Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday Follies

A cold front blew through during the night.  It dropped from 80' yesterday afternoon, to just 35' this morning.  Needless to say, I did not go shopping today.  On this day, I avoid the stores like the plague.  When I was little, the day after Thanksgiving was the day that our family always made our fruitcakes.  I know what some of you are thinking, but I love fruitcake.  My mother always mixed the batter, while my father and us kids mixed the fruit and nuts with the flour.  It was great fun. Then, once the cakes were all mixed and put into the pans, we each got one to decorate with whole cherries and pecan halves.  The hardest part was putting them back for two weeks to ripen before we could eat them.

Once I got grown, I made the fruitcakes on the weekend right after my birthday, so that they would be ready right after Thanksgiving.  Now that I've been diagnosed as allergic to eggs and oranges, I've had to give them up.  Fruitcakes are something I really, really miss.

Anyway, yesterday was a pretty quiet day.  I got up and cooked that gargantuan turkey that the plant gave us, and watched the parade.  My Thanksgiving dinner was pretty simple, and if they hadn't given us that bird, I probably would have just bought myself a microwave turkey dinner.


I realized after I'd eaten that I'd forgotten to fix the Stove Top stuffing I'd bought.  Oh well.  I'll fix it some other time.   After the parade, I watched Miracle on 34th Street, then football for the rest of the day.

I got up this morning with every intention of getting my Christmas tree put up, but this is as far as I've gotten.


I was knitting away on my garter rib scarf, and I began wondering, "Will blocking it take the curl out of it?"  I was pretty sure it would, but decided to try it anyway to make sure, before I got too far.  I laid the scarf out flat on Sunny's cage top, and spritzed it well with water. 


It fattened out right nicely.

This yarn definitely needed to be this scarf.  I just love the weight and drape I'm getting with it. It's a little wider than I normally make scarves, because I wanted to have just a bit of scrunchability in it. 

Squeaky says, "It's supposed to be even colder tonight.  I'd better snuggle in."



One last thankful thought--since I missed yesterday.  Yesterday I was thankful for all the friends who invited me to come to your house for dinner.  I just wish you were close enough that I actually could have come.  Still, the invitations meant a lot to me.

As we enter into this holiday season, I'd like to take a moment to admonish you to remember the single people around you.  Be sure to include them in your celebration.  Don't just assume that they have somewhere to go.  Ask them.  If not for you, they may just have to spend the holiday alone. 

3 comments:

Dale said...

Becky, I never have been much for Fruitcake but I may have had a different if we had made our own. Sounded like fun!

I agree with you with regards to inviting the singles around you to join in on your celebrations. Shelley and I would invite single Airmen to our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially when we were stationed overseas.

Sus said...

When I was in Wisconsin, I spent several holidays alone, turning down invitations to the homes of very kind people. I understand the gratitude yet reluctance. I'm glad you made some of your holiday favorites! You plate looks tasty!

Becky G said...

Dale, if all you've had is store bought fruitcake, I can understand why you wouldn't like it. When I was overseas, I missed it so much that I bought one. It was the worst tasting thing I'd ever put into my mouth! I threw most of it away.

When I was in one of my schools in Georgia, one of my instructors would go around and get people who didn't have anywhere to go and bring them to his house for Thanksgiving. That year, he brought me --and several other people-- home for dinner. One of the guys there was from Australia. I had the most fun watching the football games with him. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on, and I was explaining the game to him. I think I made quite a good impression on some of the Army guys there doing that. I asked one of them if he was going to help me out, and he said, "No, you're doing fine."

Sus, this was the first Thanksgiving in a long, long time that I didn't have anywhere to go. I think the most hurtful part is that my sister came down from Alaska with her three boys (to our hometown in Texas) and nobody thought to tell me that they would be there. Then, the cousins I have that live here had a houseful of people, but didn't include me. I've always been a bit of a black sheep in my family, but this is the first time I've been excluded so completely.