Still Thankful

We are having an unconventional Thanksgiving this year. Not by conscious design.

My mom is in the hospital until Monday, after an event that took us by surprise on Wednesday. She seems to be improving. The doctors asked her to repeat "tree, apple, dog" and she could not. But don't you worry about Val's mom, because neither could my sister's husband the ex-mayor, or their adult son. We're hoping that her progress continues. All the doctors have ruled out for sure are heart attack and stroke.

With Mom laid up against her will, after already cooking a ham for naught, the Thevictorian family was left to their own devices for sustenance today. The Pony and I headed for town with a wad of money from the Christmas stash, since I left my debit card in the ATM Wednesday in the confusion. We wended our way through Walmart's maze of Pallets O' Bargains for evening sale kick-offs, and gathered provisions for our feast. Around 1:15 I started preparing the meal. Here's the menu:

Roast Chicken
Green Beans With Bacon, Ham, and Onions
Roasted Carrots and Onions
Stuffing (Courtesy of Stove-Top)
Hash Brown Potato Casserole
Hot Rolls
Green Bean Bundles (because the Thevictorian family can't get enough green beans)
Oreo Cake
Sugar-Free Chocolate Pudding Pie

Not too shabby for a gal who only warms things in the oven or heats them in the microwave. I carefully planned my menu to revolve around food that would cook at 350 degrees. We were chowing down by 4:30. Even The Pony ventured away from his comfort zone and ate some potatoes and a green bean bundle. And he LIKED them! He has not yet cut into his Oreo cake. He took it out to T-Hoe's hatch to cool off. That boy loves his Oreo cake chilled.

Poor Genius. He's isolated at his own private Overlook Hotel. The two students on his hall left on Wednesday, leaving only Genius and his kind-of boss, another RA, who was planning to pick up his girlfriend today. He had stayed longer than expected, because he was sick. I told Genius that I was sure they would not mind if he invited himself to their Thanksgiving celebration. He didn't seem to share my opinion.

Genius cannot leave town because he is on call. He said he would venture out to see if any stores were open so he could buy some food. All he had was a bit of eggs and bacon. He must have been shaking down his dorm-dwellers to afford the bacon. I can imagine they might be willing to part with some cash in order to regain entrance into their abode away from home. Genius said he gets at least two calls a day to go let locked-out people into their room. So...he was planning to have the traditional Thanksgiving omelet for his feast.

All in all, not a bad Thanksgiving. Mom is in good spirits and says her staff are taking good care of her. Genius is going to survive his caretaking adventure. The bank should have my debit card somewhere in its bowels. And Hick helped me prepare today's feast with minor carnage.

I sure will miss my buddy on Bill-Paying Friday tomorrow.