Saturday, November 24, 2007

The day after - a Thanksgiving meme

I'm thankful for memes when I need ideas for posts, and for the other bloggers who are glad to let you make off with them. I found this one on Thursday evening via Laurie at Team Building is For Suckers, but I've adapted it for post-Thanksgiving Day responses.
  1. Where did you celebrate Thanksgiving this year? At home with the family
  2. Did you travel to get there? No, that was the point of staying at home
  3. How much time, if any, do you have off work for the Thanksgiving holiday? Two days, but I had to use vacation time to get Friday off
  4. Did you do the cooking? Yep. I haven't done it for a few years and I actually wanted to. It turned out well and I'm glad I did it, even though I was on my feet a lot (not a daily thing when you have a desk job)
  5. Did you have turkey or something else? We had a cut-up whole chicken, marinated in a lemon-herb-garlic mixture and baked. No one in the house particularly likes turkey, so we go our own way
  6. Do you ever go out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner? We did last year, and my husband particularly disliked the experience, which is another reason we stayed home this year
  7. Do you eat Thanksgiving dinner earlier, later, or at the same time as you usually eat dinner? Earlier - around mid-afternoon
  8. Did you go to a church service on Thanksgiving day? Even when I did go to church regularly, Thanksgiving wasn't a Holy Day of Obligation, and I don't really go to church at all anymore...this is a long way to go to say "no"
  9. Will you, or have you ever, volunteered at a soup kitchen serving Thanksgiving dinner? Never have, but I might...never say never
  10. Do you enjoy cranberries? Nope
  11. Did you get a free turkey from anyone this year (employer, grocery store bonus program, etc.)? No, and if I had, we wouldn't have eaten it anyway (see #5)
  12. What are you thankful for? See previous post.
  13. Did you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade? No - I usually forget it's on, to be honest; and as a SoCal native, my husband's loyalty is to the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day
  14. Have you ever actually gone to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC? No
  15. Did you watch football games? No, why should it have been any different from usual? I'm not a football fan (I'm the one who went for a drive on Super Bowl Sunday and came back engaged to be married, you know)
  16. What is your favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition? I don't think I have one
  17. Did you help do the dishes after dinner? Since I did the cooking, my husband and mother-in-law kicked me out of the kitchen at clean-up time
  18. Do you like pumpkin pie? Oh, yes, and mine turned out just yummy!
  19. Was there someone you wished you could be with this Thanksgiving? My son, but he'll be here at Christmas
  20. Will you go Christmas shopping on “Black Friday” or are those people just crazy? I get up early to avoid people, not crowd stores with them. I have to take my dad grocery shopping today, but plan to stay away any other stores as much as possible!


  1. We always celebrate Thanksgiving at home, never been even to a restaurant. I don't know if we're anomalies, or if Thanksgiving is more a nuclear family event in Canada.

    I did cook a turkey (we all love the stuff), first time ever, and we ate it, as we do all huge festive meals, at 1:00. You have to leave time to digest!

    The only forms in which I enjoy cranberries are sauce or jelly, and strung on the Christmas tree.

    I'd never heard of "Black Friday" before this post. I take it that's the day the stores experience the first full-throttle flush of Christmas shoppers?

    Nor had I heard of the Macy's parade, but the thought of watching television as part of a celebratory day is just depressing to me.

    Pumpkin pie? I buy them, because I don't want to cook something I simply won't eat. But I did make a curried pumpkin soup from scratch, and that was yummy! (It's not the flavour so much as the texture of pumpkin pie that I find so off-putting.)

  2. MaryP - I think Thanksgiving in the USA is considered more of an extended-family holiday, and it's people who aren't spending it with extended family (childless couples, older people, small families living at a distance from loved ones) who are more likely to have Thanksgiving dinner at restaurants. Also, for some families, "nuclear" has a more explosive meaning - pun intended - and it's probably safer to be out in public, where behavior standards are higher.

    Black Friday is exactly what you think it is - one of the great manifestations of American consumerism. Most stores close for Thanksgiving Day, but reopen as early as midnight on the day after, with special sales just for the extra-early birds. Go to one of those stores later on Friday, and they look like they've been ravaged.

    And the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has been sponsored by the department store of the same name since 1929 (hey, it's as old as my dad!) - again, it ties in with the start of the Christmas-shopping season. If it's on TV, it's usually background while food prep is getting going - not many people watch it from beginning to end, unless it's in person. But TV is a big part of many families' Thanksgiving Day festivities here; I guess you don't have Thanksgiving Day football games in Canada? (Since my son wasn't here, we didn't have to watch any...I love him to pieces, but his sport-nuttiness makes me nutty sometimes.)

  3. I did go out shopping today because I needed to and ended up doing other shopping as well. It was kind of nice being able to wander into a store at 9 a.m. and have it be open. I went to a nearby clothing store that wasn't busy at all. I managed to find just what I was looking for.

    My husband talked me into going to the mall later in the afternoon and it wasn't so bad. Most of the frenzy was dying down by then. The salespeople were worn out and tired. I imagine it's much worse for them than anyone else.

  4. Literary Feline - I didn't end up getting to the supermarket on Friday, but I did happen to wander into Kohl's around mid-afternoon...the lines weren't too long and the store wasn't a complete wreck. I was pleasantly surprised. Glad you had a good shopping experience too!

    And when I went out on errands on Saturday morning, the stores were very quiet. I guess everyone's tired. :-)

  5. Florinda - This turned out GREAT!!

  6. Laurie - Thanks for the inspiration!

