What good things happened at T-Day - that made the day great ?

[lowspark]

What made the day great was that it was a typical TG which is always wonderful. We sipped wine and played games at my sister's house while her husband cooked. Then we overstuffed ourselves with a wonderful meal of turkey, stuffing, gravy, and something in the neighborhood of seven sides. Plus bread & butter. Plus three kinds of pie for dessert. It was a lovely day of family, food, wine and fun.

2LittleYorkies, you can freeze leftover turkey. I always buy a large turkey even though TG is not at my house simply because they are so cheap I can't resist. Then I cook it later, usually in January when the memory of TG has faded. I always have lots of leftovers which I freeze into portions the size I need to make a casserole and take them out every few weeks till they are gone.

[heartmug]

Our T-day wasn't so hot, as both boys came down with a stomach bug on Wednesday night. So.. we had to skip the meal at my sister's house, but did get to FaceTime and at least see everyone.
But the best thing was.. my sis called and said, 'BIL is on his way to your house with food!'.
Yep, they'd packaged up an entire meal, even including a gallon ziploc bag of roasted squash soup.
I *heart* my family!

That is great!

My brother and SIL, once again, invitied one of my siblings along to SIL's large family gathering because that sibling would be all alone.  We were all alone.  He has never invitied us (he looks out for 2 of our siblings and my mom this way) and this is the first year it hasn't bothered me.  It was a wonderful low key day with good food and lots of movie watching.

[hobish]

We went to my parents' house. Even though my sis and bro in law were very late, and even though some friends and relatives were missed it turned out to be a nice day. I really haven't been feeling well for weks and kept getting pale and dizzy, so of course everyone had to tease me about being pregnant - i am not, and am happily child free. I guess that sounds obnoxious, but it was just teasing in good fun. The lady who lives across the street from my parents is pretty much family; she came for dinner. She brought with her a special reserve port from a local winery - the kind of thing where you could only buy it if you are part of their club, and even then only 2 bottles...oh, boy, was it good!! So it was extra super nice to bring that to share, and it was the most amazing port wine i have ever had. All in all it was just a nice relaxing nice day with the family, even with not feeling well.

[ZaftigWife]

DH and I spent our Thanksgiving alone together; first time since we've been married that we've done that.  I still made the big turkey dinner (well, big-ish; I did a boneless breast roast instead of a whole bird) and for once we have enough leftovers!  (Usually we get sent home with a plate of the bits we passed over the first time - for a reason.)

This weekend was great.  We spent quality time together and did not leave the house on Black Friday until the evening, when we went to get some dinner.  No crowds, no drama!

[portiafimbriata]

DH and I spent our Thanksgiving alone together; first time since we've been married that we've done that.  I still made the big turkey dinner (well, big-ish; I did a boneless breast roast instead of a whole bird) and for once we have enough leftovers!  (Usually we get sent home with a plate of the bits we passed over the first time - for a reason.)

This weekend was great.  We spent quality time together and did not leave the house on Black Friday until the evening, when we went to get some dinner.  No crowds, no drama!

This is exactly what we did, except for the leaving the house part 

[BeagleMommy]

Our TG was at our house with me, DH, DS and my parents.  I make a great pumpkin pie and I always make real whipped cream (as opposed to the stuff that fizzes out of the can).  DS is eating the leftover whipped cream out of the bowl and decides it would be fun to see if he can tip the bowl, upside down, over DH's head.  He's seen that done with beaten egg whites on cooking shows.

Just as my dad was about to tell him not to do it, SPLAT, a large glob of whipped cream lands on DH's head and shoulders!  I was laughing so hard I couldn't talk.

The Beagle thought he'd died and gone to heaven!

[Petticoats]

Well, it was my first Thanksgiving, so... AWESOME! 

I'm English (living in England), and we don't have Thanksgiving, but one of my fellow grad students is American so I suggested that it would be nice if we could do a Thanksgiving potluck for her. She offered to host, asked her mum and grandma to send her their family recipes, and totally blew us away with these amazing dishes that we had never heard of! Sweet potato casserole was my favourite. So it was a hit all round. One of her family traditions (I don't know if this is common) is to go around the table and say something we're thankful for, and some really sweet things were said.

Also, the pumpkin pie I made was edible! So relieved.

That's so neat! It was such a sweet idea to celebrate the holiday for the sake of a displaced American.

This year would have been another quiet Thanksgiving for my parents and perpetually single me, but a friend of my parents' from the cancer wellness center joined us. A really sweet, gentle lady with a lot of trouble in her life, but she loved being with us and traded silly jokes with my dad and generally brought a breath of fresh air into what might otherwise have been just a normal family dinner. After she left and my folks and I cleaned up the kitchen, we took the dog to a park for a nice walk in the leaves.

It was a contemplative day for me, and I found myself feeling a lot of regret. But spending time with my parents and having a friend join us for dinner meant that I didn't spend the whole day in my own head, which was definitely a good thing.

[Outdoor Girl]

This happened quite a while ago but is still a cool story:

My Mom had met a minister of another faith when this minister did a funeral service for an old patient of my Mom's who became a bit of an adopted grandfather for my brother and I.  Mom invited Sherry to join us for the Thanksgiving meal - and being Canadian, the sport to watch was baseball, not football and Sherry was a fan.  Mom had also invited the minister who did the service at our church that day, and his wife, for dinner.  We had the game on in the background when we were chatting after dinner and the minister and his wife decided it was time to head home.  As my Mom saw them off, I happened to look at Sherry.  She'd stood and had a somewhat crestfallen look on her face.  I realized quickly that she thought this was her cue to leave, too, and she couldn't get the ball game at her house! 

I laughed and told her she was welcome to stay and watch the game, as we'd be staying up to watch it anyway.

For many years after that, Sherry was invited to our home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, if we were home, until she moved away a couple of years after my Mom died.  She always said it got her out of the pickle of having to make the rounds of her parishioners and besides, Mom's cooking was so much better.   

[Luci45]

We host the extended family but this year only 30 were able to attend.  That is still enough to send me over the bend, but always worth it.

I take my thyroid pill in the very early morning and am very careful about my meds. However, that morning I took a Valium -  oops.

A good time was had by all, I think, and I just calmly went through the day.

Easiest hosting ever.

[Outdoor Girl]

Luci45, that's hilarious!  Maybe we should all keep a Valium or two on hand for when we are hosting.   

[Luci45]

Luci45, that's hilarious!  Maybe we should all keep a Valium or two on hand for when we are hosting.   

Next year it may be on purpose.

[Jess13]

My brother shocked me when he made dressing without sausage in it, just for me!

He's never done anything like that before.