Oh my sweet potato pie! It’s Thanksgiving week here in the U.S. and I am in the usual flurry. I had the flu last week, which was not a pretty thing as it brought my world to a screeching halt for several days. But there are several bright sides here that I thought I’d share in case anyone else is acting like a headless chicken.
I’m not completely knocked out of NaNoWrimMo contention.
Okay, I probably am. I’ve been hovering around 24K in NaNoWriMo for days, and I’m unlikely to win with Thanksgiving prep in front of me. Still…TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND wordaroonies. That’s more than I get to some years and it’s not even the end of the month. Wahoo!!
My Thanksgiving shopping is 90% done.
If you know about my gluten free Thanksgiving needs, you know that’s major. I have everyone over here every year so I can eat my favorite things and not get glutened (which equals the Migraine of Death).
That’s two super cool things up there. I like to cook and I like to write. And I LOVE to see my family. But hello? Hosting Turkey Day is a ton of work, as many of you know. And I just had the flu.
Also, I fear that I am the only one who still has Turkey Block.
Y’all remember the dreaded Turkey Block, right? This ain’t no gastric thang. This is a major phobia.
Turkey freakage.
Poultry Interruptus.
Fear. Of. The. Bird.
Every year, I start getting wiggy about the gobbler until my husband takes pity and volunteers for the bird. I just can’t take the responsibility of the main event.
Here are the 5 signs that you too suffer from Turkey Block. (It’s a thing. Don’t judge.)
Today is the Thanksgiving feast at the girlie’s school, so I’ll try to get a recording of that cuteness for you guys. And I’ll be hard at work, writing and prepping. And cleaning the house. The Hubs is giving my ginormous stack of paperwork the side eye so I’ve got to go save it.
But in the midst of all that, I am thankful. I am thankful for the tremendous friends I’ve found through this blog and through my online writing groups. I’m thankful for my family and that we are able to gather for this holiday. I’m thankful for the service men and women who sacrifice time with their family so we can be with ours.
What is on tap for you this week? What dish do you most look forward to at Thanksgiving? Which one do you dread making? Share some favorite recipes, will you? Enquiring minds love to know these things here at More Cowbell!
~ Jenny
Jenny Hansen's Blog 
I’ve put in a couple of NaNoWriMo days of 3000 words and am now at 20K. I probably won’t finish the book by the end of the month, but I will work on it every day until I finish, and I’ve confirmed that it will be a book, so I’m calling myself a winner.
In other news, I’ve never liked turkey. Mom was rather proud of her traditional Sicilian lasagna for Thanksgiving, and we’re not even Sicilian.
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Sicilian lasagna? Wow! That’s one I haven’t heard before. I think that’s an awesome tradition if you dislike Turkey. So, you said “was”…are you now mom-less too? If so, you have my deepest sympathy. I miss my mom dreadfully at the holidays.
p.s. 3,000 word days are AMAZING. Good on you. 🙂
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Mom-less for 27 years. Her second husband was Sicilian, hence the tradition. Daddy, meanwhile, will spend Thanksgiving deer hunting. He started hunting with dogs in the back of his DeSoto. My wife and I might get our Thanksgiving meal from the Indian restaurant up the road we’ve been meaning to try. And I’ll keep writing. You do the same!
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Will do, Michael! And Happy Thanksgiving. 🙂
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So glad the flu didn’t hit you this week, Jenny. I hope you’re fully recovered. That’s rough. Have a happy happy Thanksgiving with family and friends and stay away from that bird! Well, at least till it’s cooked. 🙂
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LOL. You and me both. I’m going with the flu because it was a quick virus with high fevers, but I don’t really know what the heck that was (besides 3 full days in bed). I will stay away from the bird from the moment it comes home from the store. All I touch are the giblets and the neck. I need those for gravy. 🙂
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Turkey block! Ha! I hadn’t heard that before. You crack me up. Coming from the poultry family myself Thanksgiving was always a big holiday when my Dad was still alive. Turkey was the thing and I love cooking that day, some people find it stressful but I enjoy it (it’s the clean up that stresses me out) but I just imagine I have my own cooking special on Food Network and I’m fine 🙂
Thanksgiving goes on of course but nothing as good as when my Dad was here, but we still make time for new traditions with my kids. Like the whole month of November every night before bed we say something that we are thankful for, we watch Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving Special, I make the pumpkin pie and whip cream, and the green bean casserole. We stuff ourselves and I try hard to bottle up that moment and save it for the quiet of the night.
I hope the TheraFlu and NyQuil worked it’s magic and you’re turning the corner on those bad boy germs, because being sick on the holidays does kind of suck … takes the cow right out of the bell. But glad you’re bouncing back … back enough to get 26K in the NanoWrimo. Duuuuuuuude! AWESOME! High-five girl! Hope you have a good turkey day!
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Jenny! Be well my friend. I’ve never suffered from Turkey Block, but I am suffering from Traditional Thanksgiving block! We hosted both sides at Thanksgiving for 15 years–some years there’d be 23 people, some years 8. Three years ago everyone was doing something else, except for my inlaws. I looked at my husband and said, “I am not cooking a whole Thanksgiving dinner for your mom and dad.” He said, “Let’s go out to eat.”
Thus was born a new tradition, going out to eat. We love it!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Damn, that’s way too many words for me to write in a month.My newest post was 2100 words and I was about to give birth at the end! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
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