiar comfort foods. I went to the grocery store this morning, and I don't think I will have to go back until after the holiday. I am REALLY looking forward to the break from school.....I think the kids are, too.

I am hoping we can really focus on the "thanks" part of the holiday, since I won't be stressed out with cooking stuff I never cook, or with having visitors in the house. We have gotten into the habit of watching "Extreme Home Makeover" on Sunday nights, and I think that seeing the "before" pictures of the homes and hearing the struggles of the different families has really been good for my kids. They always watch me covertly to see if "mom is crying yet" and I never disappoint them, but I think I have seen my two oldest get a little misty-eyed as well.

Have a great turkey day, everyone!

Sally

[Auspicious]

Heaven help us, we're staying home and cooking ourselves.

FH didn't find out until Friday whether or not he had to work the day after T-giving (actually it's still a little unclear) so that precluded planning a trip home to IL, and then we were unsure whether we'd need to go up to Massachusetts to take his mom out to make sure she didn't have to spend the day in the nursing home (she's been invited to another relative's house now). So now that everything's been squared away we're just staying home. We have been invited to our friends' place here in the city, but I believe their crazy relatives have also been invited, and since we know their last Thanksgiving included the phrase "Well just f&#$ off then!" being angrily hurled across the dinnertable, we'll just avoid that scene.

So I was a bit bummed about not going to IL since it's always so fun, but starting with spending the day yesterday shopping for ingredients with FH, I'm starting to get really psyched about it. We've been watching the food channel and we're feeling up to the challenge. (*Insert Rocky theme song here*) And if the whole thing goes down in a blaze, we're the only ones wh will be forced to eat it.