Even though life has been very busy recently, this season has been very full for me. In a good way.
Last Friday we drove from Nebraska to Indiana for my annual Friendsgiving. Every year we alternate between the Indianapolis area and the Chicago area. This was the 14th annual Turducken. And it was the 10th one in a row that I’ve attended. (I wasn’t able to travel in college to go visit those first four years).
The trip was nice. The boys handled themselves fairly well in the car, a sign that they are indeed getting older and able to manage their emotions a little bit better. Micah was especially well behaved, and the stress that that relieves on a trip is unmeasurable.
We drove to Sarah’s mom’s place. They live out in Eastern Indiana. There are parts that are stressful being out there. And obviously anytime you’re around your parents or in-laws, well, there are differences in life choices and opinions. But overall, I find it fairly relaxing to be out there. The boys love being with their Grammaw and Pappaw, as they call them. And that just makes everything else melt away.
Turducken each year feels a bit different because we have it at a different location nearly every year. This year it was at one of my oldest childhood friend’s parent’s house. My sister came for the first time this year, my brother came with my dad, and my dad stayed until right before we ate. It was good seeing him. I see him maybe once of year these days.
I would talk more about Turducken/friendsgiving this year, but I think it’s mostly boring for anyone else to read. I will say we had about 45 people this year and it was good to see my childhood friends. Worth the drive, for sure.
We drove back on Monday, after stopping quickly for breakfast with Sarah’s dad and step-mom and grandparents at IHOP.
There wasn’t too much time to relax because just three days later we would be hosting our Boys Town thanksgiving, expecting over 50 people. We still had to get most of the food from the store and plan out our schedule to get everything made before people arrived at 2:00pm.
With two turkeys, a ham, and practically limitless sides we were successful. We had rearranged the entire living room to accommodate 50+ people. And that’s about how many we had.
Sarah and our assistant went Christmas shopping on the evening of Thanksgiving at our local outlet mall to hit up all the black Friday deals. They were gone from 6:30pm to 2:00am shopping for our eight girls. They got great deals, and nearly all of our Christmas shopping is now done.
This Christmas season I had decided that I wanted to get a DNA test kit from either Ancestry or 23 and Me. I knew that they had Black Friday deals and I ended up getting the 23 and Me ancestry and health test for half off. I look forward to learning more about myself and my heritage.
The Overlap 