Following is a Facebook comment I had left to one of my friends who knew I was stressed out about Thanksgiving: "I laughed last night after we were talking about the events of the day. I jokingly said to Nik that it will make for a boring blog. I was not being serious at all but the day went so well. It was almost surreal. Of course a blog will be posted very soon highlighting the special moments. :)"
Thanksgiving 2009 was memorable for more than one reason. To begin with I have a client, friend and fellow runner who always runs in the Windermere Gobble and Go. This run benefits the Harvest Hope Food Bank. The entry fee is two canned goods per person. Being that I have friends who are clients and runners I decided that I would post an Invitation on Facebook about the run. It was close enough to everyone I knew and it was not a race, just friends getting together for a run prior to indulging in calorie-laden foods. Many people responded but those who don't run and were not interested in getting up to run at 8 on Thanksgiving morning I offered the option of dropping off canned goods by HALO salon. The response was great.
When I showed up to the Windermere on Thursday morning, fog was thick and the temperature was 38 degrees. Upon arrival I start to spot those client friends who had shown up. The coordinator of the run, was anxiously waiting to meet me as she and I had never met. The friend who had come had told her that Pam had sent them and her response was who is Pam. She told me upon our meeting that this was the best turn out they had had in six years and the most food collected. Her car was loaded down. Many of my clients had dropped off food, not to mention all the ones who even brought their children out to the run as well. The day started off on a very positive note. The run was awesome, a new course which is always challenging, new friends, donating to a worthy cause and doing what I love, running.
We got home and started getting everything ready for the day. I almost lost it when mother called Brittany to say that she was leaving her house to go to my Aunt Gail's. It was 10:30 in the dang morning, she was not to be here until 2:30. Then my Aunt Gail called, she was in a way warning me about the early arrival. I told her that mother is hard headed and is not supposed to be here until 2:30. The time had to be stressed because my mother is known to show up hours early and follow me around and just literally piss me off for a lack of a better term.
In the mean time, I receive an email from Nik's mom, Irma about how she wanted to wish me a happy Thanksgiving. She also went on tell me how glad she was that my children and I were a part of her and Nik's lives. I believe that her email was the sweetest on I have ever gotten.
After three, yes three trips to the IGA in Elgin we finally had everything we needed, poor Nik he was so frustrated with having to make multiple trips there. Everything was prepared set out and now we just had to wait for the arrival of the families. I knew they would be early, at 2:10 I get the call and Chelsea our rottie/lab mix let us know that they were at the gate. Thank god it was only twenty minutes early. Nik's mom, Irma would be arriving a little later as she had gone to lunch at her friend's house for lunch and was coming to spend the afternoon with us. I was really nervous about mother meeting Irma, not because of anything except that I am really close to Irma and not my mother. I knew that my mother would pick up on that fact. I had decided that I was not going to act any differently toward Irma just because my mother was there. I didn't either.
My Aunt Gail, Uncle Wayne and my mother were who had shown up to our late Thanksgiving lunch. I had a pot of coffee waiting so that we could get everything else ready and reheated. My Aunt Gail joked that she had spent all day slaving over her rolls, they were the store bought kind. It was nice to show them around our house. The commented about how nice it was.
We all sat down to eat and every one loved the food. It was so good, because we are always paranoid of not having enough food, there was also a whole lot of food. It was quite funny that my family had been discussing how they hoped I had made crock pot macaroni which used to be their favorite. I had, they loved it. My Uncle Wayne's favorite is pecan pie. When I found out that he was definitely coming I had made two, one for lunch and one for him to take home. He smiled and took his pie directly to his truck. Age has mellowed him so much, my Uncle Wayne, I used to hate him. He was such a jerk, now not so much. He finally realized like someone else I know that he can let people see his softer side and even smile sometimes. The change in him is a nice one. My Aunt Gail is the same as always, very pleasant.
Irma and Ily came over for a little bit, then Uncle Ray. Their visits were brief but nice.
My family got to meet Nik's mom and sister. Mother behaved, I was surprised. Everyone just sat around the fire in the living room of our house and talked. The most normalcy I had seen from my family in my whole life I believe and how welcome it was.
Though the day seemed long I am crossing my fingers that this was the beginning of something new, a fresh start for my family. Hopefully eventually I'll be able to relax and completely enjoy the family time that we will have in the future. As everyone left they told us what a good time they had had. I was elated. It had been a success.
My Aunt Gail asked, "Same time next year?"
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