They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but this ole lady learned some things this past month. Having some of our kids come for The Thanksgiving week was such a treat, but I did learn that I am certainly not as young as I once was. No longer can I cook until midnight and then wake up at 6 to cook breakfast for 8 people without thinking that I deserve a 2 hour massage. I also learned that things do not have to be perfect to have a memorable Thanksgiving. In fact, it seems the less perfect, the more fun and the best memories are made. The night the kids all came together, they requested King Ranch Casserole for dinner. Well, I was so proud of myself that I had made the casserole ahead of time so I could spend more time out of the kitchen and look “oh so Ina Gardner’ by having things well prepared and ready for the oven. We sat down to a lovely decorated table that Martha Stewart would be so proud of, only to dish up a most liquid King Ranch casserole. The tortillas had totally dissolved and it was just almost like chicken soup. But since we had their favorite dessert of chocolate sheet cake, they quickly forgot that dinner had to be eaten with a spoon.

On Thanksgiving morning,  we learned that the sanitation department here does not take Thanksgiving off and because our collection day is Thursday, Randy rolled out our garbage can and we continued to get everything ready to put on the table. All at once, I heard the truck approach our street and at the last minute I thought “wouldn’t it be so nice to take some cake and candy out to the worker collecting the trash, since he is having to work today.” So I hurriedly packaged up a plate of goodies to run them out, only to find that he had already passed our house and was a couple of doors down. I decided to run and catch hm. So here I am, running in my house slippers with a plate of desserts and just as I would catch up with him, he would take off for the next house stop (which in our community they stop every couple of houses instead of each house because two garbage cans are side by side to avoid them stopping every house). So catching my breath and finding enough strength to run to the next stop, I would frantically wave at him, hoping he would see me in the side mirror and stop…well, after about 8 houses down and one heart attack, he finally saw me and stopped the truck. By now, I could hardly catch my breath and was trying to tell him thank you for working on a holiday and I hoped that he enjoyed the desserts I was trying to reach up inside his window to hand to him .  Even if he didn’t want it, he took it out of pity for the old lady that had run down the block screaming for him to stop.

Maybe our family didn’t have the funniest of memories this year, but I bet that all the other families which were sitting down and glancing out the window,about the time I was running down the street, had some great laughs at my expense. Of course, Jodi, with her sweet loving heart, was laughing so hard when i told her, all she could say, was “oh how I wish Randy would have video taped that”.  She is just the most caring daughter EVER!

So I did learn that…1. Have a plate ready to give to anyone driving by, instead of having to chase them. 2. Do not make King Ranch Casserole too far ahead of time, unless you want King Ranch Soup. 3. Enjoy your family and friends without having to have the house, the meals, the decorations perfect. They are there to see you, not the house…ok, maybe they might be there a little for the meals, but remember that meals are best remembered when there is laughter and fun around the table.

ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WITH A GOOD MEAL….even if it isn’t perfect!