So much for grand pronouncements of what a non-traditionalist I am.

Olive Garden has the unmitigated gall to allow their employees to have the day off to eat turkey with their families instead of standing around awaiting my Thanksgiving dining pleasure, so the non-traditional pasta dinner is out. Damn, I was sure looking forward to some of that tiramisu. (I have secured a promise from the Prince that we can go there for my birthday in February, assuming we�re not living in a cardboard box and eating fish bones off a trash can lid by then.)

So we decided to eat at the Heathen Chinese, only the Evil Childe got real disappointed because she was looking forward to pumpkin pie and green bean casserole and cheesy potatoes. I felt kind of bad about that, but I decided I just really didn�t feel like doing the whole Thanksgiving thing here in our filthy little hovel. I thought a good compromise would be to get a couple of frozen pies to bake and a couple of spray bottles of whipped cream�one for the pies, one for spraying directly into the open mouth�and at least have a nice dessert here at home. I headed off to the grocery with this very plan in mind.

Only I know, I KNOW, that I shouldn�t go into Jewel the day before a big holiday. It always depresses me�seeing all those people rushing around buying food to prepare their specialty dishes for family gatherings always just makes me homesick for my own family in Ohio. It was especially bad during the years that the kiddo lived with her dad... I almost couldn�t make it through the store without crying. This year, the blue feeling wasn�t too bad, just a little wistfulness, but it occurred to me that at 16, my kiddo is almost grown and I may not be able to count on having my baby home for the holidays very much longer. Well, yeah, I know that even if she goes off to college or gets married or whatever that she�ll probably come home for the holidays sometimes�it�s just that I won�t be able to count on it, see. Plus, if I never bother to cook or do anything special, what would she have to come home for?

And then I got to thinking... if I don�t cook, we won�t have any leftovers to snack on all weekend! And the stuff we�re all hungry for�turkey and stuffing and green bean casserole and cheesy potatoes�aren�t really all THAT difficult to make. So that's the story of how, $135 later, I walked out of the Jewel with not just pumpkin pie fixin's, but with enough groceries to keep a gluttonous family of three (well four, including The Boy) in food and alcohol for at least a couple of days of the long weekend.

The main problem is going to be cleaning up the house. Criminy, what a disgusting pit we�re living in right now! But, the kitchen is clean thanks to the Evil Childe�s working off a grounding yesterday... and my bathroom is clean (not that that really matters in a holiday way, since we�re not having company, but still it�s one less thing to worry about.) What�s really bad is that the living room and dining room (which contains not a dining table but a weight bench which is now used only as a catch-all) are littered with so much... well, litter�and paper and clutter and junk and books and school stuff and who knew we owned so many pairs of SHOES, for pete�s sake?�that there is nowhere to sit comfortably and enjoy a family meal. But, cleaning the mess was one major thing on my weekend To Do list anyway... that scroll-like list that also consists of a five-page research paper, eight hours in the computer lab and a six-hour drawing. And I had wanted to get the apartment clean FIRST, as I can�t think in here when it�s so cluttered and uncomfortable. So here�s my golden opportunity, complete with deadline, to motivate me to get it done and out of the way so I can enjoy it for the rest of the weekend.

Right now I�m sitting here fortifying myself for the day�s labor by enjoying a cup or two (or three) of coffee with Bailey�s and whipped cream, while one of the two pumpkin pies I bought bakes in the oven. (The other one I messed up by allowing it to thaw, and then turning the box over to read the directions printed on the back, with the drippy pie still inside. Give me a break, it was 6 a.m. Never mind that I AM a morning person. And yes, it was BEFORE the Bailey�s. Shut up.)

We�ll have our little traditional holiday feast by candlelight, while watching the traditional holiday movie �Tomb Raider�Cradle of Life.� And then the children may retire to the Evil One�s room to watch that other holiday classic �Eight Mile� while the Prince and I hang out and either watch another movie, play a game or more likely, retire to separate corners of the blessedly-clean living room to ignore one another in our most festive manner.

I guess the Heathen Chinese will just have to do without us this year. They never understood the whole �spraying whipped cream in the mouth� thing anyway.

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Last Five
Crappy job crap, weird neighbor, and someone whose baby I apparently want to have - 2006-05-08
Live from the dump - 2006-04-09
Kind of like a muzzle for your brain - 2006-03-29
...and then she fell ass-first into my cereal bowl - 2006-03-28
Playing catch-up - 2006-03-27

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