This thanksgiving I called my mom to see what the plans were, we didn’t go to her house last year so it was her turn and she isn’t doing it on Thursday, she wants to do it on Friday because that’s my birthday (35!) and the rest of the Family can safely travel better that day.
So that left the option of a)Calling my estranged father who hasn’t spoken to me in 10 months to see what he is doing? Naw, I wash my hands of that headache. Or B) calling my husband mom and finding out what is going on there.
Backstory Time:
Thanksgiving at my In laws has never been a good experience. They live in a double wide, that is full of furniture, so it might as well be a single. They always invite some random strangers either from their church, or some “old friend”. They never make enough food, so if you are hungry when you get there? You will leave that way. Its freakishly odd how one could make a portion of food so small for such a big group. There are never enough places to sit, so everyone is sitting in precarious places and you had better not want to get up for anything once you are sitting down!
The last thanksgiving we were there, which was two years ago, we were told that it would Begin at 1:00. we get there at 12:30 and everyone is eating already and ¾ of the food is gone. They say to us as soon as we get through the door “its about time!” and we say “you told us 1” and they say “we started early” and we say “no one told us” and they say “oops” we stayed for 10 minutes and left, eating pizza later for thanksgiving (props to five star pizza!)
THIS YEAR, they are having……..27 people over……..20 freaking 7 people. That’s not including our hungry behinds! So I said Hell to the No.
We are going to stay home, make sushi, and watch “home for the holidays” with Robert Downey Jr. BUT SHHHH we are telling the in laws we are going to my dads……
That’s my story for this thanksgiving. Anyone relate?
Jil Sander
Great story! It sounds like a movie... kinda reminds me of Sweet Home Alabama for some reason
1As far as our plans go, my godparents are coming up to Maryland and we're going to my Aunt's house who lives about 20 minutes from us. It will be really nice to be with family but it's my first thanksgiving not with my immediate fam. AND it means no fried turkey. Here's to hoping dad makes it for Christmas
2I love fried turkey!
I wish just once his parents would only invite all the kids (6 of them) thier spouses, grandpa and grandma and thats it. That would be immediate family, a nice cozy time, enough food and no headache.
She just emailed me, my MIL, 30 people now, to ask if we had changed our minds...um no lady I didnt.
3This will be my first thanksgiving home in 4 years and my SIL has made it hell. So I basically said I'm done with the holidays for a while, I always go pup there and no one ever comes to visit me (with the exception of my mom, God love her! she's the best!), so I'm not going anymore.
Christmas will be spent at my house relaxing nicely with my husband and I CANNOT WAIT!!!
4A sushi Thanksgiving sounds perfect to me! All of our family lives close, so we literally spend the entire day shuffling from one house to the next. I look forward to it but its tiring as hell. I envy you your private, movie and sushi-filled Thanksgiving.
5speaking of sushi, I have yet to find good sushi in my new town.
6syako the search for good sushi is a hard one! especially if you like the raw stuff. You have to be very trusting of the establishment.
7I'll be going to my brother's for Thanksgiving this year.
I talked to my little
sister last night and she mentioned that her family will also be at my brother's place. 
My
husband will be up at the cabin with his deer hunting buddies. He plans to do a Thanksgiving meal for them.
8I'm not sure we have good sushi anywhere in Milwaukee.
9Hey SKb, My dad is buried in Milwaukee, in the naval cemetery , I Have always wanted to go see him.
10Thanksgiving will be with my fam in NY. His family gets Xmas.
Sy, where in MD do you live? I lived in Frederick for about two years.
11Woooow, your in-laws sound like a pain in the ass. Good for you for opting out.
Mmm, sushi. Sashimi.
12I'll PM you. Don't want all the crazies to know.
13Wish I could make my own. We always say we're going to try one day.
14
hoping none of you took offense to that comment 13, just meant that it's a
public post and I don't make a habit of posting private things on public posts. I, of course, trust all of you. 
15I AM a crazy so I wasn't offended in the least.
16hey, we ARE all crazies.
what if some exuberant syako fan found out where you live
and started camping on your lawn?
17I know! It'd be misery.
18I am SO offended!
We are through!!!!
19good riddance!
20I'm sorry. I love you.
21I have to have my family over for T-day. I can't believe my wife called and asked them to come.
22Tell them your house flooded and you're either eating at one of their houses or staying at a hotel for the night
23All I saw was the sushi tray and tried to catch the yard-long-line-of-drool...
24syako...I have a cousin in Maryland, I'll ask her and let you know.
25I just had fried turkey for the first time last weekend and it was the best thing EVER! I'm going to try to talk my parents into doing for Christmas.
26Oh, by the way, i have a close friend who's in-laws come to visit for the ENTIRE month of November. Her m-i-l insists on making thanksgiving dinner HER way and refuses to let my friend start her own traditions with her husband. that would drive me nuts.
My brother and I have been trying for years to convince the rest of the family that deep-fried turkey is a good idea. They'd probably let us do it, since we usually do the T-day cooking, but we're apparently both too cheap to actually buy the giant deep fryer required
27Sy, come to my house. We're doing two turkeys (ironic since I'm a vegetarian, but then again I'm not cooking). My husband is oven baking a brine (sp?) turkey and my bro in law is frying one.
28We're doing some game hens this year or something.. Sounds damn good and my mom is a great cook.
I can't wait!
29CG, Good for you! You should make the holidays your own, and celebrate them in the way that suits you best.
I'm not a domestic diva by any means, but I declined the in-laws last year for the first time and it was *much* better to deal with the cooking than the drama.
Plan to do the same this year. Full-on traditional T-Day food.
30Followed by a 24-hour food coma (as the kids call it) and recovery period.
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The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money. -- Alexis de Tocqueville
Ive been lucky to have my own T Day with my hubby for the last few years... I do all the cooking, he does the carving, we eat a ton and then have a Bond-athon James Bond marathon!
I love a holiday that involves food and TV!
No presents!!!
31CG, I feel ya. No in-laws here, but I have some complete odd balls in my family. We rarely all end up together but the last time we did... I think everybody left thinking it was indeed The Last Time. One child got 86'd (exiled) to the car for not breaking her bread (she chomped off a bite). An Aunt kept meddling in the kitchen asking if there would be enough gravy, 50 times no less. Yet another class act arrived with baggies and to-go containers. That was about five years ago.
Prior to that, the only memory I have is as a child at a French restaurant, scared to death to eat inappropriately. And I ended up with some saucy Frenchy French fruity chicken concoction. At that age, I was petrified. I just wanted some mac and cheese.
I love Thanksgiving and the holidays because I get a head start on business. Sounds scroogie, but I love it. And I do enjoy the decor and seeing others with a spring in their step. And pedestrians allowed to cross in the crosswalk without mad-dashing for their lives.
BUT, CG, 27 people! Pizza it is, I say!
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