LoL#14: Holidays, Tofurkey, Shopping & Shoutouts

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Okay so I know it's not till tomorrow, but I'm pretty excited! Four days off of work will be my longest (and most needed!) break since I started my job (August 19th). Crazy stuff, eh??

But yeah it's that great time of year when we're all overloaded with family, food, and football! And of course for those that have the extended joy of extended family you get that wonderful dose of questions "So are you seeing anyone these days?" "Any wedding bells ringing soon??" "When can we be expecting grandkids?" and all those other awkward no-pressure-really! questions. I urge you all to respond to these or any other bizzarre unwanted conversations with a simple question of your own: "What's the deal with Tofurkey?"

And just so you can be extra-wise asking questions that you know the answer to, tofurkey is tofu flavored (and sometimes shaped) like turkey as a Vegan/Vegetarian Thanksgiving alternative. I've never actually tried it nor do I have any specific desire to, but it's a great inspiration for conversation - especially if one is trying to redirect conversation away from one's personal life. First off, your audience may very likely just laugh at the very word "Tofurkey". If this doesn't happen there's a possible fear factor associated with the idea that a soy product could replace a several hundered year old November delicacy. If that happens go for the shock value and see if you can convince anyone post-mealtime that what you consumed was in fact the most realistic Tofurkey currently on the market. (...and if anyone's successful on that front, I want details!!)

Another random Turkey fact is that my mom bought a 23 pound Turkey this year. This wouldn't be too bad if we were having a year like last (fifteen people, three dogs and a partridge in a pear tree...) but we're not really having company this year. Granted at 9 people my family without guests is a sizable clan but when you realize that one of those nine is my seven month old niece, a quick calculation reveals that this comes out to almost three pounds of turkey per person. And we haven't even talked about side dishes yet....

So yeah, we'll all be eating leftovers until sometime half way through advent, but we need to keep our strength up for the Friday shopping extravaganza. My mom, sisters, (and sometimes aunt, and cousins) and I have the tradition of every year braving the crowds for awesome day-after-thanksgiving shopping deals. You know all those ads for "Early Bird Specials"? That's us. We're already scheduled to be at Kohl's at 6am. My sister Anne's bringing the coffee...lots of it... (As if you didn't think we were insane enough already...)

But I could ramble about holiday insanity forever and I'd rather give some cool belated-birthday shoutouts. Two super spiffy ladies had super spiffy birthdays last weekend, so happy belated birthday to Sara M and Kristin S...P!! [sorry, ;) still adjusting]

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday though and just to be extra sappy and cheesy, when we were little at Thanksgiving we would go around the table and everyone would list one thing they were thankful for. Even though we grew out of the tradition sometime around junior high, I think this year I would most likely say I'm most thankful for awesome family and friends like all of you!


Tofurke-fully Yours,

lisa :)


p.s. If anyone's in town and wants to join in on the insane early-morning shopping you're totally invited! Sleep deprivation and bargain hunting....it's a beautiful thing! Or better yet, if anyone's in town and wants to come eat Turkey, you're definitely invited!! TWENTY THREE FRICKIN POUNDS PEOPLE!!! Do you realize how long that's gonna last??? *sigh* maybe I'll start fasting now.... You have to love too how after the first couple days it starts mutating into it's various forms... turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey casserole, turkey lasagna, turkey stew....


:)