Let the eating begin...Thanksgiving 2009, number one

Thanksgiving came early this year in our house, or at least in my in-law's house. Tom's sister and his brother arrived with their significant others plus extras prior to the holiday, but due to outrageous airline tickets, their return trips were scheduled on Thanksgiving day. So we celebrated Thanksgiving the day before.

That morning started off with lots of rain and a huge BANG. A transformer behind our house blew, knocking out the power in our house and three others and leaving the wires on the electric pole loosely dangling in the downpour.

I got on my cell phone to report the outage at the same moment my neighbor's thirteen-year-old daughter discovered the reason for the outage: a dead but still smoking, squirrel lying in the backyard. Her screams in the background were enough for the power company to dispatch a truck immediately. Within thirty minutes power was restored.

The next obstacle came when we loaded up and prepared to make the drive to the in-laws for the big Thanksgiving feast. The battery in my van was dead. Because my husband and my car mechanic friend were both at work as their bosses did not get the early Thanksgiving memo, I contemplated several "fix it" scenarios, dismissed all of them, and sent for a limo.

We ate dinner in the early evening after filling our bellies with liquor and munchies. There was a huge turkey, Nancy's famous mashed potatoes with two and a half sticks of butter, green beans, asparagus, sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls, and a choice between pecan or pumpkin pies.

The meal was consumed in ten minutes. Kudos to my sister-in-law for the hours of preparation and cooking.

The rain fell most of the day, but the six children and our dog didn't let it deter them from finding activities to stay busy. Tom was able to join us after work. Roger was out of the hospital and at the head of the table. So much to be thankful for.

And we do it all over again tomorrow with my family. Happy Thanksgiving.