Monday, November 12, 2012

Thanksgiving Madness - The First Time is Always the Hardest


Last summer the boyfriend and I bought a house. It’s a lovely townhouse with lots of room for our little family. The house has a wide open floor plan on the main level, with tons of space in the kitchen and dining room. This was one of the factors that swayed us to buy this house, and since we moved in I have had visions of myself hosting parties and family get-togethers in my large, new space.

Because I have all this space now, I’ve been campaigning to host Thanksgiving at my house instead of my parents’ this year. This wasn’t as easy as you’d think. My family is not big on change, and we’ve always done holidays at my parents’ house. But I got a couple of my sisters-in-law to help me advocate for the change in venue, and my parents finally agreed to come see me on Thanksgiving instead of everyone heading over the river and through the woods to see them.

We just settled this all last weekend, and today the implications of agreeing – nay, willingly volunteering – to cook a dinner fraught with traditions and expectations for about 20 people are hitting me. I have to cook a turkey and I’ve never done that before, at least not all by myself. I’ll need to master the logistical issues related to the oven so that everything is ready to eat at once. Do I have enough side dishes? Are there enough types of pie for everyone?  I only have six chairs in my whole house, where will everyone sit? I have to pull this off, or I’ll never hear the end of it and my beautiful new house will be wasted!

After a few deep breaths and some phone calls with my sisters-in-law and my mom, I’m feeling better. I’ve put out requests for assistance, and people are bringing everything from pies to green-bean casserole to a high chair so the baby nephew doesn’t run amok. This just might work out the way I want. All I have to do is make a turkey, and make sure my house is clean. I can totally do that.

However, if you are coming to Thanksgiving at my house, you should probably bring your own chair, just to be on the safe side.

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