The year is more than half gone.
I know the "holidays" are rushing upon us once again. This seems to happen to me every year now. Inside our empty nest, we open the subject between the two of us; "What do you want to do about...
A. Halloween
B. My Birthday
C. Thanksgiving
D. Hanukkah
E. Christmas
F. New years
Answers to:
A) nothing [so sad, I love this event],
B) Texas Road Trip to San Antonio & Fredericksburg - did that, got this T-Shirt
C) Oh, I don't know, whata you wanna do?
D, E & F) Way too soon to decide
Actually, when we were not all that close to Thanksgiving (at least by our casual standards), Sue got an invitation via Facebook to spend Thanksgiving at the table of the Gaul Family. Of course the Gaul Family includes their daughter Kaileen, who is Grant's girlfriend. Kaileen is finishing her senior year at the University of Missouri, while Grant remains in town in Columbia as a real honest-to-Cronkite working journalist.
The Gauls live in The Woodlands, a beautiful, planned community on the north side of Houston, about a 3 1/2 hour drive down I-45 from Dallas. I'd say we were surprised initially, actually kind of flattered once I had a moment to think about it, and then I had to mull the the gravity of the situation, as this is an invitation to have THE Thanksgiving meal with the parents of our son's girlfriend (plus all of the rest of the Gaul kin). Just for Grant's sake, I guess I'd better not mess this up. Well. OK. We can do this - but check with Grant before we commit, just to make sure we three Sunesons are all have the same play in mind.
As expected, we are all in agreement. We are officially delighted to be having Thanksgiving with the Gaul Family. Besides Kaileen's parents, Greg and Glenda and her younger brother Connor, Nana & Grandpa Wylie (who live a few blocks away) will be there as well as Greg's mother in from Florida. Greg's brother and his wife, plus there two sons, one of which has a wife and new baby. I think this all adds up to 15. Sue offers to bake and bring along pumpkin and pecan pies.
Glenda then suggests that we are welcome to spend the night at their home before returning to Garland. We consider this gracious offer, but I feel that we are essentially arriving as strangers, and having us under foot could be a bit much. I think it best if we ease into this relationship slowly and gracefully. I recommended that we defer on spending the night and return to Garland that evening. I delegated the communication of this decision to my wife (after all, she's one who last touched it - that is, the Facebook invitation). My wife then delegates the communication of our plans to our son Grant (who knows the members of the Gaul Family much better than do we). So that is all settled, this should be good.
On Wednesday, the night before, as we are awaiting the arrival of Grant from MO, I am just now informed that Grant had relayed to Sue that we will be spending the night at the Gaul's home. I inquired what about our "settled plan"; I got a shrug. OK, I can roll with that, but I am left wondering, "what happened to our 'settled plan?'" Once Grant arrived home Wednesday evening, at some point I asked him about how it came to be that we were to spend the night at the Gauls? He said he spoke with Glenda, and then finished his explanation by giving me a shrug - as if to explain. Apparently Glenda can be keenly persuasive. We now have a new plan.
Thursday morning, by the end of the Macy's Parade, the pies are loaded, Grant settles into the back seat for a 3 1/2 hour nap, and I plug the coordinates into my phone's navigation app. We are off to The Woodlands.
We arrive around 1, the feast for 15 to be served at 2. We are introduced around to all the gathered relatives, and we engage in conversation and a few glasses of wine. Greg has fashioned a single complete table top surface to seat all the guest at one table in the dining room, thus negating the need to delegate anyone to the "kid's table". A blessing is said and we sit and continue to enjoy all the good people gathered as well as the ham and turkey and all the fixin's suitable and proper for an American Thanksgiving. Glenda did a wonderful job in putting the event together, and we were made to feel quite welcomed into the household.
We watch some football, ate some dessert, noshed and nibbled as we circulated in and out of the house. There were ping pong games going on in the garage, social sipping by the back pool in overcast 73 degree Houston winter weather. It is a good time and we are notably thankful for all of this.
At bedtime, we are are shown our bedroom upstairs and we settle in. I know this was not my original plan, but I'd say this has all worked out quite well. I go to sleep thankful for that as well.
We had come as virtual strangers, we left as friends of the family.
In the morning we are treated to the legendary fritatas prepared by Kaileen's uncle. Eventually we pack up and go back north toward Dallas, where we run headlong into the approaching cold front that will bring over 5" of rain and flash flooding to our area.
We made it home safe and we begin to think about dinner. I suggest that we cross off one of by "bucket list" items; that is we have dinner at Campisi's Egyptian Lounge on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. Campisi's is run by the family that opened the first Italian restaurant in Texas, and is now infamous for being the last place that Jack Ruby dined before he went downtown to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald as he was being transferred out of the county jail to face charges of assassinating President Kennedy. As it turned out, the "Jack Ruby Booth" was available, and our hostess seated us in that very spot where Ruby last sat as a free man.
Quite a Thanksgiving run.
I know the "holidays" are rushing upon us once again. This seems to happen to me every year now. Inside our empty nest, we open the subject between the two of us; "What do you want to do about...
A. Halloween
B. My Birthday
C. Thanksgiving
D. Hanukkah
E. Christmas
F. New years
Answers to:
A) nothing [so sad, I love this event],
B) Texas Road Trip to San Antonio & Fredericksburg - did that, got this T-Shirt
C) Oh, I don't know, whata you wanna do?
D, E & F) Way too soon to decide
Actually, when we were not all that close to Thanksgiving (at least by our casual standards), Sue got an invitation via Facebook to spend Thanksgiving at the table of the Gaul Family. Of course the Gaul Family includes their daughter Kaileen, who is Grant's girlfriend. Kaileen is finishing her senior year at the University of Missouri, while Grant remains in town in Columbia as a real honest-to-Cronkite working journalist.
The Gauls live in The Woodlands, a beautiful, planned community on the north side of Houston, about a 3 1/2 hour drive down I-45 from Dallas. I'd say we were surprised initially, actually kind of flattered once I had a moment to think about it, and then I had to mull the the gravity of the situation, as this is an invitation to have THE Thanksgiving meal with the parents of our son's girlfriend (plus all of the rest of the Gaul kin). Just for Grant's sake, I guess I'd better not mess this up. Well. OK. We can do this - but check with Grant before we commit, just to make sure we three Sunesons are all have the same play in mind.
As expected, we are all in agreement. We are officially delighted to be having Thanksgiving with the Gaul Family. Besides Kaileen's parents, Greg and Glenda and her younger brother Connor, Nana & Grandpa Wylie (who live a few blocks away) will be there as well as Greg's mother in from Florida. Greg's brother and his wife, plus there two sons, one of which has a wife and new baby. I think this all adds up to 15. Sue offers to bake and bring along pumpkin and pecan pies.
Glenda then suggests that we are welcome to spend the night at their home before returning to Garland. We consider this gracious offer, but I feel that we are essentially arriving as strangers, and having us under foot could be a bit much. I think it best if we ease into this relationship slowly and gracefully. I recommended that we defer on spending the night and return to Garland that evening. I delegated the communication of this decision to my wife (after all, she's one who last touched it - that is, the Facebook invitation). My wife then delegates the communication of our plans to our son Grant (who knows the members of the Gaul Family much better than do we). So that is all settled, this should be good.
On Wednesday, the night before, as we are awaiting the arrival of Grant from MO, I am just now informed that Grant had relayed to Sue that we will be spending the night at the Gaul's home. I inquired what about our "settled plan"; I got a shrug. OK, I can roll with that, but I am left wondering, "what happened to our 'settled plan?'" Once Grant arrived home Wednesday evening, at some point I asked him about how it came to be that we were to spend the night at the Gauls? He said he spoke with Glenda, and then finished his explanation by giving me a shrug - as if to explain. Apparently Glenda can be keenly persuasive. We now have a new plan.
Thursday morning, by the end of the Macy's Parade, the pies are loaded, Grant settles into the back seat for a 3 1/2 hour nap, and I plug the coordinates into my phone's navigation app. We are off to The Woodlands.
 |
| Sue, Grant, Kaileen, Connor & Greg Gather between rooms in the Gaul home for some conversation |
 |
| Sue, Grant & Kaileen |
 |
| Glenda (in black sweater) and Greg Set feast preparation in motion |
We arrive around 1, the feast for 15 to be served at 2. We are introduced around to all the gathered relatives, and we engage in conversation and a few glasses of wine. Greg has fashioned a single complete table top surface to seat all the guest at one table in the dining room, thus negating the need to delegate anyone to the "kid's table". A blessing is said and we sit and continue to enjoy all the good people gathered as well as the ham and turkey and all the fixin's suitable and proper for an American Thanksgiving. Glenda did a wonderful job in putting the event together, and we were made to feel quite welcomed into the household.
 |
| Connor and Greg file in to sit at the far end of the Thanksgiving Table prepared by Gkenda |
We watch some football, ate some dessert, noshed and nibbled as we circulated in and out of the house. There were ping pong games going on in the garage, social sipping by the back pool in overcast 73 degree Houston winter weather. It is a good time and we are notably thankful for all of this.
 |
| A relaxing time around the pool after the meal |
At bedtime, we are are shown our bedroom upstairs and we settle in. I know this was not my original plan, but I'd say this has all worked out quite well. I go to sleep thankful for that as well.
We had come as virtual strangers, we left as friends of the family.
In the morning we are treated to the legendary fritatas prepared by Kaileen's uncle. Eventually we pack up and go back north toward Dallas, where we run headlong into the approaching cold front that will bring over 5" of rain and flash flooding to our area.
We made it home safe and we begin to think about dinner. I suggest that we cross off one of by "bucket list" items; that is we have dinner at Campisi's Egyptian Lounge on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. Campisi's is run by the family that opened the first Italian restaurant in Texas, and is now infamous for being the last place that Jack Ruby dined before he went downtown to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald as he was being transferred out of the county jail to face charges of assassinating President Kennedy. As it turned out, the "Jack Ruby Booth" was available, and our hostess seated us in that very spot where Ruby last sat as a free man.
Quite a Thanksgiving run.
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