Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving in A Few Answers

Can't come up with my own ideas today, so I'm taking Joyce's idea from here and doing Wednesday Hodgepodge--Thanksgiving Edition




1. If you had known what they knew then, would you have boarded the Mayflower?
I 'm not sure what this means.  If it means that I knew the king wasn't making life easy and it was time to leave, then I think I would have left if everyone I knew was going with me.  Or a lot of people that I knew, at least.  But I would have had to REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hate it because leaving home for good isn't really something I do.  And as you will soon see, I'm not a boat person.  And knowing what I know now about the soundness of the Mayflower and its propensity for leaking, as well as stinking to high heaven with people smelling and being sick, I know I would not have been able to do it.  Have you ever been to Plymouth, MA to see the replica?  It is so much tinier than you could ever imagine.  Really.  The history books, and our elementary teachers lead us to believe it was a cruise ship, by 1600s standards, but it was very small.
2. How far have you traveled on a boat and how do you feel about boats in general?
From the boat trips I can remember, I think the farthest I might have gone on a boat is about 19 miles.  That's from England to France on a ferry.  There is a time that I might have gone on some kind of ferry with my family because I have a vague notion of our motorhome being on one level while we were on another, but I can't remember where we were.  Which is weird because...

I have a strong aversion to boats.  I have lived all of my life, except the college years, less than 1/4 mile from the ocean.  I sailed beetlcat boats in a small, protected bay and loved it.  But that's it.  I have never been on a cruise and don't ever plan to go on one.  I have been held hostage a couple of times by my father on his boat and haven't loved it.  I don't trust the ocean.  I have never been seasick but I also don't trust my stomach, so that adds to my dislike of boats.  K-ster and I were talking about where to spread my ashes, and I told him if he thinks he will take me to do things when I'm dead that I would never do when I was alive, I will remain in hell for eternity.  No sprinkling of my ashes over the sea, please!  And no bungee jumping or anything else that I refuse to do now. 
3. What traditions have you kept, acquired thru marriage, and/or tossed? If you're single what are some of your family's favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

For many, many Thanksgivings, we were in Florida.  So  many times did we spend Thanksgiving in shorts, I actually resented the few times that I wasn't in Florida and had to actually freeze.  Like the time when I was in high school and we had a blizzard on Thanksgiving and the football game had to be cancelled.  Although, that was kind of fun because did assinine things in the snow before being sent home.  As adults, we have gone to Florida every two years, or so, but with plane tickets costing too many limbs, and passengers being total assholes during that time, the appeal has been lost, and we've done it less and less.  I guess, the traditions that I have are that I always have turkey, and depending on where I am and who is cooking, the rest is up for grabs.  My least favorite meal was the year that my grandmother and I were home for Thanksgiving, while everyone else was in Florida, and she thought it would be great to make turkey soup.  But she didn't put in the bullion.  So we had hot water with turkey in it.  Mmmmm. 

One Thanksgiving tradition that sort of popped up during the college years, was for 2 sets of aunts and uncles, and sometimes their kids and sometimes their kids, to meet us all in Florida on one of those every two years.  The day itself was always a frenzy, sometimes full of laughter, sometimes full of wishing for more laughter.  That night, we would always go somewhere, usually to some part of Disney that let us in for free and had pretty lights and stuff.  And usually, the following day was Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. 

Thank you to all of the airlines who got together to SCREW the common folk out of every penny they have and, as though that were not enough, to also JAM them together like cattle in planes and be MEAN so that these Thanksgiving memories become fewer and farther between.  Giving thanks, right this minute.

4. What time is dinner and how many will be round your table? And what is the one side dish you cannot do without on Thanksgiving day?

This was a new one for us.  We decided not to fly, teaching the airlines a lesson or two, and drove to my sister a-ster's house.  They just moved into this house in July, you might remember my tales of the visit to help her move, so this was their first Thanksgiving in this house.  Normally, Thanksgiving dinner has been served around 1pm, whether at my mother's house or k-ster's.  We knew this would be later because the Patriots were playing the Lions and everyone but me cared.  So, it was like 5:30pm when we actually ate.  There were just the 4 of us.  And enough food to feed the block.  She made some dishes that were new for us, like green bean casserole, brussels sprouts, s-ster's favorite stuffing, another stuffing, her own cranberry sauce, and then the standards.  One side dish I cannot live without on Thanksgiving is cranberry sauce.  Make it yourself, pop it out of a can, I don't care, but don't try to have Thanksgiving with me without it.
5. Have you ever used a fire extinguisher?

Nope.  I accidentally made one go off by dropping it, but it was outside and I was OK with the mess.  K-ster was not so happy because it belonged in his truck. I was so impressed that he was so careful he actually had a fire extinguisher in his truck!
6. Tell about a situation that caused you dreadful trepidation and feet dragging, only to realize later it was a true blessing.

There are so many, from ridiculous to extreme, I don't know where I would even begin.  I could drag my feet over a trip to the bathroom, so I really have nothing special and juicy that comes to mind.  I would say that leaving in January for a 5 month stint in France during my sophomore year caused me a lot of trepidation.  But I now teach French and refer back to that experience almost daily, so who knew?

7. Baked, sweet, mashed, hash browned or french fried...which one's your favorite? I

Baked if you have sour cream for me.
Sweet if the only other choice is mashed white potatoes.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I don't believe in Black Friday and getting up at some ridiculous hour to go stand in line and risk the life being stomped out of me, but I just received an email about a particular item being on sale at a ridiculous amount online at 12:01am and k-ster has mentioned numerous times that he wants this.  Beginning at midnight, I can supposedly get it at like 25% its normal cost.  So I'm going to give it a whirl.  I'm staying up for 10 more minutes just so I can do this.  And no, k-ster, this is not one of those high ticket items you always talk about, don't get too excited.  But it might keep you occupied when you have your foot up.
Now go link with Joyce and do your own Hodgepodge.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I love comments almost as much as I love summer. I reply to all comments except those ridiculous anonymous comments offering me dirty deeds and real estate. When you leave your comment, please make sure your own settings will allow me to reply to you. Nothing makes me sadder than replying to your comments and then realizing it’s going to the no-reply@blogger address!