Thanksgiving Pointers

I've learned some very interesting things this Thanksgiving. First of all, apparently "manly men" don't like to drink coffee out of "sissy" cups and, according to my grandma, I am an "old maid!" Oh, the joy of coming together at family gatherings! ;-D Yes, grandma was kidding about the old maid thing...... well, mostly anyway...... I think. ;-) Sigh! Oh, well... there is a bright side to still being single. It's called FREEDOM, baby! :-D That's my silver lining and don't even think about taking it away! :-)

Well, apparently it was "Give Cindy Pointers for When She FINALLY Nabs a Guy Day." Were any of you aware of this? I wasn't. Maybe it was because our Thanksgiving party was so small this year. It was just my grandma, my parents, and myself for the actual meal and then my Uncle Jim and Aunt Diane stopped by later. It was during the meal when Grandma started teasing me about being an old maid and lecturing me about how I need to make sure I learn how to be a good homemaker– you know, keeping the house clean, learning how to cook, sew, etc. First of all, might I just say, I CAN cook...... when I want to. ;-) Some people seem surprised to hear this. I thought one of the ladies from church was going to fall out of her chair when she found out that I do cook once in a while. I could practically hear her chin hit the floor. Sister Annette, I'm looking at you! ;-) Okay, now I admit that I do need to get my apartment in order; it could be a tad neater after all. Okay, okay it's pretty close to being declared a Federal Disaster Area, and I'm pretty sure I saw a hazmat team snooping around the other day. ;-D But, come on, sewing!? It's a handy skill to have and I have actually sewn my own dress before, but I am by no means proficient in the art. Is it really a seal the deal kind of issue? I don't think so... oh, good gravy, I hope not because I just MAY stay single! ;-) This is the second time this week I received this kind of lecture. Sister Annette, I'm looking at you! ;-) Is someone trying to tell me something? Okay, okay, I'll clean my apartment and learn to make some more dishes... sheesh! But might I just say that, for the record, I have hosted two dinner parties at my place now... never mind the fact that I've actually lived here for about 6 years. O:-) But I digress...

Anyways, part two of "Give Cindy Pointers for When She FINALLY Nabs a Guy Day" came after dinner. We each had found a place to curl up and take a Thanksgiving snooze for a couple of hours when my aunt and uncle showed up. After about an hour or so of visiting with them and partaking of my traditional sport of bantering with my uncle (a favorite pastime of mine, heh, heh, heh). I decided to get up and surprise everyone by making coffee to go with dessert. Now please understand, I am not a coffee drinker, usually. On the rare occasions when I do drink it, I have to doctor it up so much that there isn't much coffee taste left. Therefore, I usually don't make coffee. However, I CAN make it. So when I offered to serve them each a cup you should have seen the shocked looks on their faces! I thought I was going to give my parents and grandma a heart attack! What can I say? I guess I got caught up in the warm, fuzzy feeling of being with my family and I wanted to be nice. By the way, I just want to point out that: See? I can be a hostess when I want to be, just in case certain parties doubted this... Sister Annette, I'm looking at you! ;-) They all enjoyed my coffee, but there was one complaint from the menfolk– the cups I poured the coffee into. Now, my grandma usually has regular-sized mugs, but I couldn't find them. Therefore, I used what was available– smaller teacups with flowers on the sides of them. Oh, yes, my uncle and step-dad had a few words about THAT before they even took one sip of coffee. LOL! They asked what was up with the "sissy" cups? They went on to inform me that men don't like drinking out of "sissy" cups and that I'd better learn that before I get married. They said my future husband would be having a fit if I served him coffee in little "sissy" cups like the ones I used on them. I tell you some people are never satisfied! LOL! So I told them to just stick out their little pinky fingers and just suck it up, I couldn't find the bigger mugs! :-D Oh, yes, I am going to be quite the catch someday. ;-D It was all in fun, but now I know, "Don't serve "manly" men coffee in "sissy" cups!" ;-D

Well, we all had a good visit even if apparently my family seems to think I need to hurry up and get married off already! LOL! Actually, I don't think it's a huge deal to them about when I finally do get hitched, they just want me to be happy. They do enjoy teasing me about it though. However, I do think my parents would like me to give them a grandchild someday. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! What a scary thought! ;-D I'm not saying I've ruled out having children, it's just an absolutely terrifying prospect to me and I'm in no hurry. Pardon me, I need to go wipe off these beads of sweat now! ;-)

So, as I was starting to say before I went off on my last tangent, we had a good Thanksgiving. Originally, my grandma wanted us to do ham and potato salad, but my step-dad and I both objected. We wanted a REAL Thanksgiving meal! Ham, was fine, but we didn't want to give up the mashed potatoes, dressing, and turkey! It's funny, but the last few years I've been wanting to try something different than the same old traditional meal, yet the minute someone tried to take away the turkey this year, I got all disappointed. However, Mom stepped in and save Thanksgiving! Yay, Mom! :-D I guess we really don't realize how much we value something until we lose it or are in danger of losing it anyway. You know I think we should all take a moment and count our blessings, especially when it comes to family. We may not always get along with our loved ones, but we shouldn't hold grudges. Life is too short and we could lose them at any time. Sometimes we get angry and hurt, but we all need to learn to just let bygones be bygones and focus on the good times instead of the bad. Believe me, I know it's not always easy, but the alternative is to grow bitter and that doesn't do anybody any good. I don't know where all of this just came from, but anyways, there, I've said it. Who knew you could learn something from a turkey? I know what you smart-alecks out there are thinking and NO, I am NOT the turkey! ;-D Well, anyways, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, and for any people crazy enough to go shopping on Black Friday I'd just like to say, "¡Vaya Con Dios!" (Go with God) ;-D