This week I was able to spend some time with my family enjoying the Thanksgiving festivities. Because my family lives out of town, I usually travel to see them. My family lives in the Southern California area which is an hour flight or about a six hour drive from me. I usually drive because while I’m there as I need to have a car for all of the visiting that I do.
I took the day off from work on Wednesday and drove down. It’s a pretty easy drive and I’ve done it so much over the years that it feels like I do it without much thought. I know all of the places where I can stop and get gas, eat, take a break, etc….
I arrived at my Mom’s home around 5pm and was greeted by my sisters, nephew and great niece. It’s so much fun to see everyone! As usual, the night before Thanksgiving is casual-relaxing and catching up. My nephew, great niece and I played a couple hands of “old maid.” Playing card games with my great niece is challenging as she hates to lose and doesn’t mind resorting to cheating to win! Let’s just say there were lots of laughs and giggles as we tried to keep the game legit!
Thanksgiving morning arrives and my other sister and her family come over to make breakfast for us all. This is not something we’ve done in the past but it was a nice surprise. My sister is not known for her cooking skills so lots of us were gathered in the kitchen “supporting!” There were several “gentle” reminders to turn down the heat, check the biscuits in the oven and mind the other dishes on the stove.
If you’ve ever done it, cooking several items at one time can be rather overwhelming so it was all done in love and support. When all was said and done we feasted on some Patton family faves-grits, bacon, biscuits, scrambled eggs, hash browns and fruit. Delicious!!
While cooking and after eating, we sat around watching football and just talking about life. My niece told us about a major theatrical project she’s developing and my sister talked about her clothing line that she’s been working on. My other nephew and I chopped it up about our favorite sports teams. Mostly my nephew would like to believe that the Warriors will never win another game just because they’re struggling right now and me telling him that it is my fervent wish that the Rams do not go to the Super Bowl and god forbid that they don’t win it!! As a born and bred No Cal girl, I despise So Cal teams with a passion.
So, as you, can see just a regular family morning.
A few hours after my sister and her family departed for her in-laws, the remaining clan indulged in Thanksgiving dinner. My older sister cooked ALL of the food which was a first. My mom who is 83 years old informed us that she is done cooking from now on! Thank god my sister picked up the gavel! I wouldn’t mind helping but it would be tricky for me coming from out of town and all.
We had all of the usuals including some turkey. We are a ham family and none of us are really fond of the whole turkey situation. We had a small turkey breast, ham, stuffing with gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, Waldorf salad (my holiday fave), macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes and of course biscuits. Dessert was apple pie, lemon cake and ice cream. A great meal which like many others we will feast on for the next few days!
After the holiday, it is time to do some visiting and my tradition is to visit my friend who I call Moo. She lives a little over an hour from my Mom so I drove down on Friday morning to spend time with her and her family. We have breakfast (coffee and bagels) and then head out for some minor Black Friday shopping. Neither of us are interested in fighting crowds and it’s nice because it wasn’t too busy. We both have ideas about what deals we’re interested in so we focus on those. Ulta is always on our radar. I like to stock up on some of my usual products (if they’re on sale) and check out any specials. The only special item I purchased was a mascara by Urban Decay that is usually $24. I don’t normally buy mascara that pricey as I find drug store mascaras work well for me. This one was on sale for $10 though so I thought it was a good buy to try.
We were both interested in getting an Air Fryer. Target had one on sale that we were interested in but when we got there they were all sold out. We found out that they had several at another nearby Target so we started to head over. Before we got in the car though, we decided to stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond which was next door. Lo and behold, they also had Air Fryers on sale and they were the same price and it was brand name and we could use a $10.00 off coupon! SCORE!!!! We both purchased the Krups Air Fryer and I can’t wait to use it. Healthier french fries??!!?? I’ll take it!
We went to a couple of other stores and made some random purchases and then we had lunch at Taco Surf. Very cute, beachy type casual taco joint.
We then went back to Moo’s house to catch up with the rest of the family and figure out dinner plans. Moo’s 17-year-old son is working on his college applications and had lots of questions about “what do I put here” “when did I take this test” ” how many hours did I volunteer here” “what did I do there”? It was pretty funny! We also chatted with Moo’s daughter who is 21 years old and spent the day shopping with her friends. They had left the house at like 7 AM and returned home about an hour before we did. We went through all of her purchases and great buys and of course spent copious amounts of time smelling the candles she got!
Dinner was at a casual burger joint. Fun was to be had once we returned to the house. While Moo’s son went back to the computer to work on his college applications, the rest of us played darts. It was fun and hysterical but also very competitive. I can’t tell you the last time I played darts though I was likely in my 20’s. Even still, I was able to keep up and legitimately challenge the group. I got pretty far behind at one point but caught up and tied. We reached the point of trying to get the bullseye but alas it was not to be for me. In any event, it was great fun and I look forward to a rematch during the Christmas holidays!
Saturday was easy breezy and casual and I got to spend time with my Mom. We both wanted to see the movie “Green Book” which is how we spent Saturday afternoon. The movie was simply fantastic. For those of you who may be unaware, the title of the film refers to an actual green book that was given to Black motorists traveling in the South where it listed hotels where Blacks were allowed to stay. Difficult subject matter for sure but a really interesting portrayal of the development of a friendship.
Sunday I continued a long time tradition of visiting with a friend from undergrad. We always meet for coffee or dinner and this time was no different. We had dinner at the Wolf Creek Inn and then coffee after. We talk about all aspects of our life and this time we had an in-depth discussion about essential oils. Linda is well versed and I ordered a starter kit. I’m sure I’ll share my experience some time in the future.
Monday was my travel day home and I am pleased to have had a really great drive. It was not crowded, not even lots of trucks. This was not the Sunday drive experience which was jam-packed for miles and hours! No drive home would be complete without a stop at Casa de Fruta. I mostly stopped for the bathroom and gas but I did purchase my favorite chocolate covered gummy bears and a caramel apple.
I am home now and ready for the week (kind of). It will be a bit tough to get back to reality but I have some fun plans upcoming this week before I’m shut in being on call all weekend!! The good news about being on call and being stuck at my house is that I’m going to put up my Christmas decorations with Hallmark Christmas movies on in the background!!
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Share your favorite moments in the comments!
