Random Wednesday 22/30

Ready for a brain dump? Let’s go.

  • I read yesterday that Thanksgiving Eve is the biggest reading day of the year. Seriously? Who has time to read on this day? Men, I bet. And then I thought, well, it’s probably connected to the traveling that happens. If you’re in a car or a bus or plane I guess you might be reading.
  • Speaking of Thanksgiving travel, the traffic people on the news are as pumped about these reports as the weather people are about a gigantic storm. C’mon, people. It’s traffic and it’s not that exciting and certainly doesn’t warrant extended coverage.
  • We’ve reinstated a weekly dinner night with the kids. This was something we did when Patrick was younger but we’d gotten out of the habit in recent years. Now that we have Jackie we’ve started this up again on Tuesday nights. Can I tell you, though? I can’t believe I used to cook dinner for 6 every night and I’m definitely out of practice when it comes to feeding a small crowd on a week night. So far I’ve made chicken and rice, baked ziti, white bean chicken chili, American chop suey, and roast beef. Really, though, it’s not about the food, it’s about gathering around the table and visiting and, (if I’m being completely honest) holding that sweet little baby so that his mama can get a hot meal.
  • Speaking of Jackie, I’m using him as leverage to convince Dale that we should get an artificial tree. That might not make sense to you but here’s my approach: “Dale! Look at how Jackie loves to look at the twinkle lights! Just think how he’s going to love the tree! Oh, but how sad that he won’t get to really enjoy the tree more than a couple of times since we put it up so late. That’s a shame, really, because look at his little eyes taking this all in. Hey! If we got an artificial tree we could put it up right away.” Apparently this genius approach has worked because I am now researching artificial trees. Got tips? Share them for me, would you? Because this is overwhelming.
  • That’s all I’ve got for today. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

 

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This Post Has 19 Comments

  1. Love that you’re doing a family dinner mid-week. We tend to do those great re-charging things like gathering with those we love on weekends. But doing it during the week makes the week feel warmer and shorter. Can only imagine what a treat that is for Jack’s parents.

    Artificial tree? No.

  2. Nice articial trees seem to be very expensive. I don’t want to get one sight unseen, and the ones in stores (Home Depot, Lowe’s) are yucky. Amazon has some nice-looking ones but, again, sight unseen. So year after year, we struggle with a real tree.

  3. We put up our real tree about December 10 at the latest and it still looks pretty good when we take it out around January 1. Sure we lose a few needles on the way out.

    We did buy an artificial tree for upstairs last year. The first one was so sad looking (and broken). The one we finally settled on was from Costco.

    Enjoy Thanksgiving.

  4. I’ve always had an artificial tree. I put it up last weekend, which was early but the weather was warm for pulling boxes out of the garage.
    I would consider a prelit tree. Those I know that have one, love it. My next tree will be prelit as I struggle with putting on the lights.

  5. The biggest reading day of the year?! Not for me, but I might have a big reading day on Friday. (And how do they even measure something like that?) Your weekly dinner is a great idea. I would have given almost anything to be able to eat a hot meal (especially one that I didn’t have to prepare!) at that stage. We still put up a real tree, so no tips, but I look forward to hearing if your genius plan works!

  6. We’ve got a real tree too…but we keep it up for weeks! So happy you’re doing the mid-week dinner thing. It really is a great way to break up the week and dodge the winter doldrums! Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

  7. I love that you’re doing family dinners! Lots of good reasons for that. I have an artificial tree that was my mom’s, she bought YEARS ago for MANY hundreds of dollars. As long as I put up a tree, it’ll probably be that one. It’s not pre-lit (unless I do it myself)… Mom had replaced the one I have with one of those and it was nothing but a headache.

  8. I read that blurb somewhere yesterday, too . . . about the day before Thanksgiving being the biggest reading day. I SNORTED in disbelief. (Must be the travelers???) (Because it sure ain’t the cooks!!!)

    Have fun with your artificial tree research. Make sure you figure out how/where you’re going to store it. And check out ease-in-set-up AND taking-down. We never got in so many swearing spells of irritation as when we were (1) setting our tree up every year, and (2) trying to stick it back in it’s box. Let’s just say that . . . after a few artificial years, we happily switched back to a real tree. (I’ll take vacuuming needles over cramming that thing back in the box ANY day.)

    XO

  9. We bought a fake tree after the real one fell down and smashed a bunch of ornaments. I was done! I love that I can put it up on Friday and enjoy it for a month!

    I like the brand Santa’s Best for a fake tree. They sell them online (QVC), but I got mine at Home Depot. Super simple to set up, sturdy branches and pretty good coverage. Most of the trees I looked at were kind of sparse in the branch department. Also, it has a remote and you can change the light colors and patterns. I love that part a lot! I think if you’re going to get a fake tree, embrace it! I think it was around $300 for a 7 1/2 foot tree.

    Hope that helps!

  10. For many years we headed to the hills and cut a tree. Now we have the artificial one—easier but not quite the same.

  11. Your family dinners are ingenious for a million reasons. Reading on T-day EVE! Even I am laughing (although I’m reading blogs). I only have a few things to do, but reading is not on that list. I hope your day goes smoothly and I know your day will be well executed and a wonderful celebration of your family. xox

  12. I wouldn’t get a pre-lit one again. We had one and just one section of the lights went out and we were never able to fix it. They flickered on and off and we took to calling it the “disco tree.” Even after we covered that section with one separate strand of lights, the disco effect was still obvious. We scrapped it for one with no lights, and we are very happy with it. Yes, it takes a bit more time to put the lights on it, but it’s worth the effort and then we get to load up on lights. A lot of pre-lit ones don’t have as many lights as I’d like.

  14. My parents have family dinner night on Tuesdays also. They are 89 and 91 and still do it almost every week. My niece and nephew used to go to their house after school and it started back then. My niece is now 29 and married (and expecting) and they still do it for her as she wants to come see them every week. She hosts it a few Tuesday a year.

    Interesting about it being the biggest reading day of the year but I guess I did my part as I finally finished The Zookeeper’s Wife after about a month of reading.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

  15. I have been trying to figure out how to get organized enough to have family dinners. So many different schedules to coordinate, but you have inspired me to try. I hope you have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving, Carole. Reading – very funny.

  16. We got a prelit tree from balsam hill on line. Not cheap but easy to set up and looks good. Definitely not a Charlie Brown tree. Love that it is prelit. Happy thanksgiving.

  17. Love the family dinners! (and yeah, I have NO IDEA how to cook for that number of people anymore 🙂 I’m also considering an artificial tree – there’s a 7-1/2 foot one at Costco for $328 and it looks really good – pre-lit. we’ll see….

  18. I am laughing hysterically at the artificial tree discussion! BRILLIANT!! Hahahahaha! My advice – do not get one pre-strung with lights, as it is a bitch and a half to remove them when the lights burn out.

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