2002-12-02 9:37 p.m.
A Tale of Two Holidays, Part 1
Holiday #1: Thanksgiving at the In-Sins
The family Thanksgiving ended up being held at Turtledove's parents' this year. This was a bonus in my book because they live much closer than my own parents do, so we were saved a trans-bay haul, and a bonus in Mom's because all she had to do was show up with some stuffing. In attendance were me, TheBoy, Turtledove and Sweetcheeks, Turtledove's parents and sister, and Sweetcheeks' and my parents.
Although TheBoy and I had been to the future in-laws' for Thanksgiving before, this was the first holiday Turtledove's parents and my parents had spent together. So instead of just rehashing our own family stories, we got to swap, which is much more fun, and TheBoy only had to throw in his when it was amusing to him, which must have been best of all.
And we got to watch the process of Dad morphing into his father before our very eyes. Twelve years ago he shuddered when he got an invite to join AARP; this year at Thanksgiving, he was crowing about the senior discount he and Mom got at the movies. ("Hey, we saved six bucks, which we can spend on fun things," my mother explained to me later, with a little catch in her voice at the "six bucks" part that said that she realized what she was saying and that she was going to have to run with it because it was too late to take it back.) That cruise down the Eastern Seaboard they were on this time last year? Dad thought it was a terrific idea because they were staying just ahead of the winter weather, and more to the point, it was cheap. (In their thirties and forties, they wouldn't have been caught dead on a cruise ship; now they have cruise buddies.) No doubt that getting old beats the alternative, but TheBoy's dad just got remarried and calls him up with band recommendations. The contrast freaks us both out.
This was a "potluck," meaning that half of the food was cooked by Mom (and micromanaged by Sweetcheeks), half was cooked by Turtledove's mom (and micromanaged by Sweetcheeks), and Turtledove's sister snuck in a plate of rogue appetizers. TheBoy and I brought wine - a McManis syrah, from Lodi of all places (very tasty), a Davis-Bynum pinot noir (which seemed kind of flavorless, though that may be because we had it after the syrah) and a New Zealand sauvignon blanc that we never got to.
The food was good, though we seem to be having the same menu every holiday -- roast beef (with a turkey thrown in to appease the traditionalists), stuffing, mashed potatoes, roast vegetables, asparagus and portobellos. Next year, TheBoy and I figure, will be our opportunity. My mother will probably be in the throes of remodeling and I'll have a house by then, so we can insist on hosting. (I've already suggested to Mom that next year's Thanksgiving be at my place.) Sweetcheeks will be told in no uncertain terms that while he's welcome to bring a dish he will not be allowed to dictate the whole menu, nor will he be allowed to set foot in the kitchen until serving time. We can even tell him it will be less stressful for him if he keeps his micromanaging little mitts off the whole affair.
A girl can dream, can't she?
Tomorrow: Part 2.