Going up to the mother-in-law's in Arlington (a suburb of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, about 3.5 hours north of Austin.) The big problem with this is we also have my stepkids for the holiday, which necessitates a trip to Houston (3 hours one-way) on both Tuesday and Sunday for pickup and dropoff.

So to cut down on the ridiculous amount of driving, we'll be taking the 4.5-hour hypotenuse straight between Houston and Arlington, rather than making each a round trip from Austin. Austin-Houston-Arlington on Tuesday, Arlington-Houston-Austin on Sunday.

But this is not a feasible plan for Minifob. He typically starts fussing after about an hour, and for some reason absolutely can't sleep in the car like normal children do. Two 7.5 hour trips would be an absolute nightmare. So I'll be taking the truck separately straight from Austin, with just me and Minifob. (And the Christmas logistics are at least this complicated, every year. Is it any wonder I hate the holidays?)

Couple all of that with the overall fact of spending six days at the mother-in-law's house, which can range anywhere from moderately-to-excruciatingly boring, and I'm really not looking forward to it. And I don't even have to cook or clean, not one bit!

My husband has Thanksgiving off for the first time in ... let's see ... fifteen years. So I'm cooking!! Not that I didn't before, but it was always just me and the kids, very quiet. This year feels more festive, with two sons home from college and the whole family here.

Personally I don't care for turkey but everyone else likes it. I'll make some roasted veggies that I like. And for dessert: white chocolate-pumpkin cheesecake. Yummm!:yum:

We are having the usual big family get-together. 40-50 people (including kids).
I ordered a "heritage" turkey this year, so I'll be smokin' it out on the Big Green Egg!! :)

Oh, and I got stuck making all the mashed potatoes too.... Booooo!!

I'm back in Tampa with my family for the week. Had a great weekend buzzing around with friends. Now helping get the house ready for Turkey Day!

What, you don't have an outboard motor?

I second that schedule, but my Thursday involves skipping delicious thanksgiving with my mom to cook for my dad. I don't like him being alone on thanksgiving.

One turkey to feed 40-50 people? Or are other people making additional turkeys? An event that big sounds awesome, that's the kind of family get-togethers I want to have. I just don't have that many relatives.

sounds a bit crazy and not fun. Hope you have safe trips, though.

This is what happened two years ago when our visitors came over for Thanksgiving.

(it was a bit of a piss-take at the mod at the time, who kept posting horsey pics and titling them in the format: Photopost: 6 Zillion more images of the same damn horse)

Who photoshopped in the durgs monster? Heck of a good job on that....
:)

bad horses do cornstarch

Funny as hell, monster!

Yeah....just be careful with them thar books Cic. *stern look*

hehe -whoops, I guess that doesn't make sense, huh? Yes, my aunt is making another 25lber.


And XoB - an outboard is *not* a bad idea!! :D

It'll be just me and Monkeyboy at home this year. As far as I know, he's cooking: a 14-lb turkey, mushroom gravy, challah bread stuffing, mashed red potatoes, greenbean casserole, and fresh cranberries. Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to the bakery to pick out some kind of pie that's not pumpkin. Tomorrow night, I'd like to see Dirty Diamond at the Khyber, but that depends on what time MB finishes work, or if I feel like going ahead by myself. If we don't go, and he's not too tired from cooking all day, we'll probably head over to whatever bar happens to be open on Thursday evening.