Thanksgiving is right around the corner

Funny thing happened to me this week, I came home from work and the house was freezing! It is only the middle of October, 6 still has not unpacked his suit case from vacation, what the heck. On went the heater and out the window some more of the inheritance for the girls! Did you know that there is only 9 weeks left until Christmas that means there is only 5 weeks left before we can watch Christmas vacation and eat the fattened hog (turkey). Last weekend when I was at Giant doing my weekly pilgrimage to hunt for food for the week, 6 got in a conversation about turkey’s with the checkout clerk and some random couple who was in front of me in line. It seems that neither one of them purchase their turkeys from Giant, they get them from the Amish people up there on freedom school road! So of course 6 had to ask them a million questions, the first and only important one was can you taste the difference between a fresh (never frozen) turkey and the one you get from the Amish? And all three of them said it was completely different, and much better. To that end not this year but next year 6 is going to follow the horse drawn wagons and find this turkey farm and get me one of those birds. You ask why not this year, well we have an expectant mother this year, and if the past year is any indication of the future, 6 doesn’t think she should be eating an undercooked turkey! For those who have no idea why we had an under cooked turkey last year… here goes…It all started out last year around the first frost, (about now) with many trips to the grocery store, here is a little shopping tip… don’t know if anyone has ever noticed but the stores run special every week and those specials happen the same week each month. For example the first week they have potatoes, cheese and yogurt, second week toilet paper and paper towels ( since 6 has a big crowd he needs plenty of that) , the third week they have chicken breasts, and so one. So actually Thanksgiving shopping starts now, 6 has already purchased the  Fritos & canned chicken & cream cheese & spicy hot for the chicken dip, all we need now is the blue cheese, which if we all remember 6 forgot last year. 8 make this, the dinner rolls 62 make. You all get the point, back to last year… 6 took the big turkey out of the freezer on Saturday and the two little birds out on Monday, the was a total of 47Lbs of Turkey or one rooster! It was finally the big day, 6A must have gotten up at Odark30, for when 6 rolled out of bed the Pies were made, and stuffing was being pre-cooked, it was now time for 6 to get into action… He proceeded for the next couple of hours making the other side dishes, so when the turkeys were done, all that was left to do was to pop them in the oven to cook! All was going according to plan. On about 11:30 the first group arrived, then about high noon the second, the house was full of holiday spirit! The BGE was ready, the birds were being seasoned and ready to take their final journey before being consumed by a hungry bunch of people. It is about this time where everything grinds to a halt, so as per tradition, it is time for half of the people to make a run to the store this typically takes about an hour and when they come back 2 of the three birds are underway and the third is just waiting for 8 to dip it in the hot oil. Now it is about 2:00 and people are hungry and thirsty, what would a good host do then…. open the snacks, open the beer and break out the Rex. Bottles were piling up, a gallon of onion dip gone, and the Rex was in full flow. It was approaching 4:00 when 6 decided to check on the turkey’s, dinner was planned at 6:00 and we need to do a mid-check on the birds, Dammmmmm the BGE Bird was over done!, next to the oven bird, same thing over done. what to do, what to do…. It was at this point when you see the magic of thanksgiving kick into action. Everyone get their assignments, 1A peels the potatoes, 6A set the table, 7 takes care of the oven bird, 8 gets the frying bird cooking, 62 gets the rolls ready, 61 gets the green bean  going, 63 the sweet potatoes, 71 the corn, 62 the rolls, 6 keeps fresh beer wine and whiskey in the works glasses. you want to eat, you gotta do your part! That way there is no complaining, for if you do, it is only your fault! This well-oiled machine was running like clockwork, the BGE turkey was now ready for 7 to do the carving…. When all at once we heard to dreaded words… this turkey is not done!  Oh well we can put it back on the BGE when the stuffing is done cooking, we have two more to go…… The oven bird….. On no…. the same thing, this turkey is not done! Now Huston we have some problems, all of the side dishes are well on their way to being done, and the turkeys are nowhere near close to being done. Solution… put the undone BGE turkey in the fryer after the fried turkey is done, put the oven bird back in the oven, and it is later… so that is what we did, great dinner, followed by our usual viewing on Christmas Vacation. What a day….. The only unanswered question is what caused the birds not to be done? Was it the thermometer or was it the Rex. Stay tuned for this year we have several new thermometers and we will have Rex!

Words of wisdom: Train yourself to see the good in everything, for it is truly a choice.

what to do after a speggetti dinner

As we approach the fall, each day brings us closer to that time of year where we change our activities for more of a routine to that of tradition. Why is that? If one really thinks about it, the summer is full of reckless abandon, while the fall brings more stability and routine. Is it because of our education process, having summers off? Is it because we are all animals and they go into hibernation in the winter? Is it because there is more day light? Who knows… All 6 knows it that soon the fall colors will have come and gone, leaving in its wake hours of picking them up, pass out candy to the little beggars that come knocking at your front door, watching PSU kicking the crap out of Pitt and Maryland, laying  in a stock of vittles for the big thanksgiving dinner. BTW one of the most time consuming activities of the fall is picking up leaves, what a waste.  Nature is such a wonderful thing, it actually provides a cost effective perfect way to dispose of the leaves. Today we spend every Saturday and Sunday of the Fall doing nothing productive by picking up the leaves, all we need to do is leave them where they fall, and either the wind or decomposition will take care of them. But no… we have to have a nice yard full of lush green grass during the winter! When spring comes we once again pick up the leaves that has yet to fall, then spend a fortune on fertilizer, when we just picked up the best fertilizer that nature can provide. Just think of what our country would be today if our founding fathers spent every fall weekend picking up leaves!  Could you just imagine this: We would have had to send a letter to the king of England in late Aug telling him that from October 1^st thru December 1^st we needed to invoke a cease fire, because we needed to pick up leaves, we would still be fighting that war. Does a bear shit in the forest? Is the Pope Catholic?  If a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound?  Does Mother Nature take care of the leaves in the forest? Ok now you know how 6 feels about leaves, let them rot!

Back to Kiawah! Tradition is the foundation by which we build our lives. “Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means that it still matters what Penn did two hundred years ago or what Franklin did a hundred years ago; I never could feel in New York that it mattered what anybody did an hour ago.” ― G.K. Chesterton,

Does anyone remember what we had for dinner on Saturday night? Well now of course you do, because 6 asked the question! Let me ask the question a different way, the year is 2020 we are all sitting around talking about our past trips to Kiawah, when 61 or 63 or 71 soon to be husband asks what we do there year after year? Well the standard answer would be that we go to the beach, walk, ride, read, watch Hoda and Kathy lee, shoot hoops, etc. to an outsider they would run from 61,63 or 71 as fast as they possibly could or they would just roll their eyes back in their head and think to themselves these crazy people have been doing those same things for the past 40 years… Get a life! Now just imagine this for an answer: Well on the first day after a various  adventures getting there we are all ready to crash, so we meet at 6’s condo around 7:00, to finally eat some dinner and have some Rex. We start off with a couple bottles of good wine while 6 attemts to make 5 pounds of pasta in a 2 Qt. pot buy the time he completes that task 3-4 bottles of wine and a case of beer are all gone. It is about this time the 2 gallons of of sauce is warm, and the 5 pends of meatballs are nicely covered. What a meal, we have done this for years but never any complaints.

It is over for 2017....time to get ready for 2018

At some point in life one needs to point out the obvious, our 2017 trip to paradise has concluded, leaving us a yet another 365 days to reflect on our journey we so rapturously refer to as vacation. What better place to start our pilgrimage, than that fateful Friday afternoon 6 cleared the decks for soon, he would leave the senseless paper strewed across his desk as if it were a ponderosity holding him to the past. It was at that point that 6 noticed that it was approaching Rex Time. Time started to hasten, for he had to empty his mind of a long year of mindless dribble, all the while knowing that in just one short week, reality would strike with vengeance.  Over time, one finds that the best way to move on, is to make a clean start of it, take the past and dump it into the recycle bin (that is also good for the environment). 6 wheeled the recycle bin into his office and with the recycle bin open and his arms outstretched swiped away anything that would hold him back, resulting in short order a clean slate. At this point with the past so methodically obliterated, it affords one the convenience to focus on the ultimate journey.   (Paradise, utopia…….. Kiawah2017). Have you ever wondered about self-inflicted pressure? Be it at work, or your personal life most things are really under our control, yes things happen and yes you have a boss that is self-loathing, but most of the time, it is caused by disorganization. So on this Friday afternoon, the work pressure was gone, but quickly replace by personal pressure. For now 6 was under a different kind of pressure, personal pressure caused by waiting for vacation, but not doing anything about it.  So much to do and so little time. For in the next 17 hours he has to perform a miracle: get a rental car, fire up the Big Green Egg, make some pizza, drink some Rex, pack his bags, clean the house, print his tickets, drive to the airport, get some gas, turn in the rental car, check some bags, get thru TSA, buy some lunch, get some coffee, fight the people boarding the plane, get a seat, and finally relax because vacation starts when the wheels are tucked nicely in the belly of the plane. So in order to get the landing gear in the belly of the plane, he had to accomplish several tasks. Friday night after work, 6 and 6A went down to the Park to pick up the rental wreck, and you would never guess, 6 got a cube for a car. It was a Kia Soul, and not to take off on a tangent (which 6 never does) but when 6,4,4A, 7&8 went to the ocean course on our PVV (pre-vacation vacation), when we were surrounded by the real housewives of Kiawah, need 6 say more, and if you don’t know well just go there on any Friday night,  would you know it, in the parking lot nestled among all the beaters, and yes they were beaters after all 6 rides around in a 2004 Pacifica and a 2006 corolla, was a Kia Soul. Leading 6 to two conclusions, either the people who frequent the ocean course, spend all of their money on their clothes, shoes, jewelry and drinks, (Drive for show, putt for dough)  or they are flat broke and are trying to fit into a social live that is well beyond their means. The fun of Kiawah, back to 6’s blog..  6 Loaded up the BGE, got all the fixin’s for the Pizza ready for 62A, open a bottle of Rex sat on my chair waiting for the BGE to begin blazing, printed my tickets, opened a 2^nd bottle of Rex (6 was now in prime Rex shape) ate the pizza packed my bags and before I knew it we were getting up Saturday morning. After a leisurely breakfast, cleaned the house entered our Soul and made our way to the airport. The traffic was not bad at all, we arrived at the airport turned in our Soul, 6A checked her bag, went to the security line, passed by all of the lowlife that were waiting in line, purchased a nice tuna  samwich , with the works, boarded our plane, took off, waved good bye to our house and we headed south. Once we reached the safe cruising altitude of 27,000 feet the captain turned off the seat belt sign, 6 put down his tray table, opened that reeking samwich. BTW this is one of 6’s pet peeves, he despises people eating on the airplane, the stench of food in that enclosed space just permeates throughout the airplane, When in Rome, grab the smelliest item form a food vendor near the gate and make the most people pay, after all 6 can’t smell it he is eating it. 6  got a cup of coffee, reclined his seat as far as possible, took his shoes off enhancing the fine bouquet left by the tuna,    turned on the TV watched a couple episodes of Andy while whistling the theme song and before he could digest the tuna samwich, the captain welcomed us to Charleston. We deplaned to a packed gate area which is normal for a celebrity like 6, and headed to the rental car center. It was at that point, 6 realized that what goes around comes around, 6 made all of those people on the plane pay for that tuna samwich, now 6 was standing in a line a mile long full of smelly sweaty people all wanting a car. After what seemed to be hours it was my turn, the person at the desk was great, until 6 realized that they had more people than cars. Well after a few minutes they got me a car, and she told us to proceed to the tent (6 figured it would be just like the tent on the beach) in the Avis isle, and an attendant will be there soon with your car. That sounds logical, so 6A and 6 headed to the Avis isle to finding the tent bursting with those same sweaty people from the line. This was not a problem, for 6 just pretended that he was on the beach under a tent! Yeh right! 6 reached down as far as he possibly could and pulled up the last ounce of patience, but as you all know, that is one of 6’s endearing qualities. Several cars came and several people got in and drove off, then out of the blue here come our car, 6 walked over to get his mountains of luggage to put in the car, and a lovely gentleman said I have waited long enough, I am taking that car! And believe it or not he got in the car and drove away. At about that time an attendant walked up and asked me what happened, so I explained it to him, and after about another half hour he drove up in an upgraded car, and handed me the keys while apologizing for the man who stole the car and said have a nice vacation. All’s well that ends well! Something deep down inside tells me that the other guy was not going to have a very fund vacation! We drove off into the sunset (not really is was in the idle of the afternoon) and stopped at total wine as is custom for the start of any vacation! Continued next week!

Words of wisdom: Don’t judge the Soul of others, for one never knows how that Soul will judge you.