My First Thanksgiving Experience - by Julie
The first year I ever made a Thanksgiving Dinner for guests, my mother in law and her friend came over. I was so nervous, I had been cooking and cleaning all day. Not to mention that I had a 2-month old newborn baby, so I was a wreck. Finally when everything was made to "perfection", store-bought roast turkey, but trimmings were hand-made. I was ready to serve "promptly" at 7:00 p.m. I know this is late for some, but I needed the WHOLE day to get ready. Well, all the food was layed out, table set, candles lit, and my mother in law called to tell me that she would not be there until after the wheel of fortune was over. I forgot to mention that my mother in law does everything with her best friend of 20 years....who is also a divorced old bitter woman, like my mother in law.
So, as I kept screaming at my kids to not touch the food while I waited for what seemed like an eternity....they finally showed up. They were a bit tipsy and and ready to eat. Most of the food was cold, and of course none of it was "this way or that" - comments rang from my table like "I don't make my sweet potatoes with nuts" "are these store bought green beans?" "we always have CORNbread stuffing for Thanksgiving at my house" "such and such makes such a great bird".....and this droned on while they continued to finish off the bottle of wine.
I sat there sweating, with one newborn on my lap and another toddler who was flinging food onto the pretty table, just ready to scream.
After what seemed like an eternity, everyone stuffed to the gills, we all sat around the living room. My guests were a bit drunk and rowdy by this time. I served them there pie, and was hoping for this very LONG night to end. My mother in law found the remote control and insisted on watching some news program so loud, the rest of us were screaming over the television in order to be heard. My tired cranky children seemed to be annoying everyone.
Finally, they rose to leave, and not a moment to soon. And just as I was handing them their coats they said they were going to get there tupperware out of the car and they would be right back. My baby was screaming, so I was feeding her a bottle in the rocking chair as they pranced back in the door and walking pass me they said something about just grabbing a few leftovers. Ramblings and bamblings in the kitchen, me rocking and rocking, I heard the refrigerator door opening and closing. Then, whoosh back past me, out the door, and then back in to get another armload. How many dishes did they bring?
With a final wave, they were gone. With the biggest sigh, I sat in the rocking chair with my now sleeping infant, and just basked in the emptiness of my house, at least empty of guests. Ahhhh.
Curiously, I finally rose to go the kitchen, having laid the baby down in her crib, I returned to see what was left of my feast. To my utter shock -- all the dishes and plates were stacked in the sink - empty! I couldn't believe it. I opened the refrigerator - NOTHING! They had taken everything -- but a couple slices of pie and whatever stuffing I could pick out of the bird carcass - or meat I could scrape off it!
I still cringe when I think of that Thanksgiving. And here it is, a year later, and my mother in law called me last week to tell me that she will bought me a turkey that she will drop off next time she comes by, because they don't want store bought turkey this Thanksgiving.
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