Leftovers

One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving as a kid were leftovers. My dad usually had a trip to leave for the day after Thanksgiving, so he'd take a sizeable portion with him, but there were still plenty to go around. I loved sneaking into the fridge, opening the gallon-sized plastic bag and picking out the best white meat, cold turkey to throw on some buttered bread or directly into my salivating mouth. Other Thanksgiving staples included mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, black olives, buttered rolls, stuffing, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce (maybe green beans or something, but who cares about those?). Have you ever had a turkey and cranberry sauce sandwhich? yummy. If we were lucky, my dad would have made orange-cranberry muffins. I loved it when he did that. No, we didn't have sweet potatoes, something I now realize as the travesty it is, but don't worry, I am working everyday on making up for lost time.

Shortly after my my parents' divorce, we started having Thanksgiving over at my aunt and uncle's house, which was great because I got to see my cousins more and the more family, the merrier. Not to meantion the perks of my Aunt Julie's homemade apple pie, her frosted sugar cookies made just for me and potatoes hand mashed by my cousin Mike (note to everyone out there: if you keep complaining that the potatoes are too lumpy, you'll eventually be made to mash them yourself!) There was really only one true downside to Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's house-- no leftovers. To be fair, there were leftovers, they just weren't in my fridge, they were in theirs, which is completely understandable.

Well, this year Thanksgiving has rolled around once again, and to be honest, I don't know how my family is celebrating. You see, they're in Wisconsin (and didn't answer the phone) and I'm in Tennessee-- although I did get to spend some of last week with them. I had plans for today: go to work where we're having an extravagant Thanksgiving meal for the homeless (of which I would be able to partake, even if only from a tray at my desk), then head to one of a few friends' houses for Thanksgiving merriment. All of this changed, however, when I woke up last night, in the middle of the night, horribly, horribly sick. Therefore, I never went to work, I never went to friends' houses, I never got to partake of succulent turkey or rapturous sweet potatoes and I surely will have no chance at leftovers. As a matter of fact, I can't believe I got through writting this entire post without making myself violently sick, once again.

Happy Turkey Day.