Walking on Sunshine

Wednesday, November 28, 2001

Thanksgiving morning...

Dinner was scheduled for 12:30, I think because of football. It was held at Rick's sister's new house in HL. *I,* not Rick, had been assigned to make and bring sweet potatoes and fruit salad for 18 guests. So, at 9 a.m., I was getting them ready.

I had called Rick's aunt (who is married to Rick's mom's brother) to get a delicious sweet potato recipe she had made last Christmas. Well, as I am compiling the ingredients in Rick's mom's kitchen, she informed me, "Only make one can, our family doesn't like sweet potatoes." Well, LA DE DAH! Karina and I easily consume a can ourselves, so I had brought four, but compromised with three. teehee

Then, Heaven Save Us All, but I wasn't making HER recipe (put 1 can of potatoes in a pan with a stick of butter and a bag of marshmallows and bake.) Well, before she could recover from that, I started in on my fruit salad. I had several cans of fruit cocktail (regular and tropical), a fresh banana, a jar of marachino cherries, 2 cans of pineapple and a big tub of Cool Whip.

Pineapple?!!? Tropical fruit?!!? Cool Whip?!!? "Our family doesn't eat fruit salad like that, and I always MAKE my own whipping creme. Where are the little marshmallows?" UGH!!! (Marshmallows are a "white food," which means I don't eat them, lol. Explanation another time.)

My mother-in-law had to leave, I think I was frustrating her too much by then. Well, nobody had given me any recipes and this was the first Thanksgiving meal I spent there in almost 7 years. Probably the last for a looooooooooong time, too.

Dinner was pretty good, we had 2 kinds of turkey: regular oven and deep fried. DELICIOUS! My potatoes were a HUGE hit with the 8 kids and my two sisters-in-law (who married into the family.) The fruit salad was fabulous, too. So much for tradition.

Thinking back, I find it very odd that Rick's sister told me to bring the family "unfavorite" dish of sweet potatoes (which did NOT have to feed 18) and the only dish, fruit salad, that Rick is allergic to. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh...

Thank goodness when we left, we were on our way to spending the weekend at Rick's brother's house near Cadillac.

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Friday and Saturday were basically the same...SHOPPING! My sister-in-law, Jo, drove us, along with her cousin Karen, to Traverse City for the day. I have never really BEEN to Traverse City before, just passed through. We hit Grand Traverse mall about 9:30 a.m., long after the good sales were depleted, but still in time to see some women acting like immatue brats and lines long enough to make me appreciate the art of browsing a bit more. Karina and I split from Jo and Karen, but agreed to meet in a few hours for lunch. My wonderful little shopping partner and I first hit Mrs. Fields for chocolate chip cookies (power breakfast), then a few novelty shops, like Animal Lovers and Holiday Traditions in the mall.

Later in the afternoon, as the four of us were in Marshall Fields checking out the jewelry before leaving, who should we run into? Bethany and her mom! It was such a pleasant surprise (but not total surprise, since they have a house here and were up for the weekend anyway.) Of course, I had introductions to make. Jo was thrilled that she got to meet the infamous Bethany. Honestly, I knew I was being smiled upon from above since Bethany and I are almost never truly separated for more than a day or two, but this one LONG weekend, I didn't have easy Internet access. Yay! We had a few moments to get caught up.

Next, the four of us shopped downtown and it was a fabulous time! We snacked at Kilwins on pumpkin fudge and white chocolate popcorn and marveled at their 3 foot tall chocolate Santa. Karina and I could have stayed in the bead shop for days, but we had to shop on to help keep the economy going.

Finally, everyone was tired, so we headed for home about 8:30 p.m. Karina had made out like a bandit with an owl ring (very cool...Harry Potter-ish), a Beanie Baby and a small box of Harry Potter stones. I had even done a bit of my Christmas shopping, too.

Saturday morning was spent at a HUGE craft fair at McBain High School. Jo and I have so many neat ideas now and are seriously discussing putting up our own booth next year.

Saturday afternoon, Jo, Karina and I went to Lake City to a neat little shop called Woodstock that has lots of unique gifts. Then, we headed into Cadillac and hit a few neat shops and WalMart. Karina and I have an obsession with the crane-games which are in WalMart, we always have to check them out to see if I can win anything. Well, I saw something and had to borrow a dollar from Jo (Karina had used my singles for nachos and a Slurpee), but I won a Christmas-y outfitted reindeer. Jo was shocked, she had never seen anyone win something before. Karina and I laughed while Karina bragged I "always" win. Not entirely true, I did lose once, but I am very selective. This particular time, I didn't pick up the stuffed animal, but I actually used the crane to knock it into the winning hole. Totally legal, just like making those tongs too loose to hold onto anything, right? teehee

Rick, Cody, Karina and I left Sunday morning. Rick pulled our camper home so he can winterize it now, and we dropped Cody off on our way. I won't even detail Rick taking the wrong turn from US-10 onto 27.

It was a great weekend! Oh, Liiiiiiiiiisa, I have more FREEEEEBIES! hehehe

Sunshine - Walking on Sunshine - 11/28/2001 06:11:00 AM