Thanksgiving Dilemma....

I didn't intend to follow up yesterday's post about Christmas with a post about Thanksgiving. At the very least, they're in the wrong order. It may also be a case of holiday overload. But it is what it is. (That's the new mantra Hubby and I have begun to cling to.)

I think I mentioned earlier that we were up in the air as to what to do about Thanksgiving. Last year I cooked a big meal (well, Sweet Girl was home, and she did the lion's share of it, bless her), and the year before that (I think?) Hubby and I went to Sweet Girl's home in Jacksonville, where she ALSO did most of the cooking. (Detect a pattern here?)

This year, with Hubby's mother being in such bad shape, I knew we wouldn't do a big (or even medium-sized) family thing. We were left with the options of going out to eat on Thanksgiving or ordering one of those already-cooked meals from one of the area grocery stores. Even those are a tad on the expensive side, though, and still result in a lot of waste. Hubby doesn't even LIKE turkey, and I don't like it that most of us use the day as an excuse to overindulge. I understand the Pilgrims were about to starve to death, but that doesn't apply to most of us.

Hubby's mother is doing better as far as eating and drinking, but she is nowhere near ready to eat many foods. Soups, eggs, ice cream, milkshakes, and mashed potatoes are about all she can handle right now.

Personally, I would just as soon ignore the day altogether and spend it taking a walk in the park and watching football. I hate to do that this year, though, since it could very well be my mother-in-law's last Thanksgiving. She MAY feel up to venturing out to a restaurant, but again, she can't eat very much, and I don't want her to think she has to force herself to eat just to "get our money's worth."

Three years ago, when Hubby and I had just bought our RV, we left on Thanksgiving for our very first trip in it. We didn't go far, about 30 miles from home, and we had ham sandwiches that night for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was perfect. The weather was very nice, and when it cooled off considerably after the sun went down, we were fine once we learned how to turn on the furnace. We don't have the option of leaving town this year, since his mother is so ill, so we are back to square one.

Decisions, decisions. Damn those Pilgrims anyway.