Happy Thanksgiving!

I am stuffed. I have eaten more Thanksgiving meals than should be allowed. A week ago today the Springfield Middle School cafeteria sent our office plates from their feast. Last Friday Vicki and I ate Thanksgiving lunch with Nate at his school. Sunday we had a pot luck dinner at church. And then there was today.

FAVORITE MEMORIES. One thing that is engrained in my mind is Aunt Mar telling about how they always killed hogs on Thanksgiving Day because it was cold enough that they didn’t have to worry about the meat going bad. I thought of her when I woke up this morning and the thermometer read 15°.

Vicki commented on a couple of favorite memories as we were getting ready to eat dinner this afternoon. First was Ben whistling Amazing Grace as he was sweeping the back hall earlier in the day. Mom was here by that point and she had walked to the foyer to play the piano. This too was another favorite holiday memory for us.

Of course, one thing that was never a favorite memory, or taste, for me was the ham salad. Mom or Aunt Mar used to make that with the left over ham every year after Thanksgiving and Christmas. I never got used to that taste. They served the ham salad to Vicki once because she has bad memories of it too.

CELEBRATING. Our Thanksgiving was pretty low key. We spent the morning cooking and cleaning the house. Mom came over around 2:00 and we were sitting to eat by 3:00. Our menu was the typical fare: ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash dressing, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and rolls with carrot cake for dessert.

When we finished eating we pulled out a DVD of old home movies. This particular disc began with Nate’s birth in February 2003 and had footage through April of that year. This too was another favorite memory of our Thanksgiving this year.

THE LION KING. Jenna attended the Beta convention Monday and Tuesday of this week. We left right after church and I took her and four other girls to Opryland Hotel. (It took several vehicles to get the contingent from East Robertson there.) They have spent the last few weeks working really hard to prepare a medley of music from The Lion King for the talent show: building props for a set, getting costumes together, and practicing their singing and dancing. I had to get Jenna to school early all last week as they worked to perfect their act. They were one of 15 school competing in the group talent tryouts and made the cut for the top 5 to perform their song for the entire convention. Unfortunately they were not one of the top 2 acts to go on to the national convention. Vicki went on Monday and filmed the tryout. It looked like all their hard work paid off to me.

HOOP ACTION. We are half way through Ben’s basketball season and he seems to be thoroughly enjoying it. The best games I watched were on Monday night against Jo Byrns. Ben played most of the JV game and held his own with six points to his credit. He looks like he’s getting more comfortable out there on the court. Ben also got some decent game time in the varsity game playing almost all of the second quarter. He just missed a buzzer shot at half time. The boys wound up losing both games, but they were close and made Jo Byrns earn those wins.

The way the schedule worked out the first five games were all away games. So now the next five will all be at home which will be convenient. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season holds.

MOVIES. Somehow Vicki and I have managed to squeeze in a couple of movies along with all the other family activities. Last Friday evening we went out on a date to Opry Mills Mall where we ate at the food court and watched Gravity. That flick will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Then yesterday we decided to start our Thanksgiving break off right by going to see Catching Fire. This film certainly lives up to The Hunger Games as its sequel and we really enjoyed seeing it.

A CLOSE CALL. I had just settled into bed one night last week when I heard Maggie start barking and growling right outside my window. And then...I smelled...the skunk. Amazing how quickly that odor permeated the house. Fortunately it was only a warning shot and Maggie didn’t get sprayed. The stench was a distant memory by morning. We dodged that one.

When I told Mom about our nocturnal visitor she reminded me of a story from when she and Aunt Linda were in high school and a skunk got under their grandparent’s house. They weren’t so fortunate as we were and the smell got into all their clothes. Mom and Aunt Linda were both on the basketball team and all their teammates were trying to figure out where the skunk smell was coming from in the locker room. Mom said they both kept quiet and hoped no one would notice it was them.

Joe