The Dynamic Duo

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And so we wrap up another successful, both food-wise and family-wise Thanksgiving Holiday. UltraMom, pro that she is, handled a 20-person sit-down Thanksgiving dinner with great dash and aplomb………….well, okay, maybe I had a “little help from my friends.”
The holiday began for UltraDad and I a week ago when UltraJimbo arrived. I do not realize just how much I miss that kid til I’ve had him back again for a few days. There is always a bit of adjustment at first. Jim seems to be under the mistaken impression that my greatest joy in life is laundry. “Got something for ya, Mom,” he cheerfully calls out, lugging in a monstrous bulging laundry-bag. Later I hear him telling sister and cousins about my laundry-obsession. “It was like drugs to her. She would come in my room, searching under stuff, in my bed, all around the corners of the room for dirty clothes.” Hmph. Blessed with a healthy sense of self, Jim also believes it will give me the greatest of pleasure to cook him his favorite meals. Well, that part is true enough.
Several days into his week-long stay, I decided to tackle the often-requested biscuits & gravy. The store only had link-sausages, but after cooking I chopped them into tiny bits to more closely resemble the ground pork sausage more traditionally used with this dish. Now for the biscuits. Usually I open one of those cans; you know, where you pull the paper off and the can pops open, always causing me to jump, even though I know its coming. Or make the recipe from the Bisquick box. But I wanted these to be really good and special. Jim suggested I call Uncle Chuck, who, according to him, makes excellent biscuits. “I do NOT need to call Uncle Chuck,” I said grumpily. “I can make biscuits.” Of course you know where this is going. The biscuits were quite terrible, probably mostly because I left out the baking powder, one of the key ingredients. Later I did ask Uncle Chuck for his biscuit recipe. “I usually just use Bisquick,” he told me.
Wednesday night nearly everyone arrived: Chuck and Joy, Billie and Patty & Patty’s daughter Kayce, Nicki, Chad & Denali, Mike, Chenoa & Chester, and Heather. I met everyone at Chin’s the local Chinese restaurant after work that night. Everyone except UltraDad, that is, who had to work all night. On Thanksgiving, more arrived. Billie & Brandi with their niece Kiana and nephew Dalton, Kathy and Kay. Of course Pat was around too. Most of the guests had motel rooms in Carlin, but Nicki & Chad stayed with Pat, while my kids stayed at our house.
I got up early to get the turkey in the oven. Everything was going fine, when I suddenly realized that UltraDad was late getting home from work. In the end, he was one and one half hours late. In the meantime, I had sent out search parties to make sure his car was still in the parking lot, which it was. It had snowed that night, and that always causes some problems. There had been a wreck blocking the road. And he had forgotten to plug his cell phone in the night before, so he couldn’t let us know. Poor guy.
As the turkey was cooking, and when there was somehow a break in must-see television football, we found time for the second annual touch football game to be played, this year, at the Carlin City Park. Heather and Brandi were team captains. Brandi won the toss and loyally selected her husband…….just kidding. She picked Jim, and Heather picked up Billie. Brandi also ended up with Mike, and Nicki, Heather with Chad and Uncle Bill. In the first five minutes of the game, Brandi had to take her niece Kiana back to my house to answer a call of nature, so UltraMom had to fill in. The strategy of both teams mainly consisted of passing the ball to Jim, though only one of the teams was actually doing this on purpose. UltraMom distinguished herself by catching several passes thrown by super-athlete Mike. The first time, I was so surprised I threw it right back at him! Once I ran for it, but didn’t get too far. My main challenge, as it turned out, was remembering what team I was on, and more than once I had to be directed back to my own team’s side. All too soon Brandi subbed back in. My team really wanted me to stay in, but someone had to create cinematic proof that we had actually played, and noone else really knows how to work my camera. But I had given the team a healthy lead, and the outcome of the game was never really in question. Also, we had Jim. We won the trophy, supplied by Billie A. Uncle Bill didn’t do too badly for an old guy, though he kept blaming his tendency to slide around on his sandal-like footwear. Chad, who had recently had his thumb’s tendons reattached, played pretty well too, but when he fumbled, I dubbed him “Thumbs,” which seemed apt. Heather, Nicki and Brandi all acquitted themselves admirably.

Most of the Football Players

Dinner went off without a hitch. My turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy and cranberry sauce were superb, if I do say so myself. Pat’s fruit salad, dips, and sweet potatoes were divine. Joy’s relish tray, complete with veggies, olives, pickles and cheese stuffed celery made good nibbling ammunition. And of course Patty’s rolls, pies, and pumpkin roll were outstanding. We were a trifle short on chairs and such, but made it work with the modern miracles of couch and TV trays. Afterwards while most of the women worked on the dishes, I went over my Japan wedding speech with nephews Billie and Mike and over travel tips with niece Nicki.
The day was rounded out with several rousing games of Catch Phrase, an early Christmas gift from Bill and Patty. I was surprised when I opened their gift to not see any sign of the giggle ball. Side note: History of the Giggle Ball: Several years ago, I included this jolly soft green ball, sporting a grinning face and striped stocking cap, in Bill and Patty’s holiday basket. The ball, when caught with sufficient force, emits an annoying series of giggles. Bill was delighted and lost no opportunity to include “Giggly” in numerous pranks and games. Patty first hid the ball from Bill, and then gave it back to us hidden in our Christmas gift. And so the tradition began. But now I was puzzled. Did I have it last after all, and had just forgotten where it was?
My team handily won the Catch Phrase game, and we received a trophy, which looked suspiciously like the touch football trophy turned around the other way. As we were playing, the lights sometimes flickered. It always turned out to be Mike & Chenoa’s dog, Chester, moving around behind the couch and moving the electrical lamp cord. Soon, we were all yelling at Chester in unison each time the lights began to strobe. Everyone agreed, however, that the highlight of the game was Aunt Joy’s “Got my haircut, its my birthday” rap, complete with dance moves.

Cousins & Cousin-in-laws

The older folks

Friday morning saw Billie & Patty, Chuck & Joy, Nicki & Chad, Kayce and Heather on the road back home. But the others we had for one more day. Uncle Billie & Aunt Brandi had promised Dalton and Kiana a trip to the movies to see “Happy Feet” if they were good, and truly I have seldom seen such easily entertained children. I was the only adult from our party, other than the required Aunt & Uncle, to come along to the movie, and I had several very good naps, interspersed with scenes of singing and dancing penguins. From the kids’ standpoint I think the movie was a success, as both Kiana and Dalton left the theater with happy, dancing feet of their own. John and Jim opted to view, instead, “Deja Vu”, which they both pronounced excellent entertainment.
At the Cranium game that evening, the boys got all the easy questions and lucky rolls of the dice. I mean, come on………they had things like “The Lone Ranger” and “Michael Jackson” to act out, while we girls had ‘quadruple bypass” and “evolution”. Yeah, they won, and got the trophy, which, for some reason, looked very familiar.
Murphy and Rowdy had great fun with all the cousin dogs: Chester, the Westie, Denali, the lab and Henry, the puppy. But, whenever it all got too exciting, and there was too much barking going on, as soon as Rowdy was taken out of the mix, it all quieted down. Rowdy kind of keeps things stirred up, but he has a charming new trick, so I think I’ll keep him, at least til the novelty wears off. When you lean down a bit and pat your lap, Rowdy will leap into your arms, and he’s getting better at it all the time. On the other hand, he has barely learned to sit, while Murphy can sit, lie down, roll over, “sleep”, sit up, stay and jump.
Saturday morning early everyone else was gone, except Jim, who was leaving after lunch. John, Jim and Pat played a dice game, while I pulled out leftovers for our dinner. Imagine my surprise to find a can of foil-topped dog food with a striped hat protruding from the corner. Curses. The Giggle Ball strikes again.
Now everyone is gone, but this year there’s no letdown. You see, in just a couple of days, Heather and I are heading to Japan, so our adventures are only just beginning. Stay tuned.

UltraMom

My “boys”