IS IT A BIRD?

The threat of cooler weather was just that; a threat.  I was still in short sleeves, with the option of a jacket, in case the air conditioning (yes air conditioning) in the office became too cool.  I was quite amazed that I was still able to swim in the mornings.  With the wet summer, cooler temperatures, I was quite sure the water would have cooled down, but despite not being boiling, the sun has been shining, and that has helped keep the water warmer.  Scientific, I really aint, but some things are just basic common sense.

It was going to be a short week.  Thanksgiving was looming, and my turkey came out of hibernation, on Monday, and sat in the fridge, defrosting nice and slowly.  I had a lot to do before the big day!  I needed to make room in my freezer for next year's bird, and it did need to be defrosted, so that was my job on Tuesday morning.

Being my worst enemy is not a new thing!  I have no idea what drives me to do certain things.  I am surprised at times when if I do not stick to routine, the world does not come to an end, there are no catastrophic emergencies, both universal or in my own life!  If I do not vacuum my living room on a certain day, the sun still comes up in the morning, and set in the evening.  I know, difficult to believe that my not doing laundry on a designated day, will cause .... nothing!  I think I still hear my mother's voice, telling me that I need to have a routine and that untidiness is evil!  Perhaps she did not use that exact word, but it was intimated!  At least I think it was!

I had my week planned out.  Of course, I had my week planned out!  I knew we would be reasonably busy, and I knew that Wednesday would be manic until about two. I knew people would require the impossible, and I knew they would consider us failures if their wish was not our command!  If I did not stick to my plan, Thanksgiving day would be a disaster, black Friday would be exactly that, a devastation day, and Moaning Mother In Law Saturday would just fail to happen!  The pessimistic me fought long and hard against the optimistic me!  I am still not sure who won!

The turkey was in the fridge.  It was a start.  I finished what I had started in the morning, went swimming, and was amazed that I managed to get to work on time.  Dinner was prepared, and the week looked like it was off to a good start!

A late night was not anticipated, but as usual I could not help myself.  Perhaps if I just start......!  I do like nick-nacks, and nick-nacks like dust.  They don't eat it, unfortunately, (as that would save so much time,) but they do like to wear it.  Also, being totally unscientific, I would like a layman's explanation on how smudges manage to appear on the inside of cabinets, when they have not been opened from one cleaning to another!  It is a mystery! However, some things are just universal!  Thankfully, my husband cares not if the chuckskees do not shine.  In fact, he notices not the chuckskees.  The necessity to make sure all is shiny is self imposed!  What would happen if I did not get rid of that smudge that has appeared?  Who else would notice?  It is one of those areas that I need to deal with. The less time I have, the more things I want to do!  I do not think I am alone!

Defrosting the freezer was on the list.  Thankfully, it did not take long, and I was quite pleased with myself for thinking 'outside the box'.  In fact, it was a box that was the saving of my day!  Grant had told me how he used to separate his freezer with cardboard pieces, to make three sections. It is a brilliant, yet simple idea.  However, when a large item, such as a turkey is removed from the middle section, the other two sides force a cave-in.  Placing a box in the the bottom of the middle section was, to me, a coup!  I was so excited!  Really!  I was excited!  Whilst my freezer was defrosting, I cleaned some nick-nacks.  I also had time to go swimming, and was doing very well organising my time.  Perhaps, just perhaps, I had conquered the myth that the world would come to an end if I did not do....!

Wednesday did not go according to plan.  Of course, we had the usual, "Can't you just leave it with someone at the offices?"  It always amazes me how, supposedly, intelligent people suddenly become completely .... unintelligent.  If, for example, the lobby doors are closed, and there is no access to the building, at all, what on earth makes someone think it is possible to get to the sixth floor!  There may be 'escape' or 'evacuation' options, but that is to get outside from within, not the other way around.  There is no 'someone' there.  The place is closed, locked, and empty.  "Can you phone?"  Common sense takes a holiday, and logic is rearranged into 'clog' with the 'I' being put aside to precede 'want' for those who have lost all sense of reality.  "But it is an emergency".  It is always an emergency!

I got home and started to prepare for my evening, as well as Thursday.  I thought I would prepare as much as possible.  I had spoken to someone earlier in the week, who had said she was preparing early as she had so many to cook for.  I explained that I would be cooking for sixteen.  "Wow", she responded.  "You have sixteen coming for dinner?"  I replied, "No.  Only five, but I will be cooking for sixteen!"  I was doing so well but then came the phone call.   My daughter asked if I was swimming.  I don't usually swim in the afternoons after the clocks 'fall' back.  I told her no.  She asked if I was going to go.  I told her no.  She then burst into tears, and told me that she was not feeling well, that she thought she had a fever, and was hoping that she was just panicking, and did not think she was going to pass out!  "Pull over!" I screamed.  "If you think you might pass out, pull over!"  She repeated that she did not think she was going to pass out. Suffice it to say, without going into details, she got home.  My son-in-law dropped my grandson off at a friend, and took my daughter to urgent care.  I offered to go to her house, but it was quicker to take him to a friend.  She would let me know the outcome of the visit.  For the next hour, I am not sure what I did.  I managed to get my dinner in the oven, overboil my potatoes, prepare some things that should not have been started until the morning, and was generally a nervous wreck.  

It appears that my daughter had a fever and an infection.  She was given antibiotics and told to rest.  She was not sent to hospital, there was no need.  She sounded so much better after the visit, and I was quite relieved.  My potatoes had gone to mush, I would not be making Yorkshire puddings, and lunch, despite being traditional, would have maybe one dish less than usual.  No one would miss it!

I am so thankful for many things.  One is the timer on my oven.  I know, it sounds absurd, but to be able to set it for my potatoes to cook earlier than I intended to rise, was amazing!  I did rise earlier than anticipated, and set to work.  I managed a swim, have coffee with my husband, and then to work!  Telling my daughter that I did not want her to do anything, somehow translated, "I will do everything" to everyone else!  The ribbing I received for not making Yorkshire pudding went on all day.  Since when did Yorkshire pudding become part of Thanksgiving lunch!  However, I did think that as the original Thanksgiving was when the English Pilgrims invited members of the Wampanoag tribe to celebrate their first successful harvest, in 1621, they may have made a tradition Sunday roast!  However, there is no mention in any commentary!  

We enjoyed dinner, had a lovely afternoon, and were quite happy to say cheerio to our guests just before seven.  My house was all cleared up, with washing up done, dishwasher on, tops wiped, oven cleaned, and floors washed!  

Yes, I am my own worst enemy!  After a wonderful breakfast on Friday morning, I set to cleaning my nick-nacks in my kitchen.  On taking some pots from one of my bakers stand, I noticed some strange substance in the bottom of one.  Thinking it may have come from behind the unit I pulled it away from the wall.  Not thinking that I may dislodge some of the items on the top shelf, which I had cleaned on Tuesday, I pulled.  Down fell two glass jars, which I had bought many years ago, containing olives and peppers and other ornamental vegetables.  The mess on the floor was prolific, with glass everywhere, but worst of all, the smell was considerably aromatic, or more to the point, alcoholic!  Although only ever used as an ornament, the fermentation had been years in the making.  All had fallen on the clean floors!  What a mess. It took a few buckets of clean water to remove all vestige of the contents, and longer to eradicate the fumes!  

When I had finished cleaning all my nick-nacks, my husband appeared and asked what I had been doing all afternoon.  I turned on the light and said, "Look".  He looked.  He smiled and asked again.  Once I expressed my disappointment in him not noticing how shiny everything was, he became very prolific with his amazement!  

I got ready to swim on Saturday morning. "You look like you have just got out of bed and are going outside in your pyjamas!" said my husband when I appeared in my toweling robe, joggers and towel.  "Superman has glasses as his disguise!" I retorted.  "Supergram has her robe!"  He pondered.  "How long did it take you to thin that one up?" he said, tongue in cheek!  

Moaning Mother-in-law Saturday started late.  We had our grandson for a sleepover on Friday night, and he had not gone to sleep.  He spent a couple of hours crawling around the bed, simulating climbing up the frame, and then chatting to himself.  I slept little!  My daughter and son-in-law did not arrive until late, but I had hoped that was because she managed to get some rest!  We shopped but not a lot!  At one store, a lady whom we see often, expressed delight at finally meeting 'dad' of the little one, and told him that he had a lovely family.  I responded with, "Especially his mother-in-law".  She laughed far more heartily than I expected!  She asked if I had had a good Thanksgiving.  I responded that I did.  "American style?" she asked.  I nodded, wondering what other style there is!

Another Thanksgiving is over, and I am sitting here, typing, on a cold November day.  It was very chilly this morning, with the temperatures feeling a good ten degrees below what they were, due to the wind.  We went out for breakfast in coats, hats and boots.  Everyone was shivering.  Winter is here, or at least for today. I am very thankful for all I have.  I am thankful that I celebrate Thanksgiving!  I am thankful every day, but it does not hurt to express it on the traditional day.

With the last month of the year starting tomorrow, the lead up to Christmas in full swing, and the atmosphere turning to intense jolliness, I can only hope I have more to write in ......... another story!