Mindless Chatter - TGIF

l.michelle

I am stressssssed out.  I have so much to do today after work.  I have to clean the rest of the living room/dining rooms, the basement, wash the bathrooms, luckily i washed the kitchen floor last night, then go to the grocery store and pick up the rest of my stuff, set up my table and such in the dining room

I used to get all stressed and frantic before a big holiday dinner.  To the point I couldn't enjoy any of it, I just wanted it to be over. lol  I have some old broad advice for you.  Don't worry about any big cleaning of the house.  Give everything a quick going over and clean the bathrooms and forget the rest.  No one cares if your house isn't spotless.  If they do care, they have their priorities messed up.  It's about enjoying the day and spending time together.

Don't leave the turkey out of the fridge over night. If it's not thawed, put it in an ice chest filled with water to finish thawing but it needs to remain cold enough to stop bacteria growth.  I think that is around 40 degrees F.

JackieG

I have some old broad advice for you. 

Here's some more old broad advice:   Have drinks ready so you can give them one as soon as they walk in the door and keep them coming from there.  Depending on how strong you make them, they either won't see the dust bunnies or won't care when they do.

Deb W.

l.michelle

I'm thinking of taking the turkey out of the fridge over night tonight?  I am cooking it tomorrow morning, do you guys think that would be okay?

Not a good idea but as Jackie said, you can start using an cold water bath tonight. You do have to be careful to keep the water very cold though. I'm a total freak about the risk of foodborne illness though, so I'd probably stay up all night babysitting the turkey.

I'm so glad it's Friday but I'm even more glad that it's a 3 day weekend..and my boss is out of town today. Yay, it's gonna be a great day.

We're supposed to get a cold front and possibly some heavy rain next Monday or Tuesday. We haven't had more than a day or two of rain in months, so it'll be kind of nice.

iluvjamison

Here's some more old broad advice:   Have drinks ready so you can give them one as soon as they walk in the door and keep them coming from there.  Depending on how strong you make them, they either won't see the dust bunnies or won't care when they do.

Deb W.

I am in LOVE with this pearl of wisdom!!!  I am seriously considering printing it out & hanging it on the fridge!

Deb, have fun tonight.  Don't do anything that I wouldn't do.......

Lies, I thought of you earlier today.  I got tickets to U2's concert in Houston next week.  I've never been a huge U2 fan, but DH loves them.  I figured that it would be a fun surprise for him.  I'm also planning on going to the Renaissance Festival while we are down there. 

l.michelle

I am stressssssed out.  I have so much to do today after work.  I have to clean the rest of the living room/dining rooms, the basement, wash the bathrooms, luckily i washed the kitchen floor last night, then go to the grocery store and pick up the rest of my stuff, set up my table and such in the dining room (i haven't got a dining room table let so I'm using Derek's big long folding table). 

I'm thinking of taking the turkey out of the fridge over night tonight?  I am cooking it tomorrow morning, do you guys think that would be okay?

so much stuff to do!  But, I bought these cute thanksgiving tea towels :)  so i replaced my halloween ones for now :D

Lauren slow down. To use my grandmother's quote "it will not be perfect, but it will be wonderful". A little dust and spots will go unnoticed. Relax most of all. You can do this, and since it is your first family party you should enjoy every moment of it, not work yourself to the point of exhaustion.

Is the Turkey lurkey thawed completely? If so then no reason to take it out until your ready to dress and cook it. If it is still a bit frozen in the center, then take it out tonight and let it thaw in a sink of cold water why your doing other things.

Now, take a deep breath, make a list of what you want to get done or have to check/buy/make. Buy a bottle of nice wine to sip through the evening and go mark a time on the clock, if it is not done by that time, then forget it. Get a good nights rest and have a wonderful thanksgiving.

It's so hard to remember those frantic holiday meals!  I already have the bulk of our Thanksgiving dinner in the freezer.  I just do it when I turn on the oven for something else.  Stick in a squash, some sweet taters....but, doing that comes from the days of working full time, raising kids and still trying to do all the traditional stuff  Old habits die hard I guess.

Just finished the quarterly report for the FCC.  Major pain in the rear, but at least its done until the end of the year.

I NEED a weekend now.

Thanks everyone :)

If tomorrow morning the turkey isn't completely thawed in the middle (how do i check that without taking it out of the wrapping?)  what do i do if it isn't completely thawed tomorrow morning?  sink of water?  and cold water or warm?  sorry for all the ridiculous questions.  but thank you all sooo much for your advice! 

Today is DS#1's last day of sixth grade.  I was a bit worried about how motivated he would be to behave so this morning, I bet him $20 that he couldn't behave all day today.  He's a very competitive kid, so he accepted the bet very quickly.

I got this email from him about ten minutes ago....

Dear Aunt Mandy,

I owe you $20.

The school called me to see if anyone could come pick him up early. 

l.michelle

Thanks everyone :)

If tomorrow morning the turkey isn't completely thawed in the middle (how do i check that without taking it out of the wrapping?)  what do i do if it isn't completely thawed tomorrow morning?  sink of water?  and cold water or warm?  sorry for all the ridiculous questions.  but thank you all sooo much for your advice! 

You'll be able to tell if it's frozen if you touch it and it's hard as a rock. If it is, start with the cold bath but use only cold water and the colder, the better. You may not be able to totally submerse it, but you can turn it, change the water and then turn it again. You're going to be just fine.

Amanda - that's funny about the bet not working. I think even I could be good for $20...maybe...for a little while.

 Michelle, good luck!!! I'm sure everything will be great :) Just remember, if they don't like it, screw 'em!

Liesje, I hope you feel better. Do get to a doctor if you can - those persistent things can catch up to you really quickly sometimes.

Amanda, I'm chuckling about your son. I'm glad the school approved skipping grades - I hope the new challenges help! I went to college with a kid who skipped 2 or 3 grades. He was a little immature at times, sure, but we never guessed how young he was until he told us. Socially, he seemed to just fine. Plus, the kid is a genius - aced all of his undergrad classes at a really difficult school, and now is apparently rocking a Ph.D. program at MIT.

Maybe your DS is destined to be the next Doogie Howser! 

Deb, I'm insanely jealous.  I've seen Bruce twice.  He puts on great shows.  Since it's going to be the last show @ Giants Statium he will prolly be putting more into it.  Have a blast!  Think of me if he does Rosalita.  That's one of my favorite songs of his.

This is what happens when you're bored.

I had a cast change on Wednesday.  I decided that since I had the chance I'd go for a different color.  Since Halloweenie is just around the corner, I'd go with orange.  The rest, well, I'm bored out of my ghord & this is the result of said boredom.  The good news is, I think I'm healing.  Crutches are evil!!

 Ahahahaha, very nice! I also love the papillon footrest :)

Let me let you in on a little secret.  As long as MOST of the turkey is thawed, it won't matter much if the very inside isn't nicely thawed.  Just clean it as you normally would, do whatever else you want to do before sticking it in the oven.  It'll take a smidgen longer to cook, but don't stress about not totally thawed.

cakana

We're supposed to get a cold front and possibly some heavy rain next Monday or Tuesday. We haven't had more than a day or two of rain in months, so it'll be kind of nice.

I had to laugh at the weather report on the news last night.  They made it sound like this is going to be the storm of the century ... "bring in your Halloween decorations, cover up or bring in your yard furniture" etc.  I tend to think *I'll believe it when I see it* but I'd love to have another one of those rain, thunder & lightening storms like the one we had back in June. I already put the patio umbrella in the laundry room since summer is pretty much over anyway and I really don't want it sailing off into someone else's back yard.

Joyce

I wanted to add, Michele....Don't stress about making sure your house is perfect.  Amanda has great advice.  Get your gets drunk & they won't worry about dust bunnies or other stuff. Plus, they're there to see you.  Really, the whole thing about a holiday is being with family.  Food is secondary, IMHO.  Good luck & have fun!!