Thanksgiving: The Good, The Bad and The Different

 


I knew Thanksgiving was going to be different this year.  Thanksgiving has been different for the past several years, but this year would be a really big change.  So how did the holiday (actually the whole week) go?  Here are some thoughts...

  • Work:  I am thankful that I didn't have to go into the office at all this week.  (Praying that will also be the case for Christmas/New Year's week...keep those fingers crossed and say those prayers.)  I was able to work from (the Pocono) home from the Thursday before the holiday through Tuesday (I was off Wednesday).  For me there is no downside to working from home, but work itself has been very challenging.  The end of the year is always a challenge and this year seems to be more so than ever.  (Do I say that every year?)  Because I try to be completely honest, I will say that Monday and Tuesday had me feeling useless and depressed, due to a variety of issues.  Changes and challenges are inevitable and I was (am?) feeling the stress and strain.  I don't think it helped that I was fighting off a cold, which always makes things worse. There's only a month left to the year and hopefully I'll make it through with a positive outlook.  Amusingly enough there was a class at the local community center on dealing with stress, but I couldn't go because I was working!

  • Travel:  I knew Wednesday was going to be a long one and it was.  Thankfully, my husband and I were smart about how we traveled.  We left the Poconos at little before seven in the morning.  I drove from there to our NJ home, stopping to get some cash at the ATM (there are no BoAs nearby in PA...I really need to open up an account at a local bank just so I can have easy access to cash without paying a fee to  use the machine), gas (so much cheaper in NJ, although prices for fuel have been going back up again) and breakfast (our favorite bagel place...you cannot get good bagels outside of the NY Metro area).  We ate on the run, unloading the few things that we brought back with us and loading up a few things as well.  (Not too much as we had to get our son.)  We were home for maybe 20 minutes?  Then it was back on the road to NY to get my son.  On our way we saw several accidents and back ups, but thankfully we did not get caught up in any.  Yes, traffic was heavy on the NJ Turnpike and State Island Expressway, but we managed relatively well.  Our son was ready for us, so he hopped with his bags and we were off again.  Two hours later (just before noon), we were in the Poconos and showing off the house to our son (who had never seen it.)  So our roundtrip time was about 5 hours.   Traveling back from PA to NJ on Friday (had to be back here so our son could attend a party...the things we do for our kids), maybe took about an hour forty five, slightly longer than usual.

  • Food:  It's always non-traditional in our house due to my food allergies.  Wednesday night my in laws joined us for a dinner of lasagna (free thanks to all the money I've spent at ShopRite), garlic bread sticks (which were probably the big hit) and salad.  I threw together a no bake cheesecake for dessert and we used the built in coffee maker A LOT.  On the actual day, we had midday deli, which never disappoints.  I also made my first chocolate pecan pie (no egg).  Actually I made two because I bought a pre-made pie crust package which actually contained two crusts.  I think the tins were a little shallow, and there was so much filling that I needed to use more than one.  I worried about them not setting, but they did.  Then I worried that they'd set too hard...they didn't.  It was a sweet chocolatey success.  There was much left over, some of which went to my in laws and some of which came back to NJ with us.  There will be even more food later today as we attend a Friendsgiving party; no cooking for me tonight.  (And last night consisted of reheating.)  I also have to give a shout out to my son who has taken over cranberry mold duty (a tradition started by our unofficial aunt Julie).  He has become a champion and really does a great job chopping celery (not broccoli...does anyone get that?).  Too bad you can't just buy 2 stalks of celery because that's all you really need.

  • Shopping:  We did our last minute Thanksgiving shopping (because you can't buy salad fixings too far in advance) on Tuesday morning, which happens to be senior discount day at "our" ShopRite in PA and as we are over 55, we qualify.  While I don't like getting older, I do like getting a discount!  There was no shopping on Thanksgiving (just about everything in the area was closed and for that, I am thankful!)  Then there was Black Friday.  Yes, I did go out and I went to Walmart!  Not to buy holiday gifts, but to find an insulated cooler bag!  We had so many leftovers and I had left my cooler back in NJ!  What I ended up buying was a soft sided cooler and I NEEDED it (as well as another smaller insulated bag AND a bag for food stuff that did not need to be kept cold).  I also bought some items so that my son could make another cranberry mold for the party he was attending and a holiday t-shirt for him (which he probably will never wear, but I'm a sucker.)  I was there just after opening (which was 6 AM; their regular opening time.) and it didn't take long.  I will be doing some online shopping as my son has requested a sweater for Christmas (which he will get) as well as a new phone (he wants an iPhone...not going to happen).  I'm sure I'll be doing some shopping locally (small business Saturday) today as well as I will be working/volunteering at "my" Thrift Shop.  I have some donations to make, but I have a suspicion that I will be bringing home more than I'm donating.  Which leads me to...

  • Decorating: 


    Thanksgiving evening is when I usually start to decorate for Christmas.  This year is going to be a challenge as I don't know where we are going to be.  The house in the Poconos is perfect for Christmas and decorating (since it is larger and more spread out) and I would like to be there for the holiday. 


    However, my son will be working over the break at the church in NJ.  (Helping out again as they search for a new sexton.)  Obviously, Christmas is a busy time of year and I am pretty sure that his services will be needed on Christmas Eve, which means we need to be here.  I am HOPING that we will be able to drive out to PA after the service (which is later in the afternoon than usual), but there are a lot of factors to take into consideration (more on that later.)  So while I did put up some decorations in PA on Thursday night and Friday morning, there is no tree.  Then there's the NJ house.  Do I put up a tree?  I do have our wreath on the door, a light up snowman in a  window and my "Christmas flamingos" out on the lawn.  Do we do more?  (Does the giant snowman in the basement go out on the front lawn?  My husband does not seem enthused.)  Do I put up a tree here?  A tree in PA?  In both places?  (How crazy is that?)  I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I like lots of decorations for the holiday, but I don't like the work.  (Or the clean up!)  The family did get to take in some holiday decorations at one of our favorite places yesterday.  Before we headed to NJ we headed a few miles up the road to take in the beauty of Skytop. 

    Their decorating is not yet complete (as they transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas/Winter), but it was a perfect way to get into the holiday spirit.  (And I question my spirit this year...I don't know why but this year seems to be more difficult and emotional for me.)  Another sign of the season was...

  • Weather:  As I mentioned in my last post after no rain for over a month, we had rain and snow last week.  On Thanksgiving day we had snow, which morphed into rain (so most of it washed away).  Then on Friday when I went out to Walmart it was snowing again.  It stopped and started throughout the day.  On our drive up to Skytop, it was really coming down.  While it makes the resort look lovely, it was also darned cold.  (Remember, for the most part this year has been warmer than usual, so the cold, which should be expected, seems surprising.)  It snowed and rained on our drive back to NJ.  Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be sunny as we take our son back to college (and battle traffic.)  So far I've seen more snow this autumn than we did for the previous 11 months.  Of course it's to be expected in the mountains...who knows what this winter will bring.

And so we transition from one holiday to the next.  I'm sure, like Thanksgiving, this upcoming Winter/Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year will bring good, bad and different.  I hope to have the fortitude and calm to face them all.

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