TheBanyanTree: Post Thanksgiving

[Theta Brentnall]

Oh, believe me. That was considered. 

Theta

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 28, 2015, at 11:16 AM, Jeri Xiques <jer.xiques at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Unbelievable, Theta!!  I think I would have been on the phone ordering
> Pizza around 4:30!
> 
> Jeri
> 
> 
> On Sat, Nov 28, 2015 at 11:18 AM, Jena Norton <eudora45 at sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
> 
>> Well, I think Elise is a closet Colver.
>> Glad it went well, all things considered. Jena Norton
>> 
>>      From: Theta Brentnall <tybrent at gmail.com>
>> To: A comfortable place to meet other people and exchange your own
>> *original* writings. <thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2015 8:59 AM
>> Subject: Re: TheBanyanTree: Post Thanksgiving
>> 
>> I will say conclusively that you won the awesome Thanksgiving contest.
>> Ours was a little iffy from the beginning. Gerry's niece, Elise, has a new
>> (to her) house so she wanted to host the family Thanksgiving dinner. We
>> were to arrive at 3, which kind of made us think dinner at 4-ish so we
>> skimped on lunch. We got there early because we had anticipated horrible
>> traffic which didn't materialize. (Oh, yes, "we" consisted of Gerry and me,
>> our oldest, Darling Maggie, her Darling Shane and the two grandest of
>> grandchildren, Indiana and Micah.  Just so you know the players.) Elise's
>> boyfriend was there, but no Elise. Two raw turkeys on the counter. A big
>> pan of raw potatoes waiting for heat. A green bean casserole sitting on the
>> table which Mike said had been dropped off in the morning and apparently
>> had been sitting there unrefrigerated for some hours. I whispered to Indy
>> and Micah, "Don't eat any of that at dinner."  They whispered back, "No
>> worries. Wouldn't touch it!"
>> 
>> We asked where Elise was when she didn't appear and Mike said she was
>> getting ready. After 20 minutes or so, Maggie and I dug out some carrots
>> and bell peppers to cut up and Mike found some guacamole and humus dips, so
>> we put out some snackings. A few more guests showed up. No Elise. Turkeys
>> still raw. Maggie put the potatoes on to boil.
>> 
>> About a quarter to 4, Shane decided to put one of the turkeys on the grill
>> and some of the other guests started getting the oil hot to fry the other
>> turkey.
>> 
>> Four o'clock, Elise appears.  She is beautifully dressed and coiffed, but
>> expressed dismay that the guests were doing the cooking.
>> 
>> Four-thirty, Gerry's brother and his wife showed up with the pies. There
>> were 20 people there. They brought 10 pies. I thought there were only 8 but
>> 2 were duplicates so they didn't get put out.
>> 
>> Five-thirty. The turkeys were done. Two of the other guests had mashed the
>> potatoes and we started putting things on the serving table when Elise blew
>> in and said no, no, no, it's too early.
>> 
>> Six o'clock.  Maggie encourages Elise to get the the food on the table so
>> we could eat. Her actual words were, "Oh my God!  Put the food out!  Do you
>> WANT to watch my kids have melt-down?"  She could have added me to the list
>> - I was pretty well on my way to melt-down myself.
>> 
>> The new house is seriously tiny, so Elise had rented a tent with patio
>> heaters for the dinner. The day never reached 50 degrees, so we were all
>> wearing everything we had brought and we're still cold, but the heaters
>> worked pretty well. And finally we ate. The food was good. Conversation was
>> pleasant. And then one of the other guests leaned back in his chair and
>> complemented Elise on getting the tent because since we were outside he
>> could enjoy his post-dinner cigar. And proceeded to light up. I wonder if
>> he was at all puzzled by the fact that almost everyone else leapt out of
>> their chairs and fled back inside.
>> 
>> We snarffed down pie, washed the dishes, said our good-byes and headed
>> home with the heater turned all the way up and when we got home we all
>> squeezed together in front of the fire until we were toasted all the way
>> through.
>> 
>> I hope everyone else had a wonderful day and now we can look forward to
>> Christmas.
>> 
>> Theta
>> 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>