On November 30th I
turned 46. Normally that might not be that big of a deal, but last year I
THOUGHT I was only turning 44 and I found out I was turning 45 so I lost an
entire year of youthfulness!
This year my birthday
fell on a Sunday - and it happened to be the Sunday we had planned to prepare
and eat our big Family Thanksgiving Dinner since the kids were all with their
mom's side of the family on Thanksgiving.
Things went splendidly!
I was so excited in hopes that Rylan might show up because we don't see him
very often. We planned ahead and bought our groceries Friday night, and on
Saturday I prepared banana cream pies, my mom's stuffing (and a small batch of
gluten-free stuffing for Katelynn), Colleen Schmidt's Crunchy Munchies, and
boiled the yams - anything to save time and stress on Sunday, right? So Sunday
rolls around and we're thinking we're in great shape. The turkey is thawing and
we are right on track. Megan was making a pumpkin roll, Daniel was making
Scotcharoos, and Brianna and Katelynn were on Table Decoration/Place Card duty.
We had the girls help peel potatoes for Dan's mother's amazing mashed potatoes.
 |
| My mom's stuffing in the works... always smells so good! |
 |
| Megan working on her first pumpkin roll. |
 |
| Katelynn trying to make our table look fancy schmancy. |
 |
| Rylan doing his part. Standing there looking handsome. And the rolls rising... |
 |
| Brianna working on setting the table and looking pretty for the camera. |
Everyone was helping and although it was hectic, it was wonderful. It even
snowed a little bit that morning so the whole cozy togetherness thing was
happening. Rylan even showed up with his girlfriend Taylor, and helped peel
too. The kids were soon gathered in the living room watching Elf or some other
Christmas movie and Dan and I were checking the turkey - waiting, waiting,
waiting for that blasted timer to pop up! The instructions said it would take
4.5 to 5 hours to cook and it had been 6. We opted to use a bag so there was a
ton of liquid surrounding the turkey – even in the deep pan. We were having a
difficult time trying to keep the rolls and stuffing warm, even with TWO
ovens.
We decided to check the
temperature of the turkey so we were trying to slide it out of the oven and
onto a cookie sheet. All of that juice decided to shift and dripped out of the
pan and down into the gas oven and KABLAMEE! Huge flames spat out of that oven
and up about four feet. Dan and I – who were both leaning toward the oven moved
so quickly you wouldn’t have been able to catch it on film. The kids came
running into the kitchen asking what happened! They saw the flash of light from
the other room. It was quickly contained, but not before there was black stinky
smoke everywhere.
Yes, this was exactly
the memory I wanted to create on my first attempt at a big Thanksgiving dinner.
Not. But we were quickly opening every door, every window, turning on every fan
trying to air out the house. Soon the smell had dissipated. As I was walking
around Katelynn said, “Oh Kathy, nice hair!” I had this instant panic attack
and visualized the front three inches of my hair missing! They quickly turned
their attention to their dad. He and I had both singed a few stray hairs (and
perhaps some eyebrows and eyelashes) in the flash of flames. We were actually
very grateful it wasn’t worse because it certainly could have been! The dinner
turned out to be delicious and filling – and later on we even managed to find
room for the desserts – Megan’s pumpkin roll, my banana cream pie, and Daniel’s
Scotcharoos!
During dinner I felt
such gratitude for being surrounded by the people I have grown to love and call
my family. I asked them all if I could say a few words, and told them that –
even though I expect a lot and I don’t let them get away with very much – that
I have grown to love each of them and I am grateful for them. It was a sweet
moment and something I had been noticing the past few days.
After we ate, the kids
brought in a single candle and sang Happy Birthday – Gotchy Style. We started
this new tradition that the birthday girl or boy gets to conduct the song –
however they want. As slow or as fast or as erratic as they wish! It is one of
the best parts of having a birthday. So silly and fun. Everyone ends up
laughing.
After dinner and
cleaning up the dishes, Dan and the kids brought in their birthday gifts. Dan
gave me a gift certificate for a massage. He knows me so well! The kids gave me
letters, cards, a few personal items, and KitKat candy bars. The notes were
really sweet and are included below.
