Turkey Day's A Comin'...Ready Or Not!

It seems as though Thanksgiving has just crept up on me this year and I'm beginning to feel the pressure a little bit.  I have about 20 people showing up at my house tomorrow...and I STILL have much to do!  Don't get me wrong, I love having big, loud holidays surrounded by family and friends.  However, in order to have an event like this, one must plan ahead of time.  And once again, I have procrastinated and piddled away my time, thus putting me in a crunch...OK, as usual.

Gazing around, I realize that I haven;t removed all of the remnants of Halloween yet.  Oh, I can still leave the fall colored decorations out, but some things MUST be changed out before our Thursday celebration.  Remember, the aesthetics that create the proper atmosphere are my forte'...it's not the food that I'm worried about, per se..  And that is because I am very good at delegating...especially when it involves putting a holiday meal together.  I CAN cook, but not THAT good.  And besides, you KNOW that everybody just loves preparing their favorite dishes for the holidays.  I say, why not take advantage of that. When they ask, "What can I bring?...TELL THEM!  Then, everybody ends up happy.

On Monday, it was 3 days and counting...but Monday was going to prove to be a very busy day for me.  I had to make an hour drive to our store and put more merchandise out for "Black Friday".  This would be the first holiday season for us in the retail business.  I had also come up with this wonderful idea that we should  hire a Santa for  Saturday, finding out that no one else in town would have one (ahhh...that second grade teacher coming out in me again).  So, not only did I have merchandising to do, I had now put MORE work on myself.  I had to order a backdrop for Santa, purchase a printer and photo folders (you cannot have a Santa without taking pictures with Santa...) and now I was still looking for a chair for him to sit in.  Robby's idea was to unwrap one of my nice new chairs presently on a trailer in my garage, waiting to be taken to the Lake House...Ummm..."NO!", I said.  "I'm sorry, but I cannot let strangers sit in my new furniture" (OK...it was that germ-a-phobia kicking in again).  So, as of right now...I STILL haven't come up with an alternative seat for Santa.

Tuesday, it was 2 days and counting...I had to work at my office in town.  When I taught school, I hated getting up on Monday mornings to go to work.  So, when I quit teaching and began doing the payroll and books at my husband's office, I decided NOT to work on Mondays.  Tuesdays would be MY Mondays (well, with the exception of THIS week...)  I know, I know...it's probably just a mental thing, but I like being in charge of my own work schedule.  The plan for Tuesday was to get up VERY early, get on Go To My PC at home, put all of my checks in, then make my trip to the gym (had to have those endorphins going this week...) and THEN stop at the office to print and mail everything.  Everything was going exactly as planned...until I walked into the office to find Robby still sitting at his desk.  "What are you doing here?", I inquired.  Do you remember me telling you earlier in the week that my oldest son, Justin, was building a new house?  Well, today was to be "move in day"...and we needed to help.  It wasn't that I minded helping, I actually wanted to.  But, this Thanksgiving thing was creeping up on me and I will admit that I was now becoming a little worried about the food.  You see, one of the persons that I had delegated to was Robby...and we hadn't even made a trip to the grocery store yet!  Although I mostly do delegating where food is concerned during the holiday, I had been to the grocery stores during that time...and I hoped that the shelves were not getting wiped out.  Needless to say, we drove 45 minutes away and stayed until late helping Justin and Sarah move into their new house.

1 day and counting.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  My plans for today?  Well, my focus will be on getting my extra table and chairs out.  Decorating the house for tomorrow's big event...and yes, the dreaded trip to the grocery store.  Although, I am still hopeful that Robby will decide to make that stop before he returns home.  People have been trickling in town since Monday and today the remainder will arrive.  Most divided between my in-law's house and mine, the atmosphere is about to become more alive.  Family plus friends with a LOT of fabulous food and conversation go a long way in making the holidays around here special...and packed with many memories to recall for years to come.  From our loud and crazy family to yours...HAPPY THANKSGIVING and  BLESSINGS TO ALL!