Favorite nut? - Freeze-Frame Radio

ghostdancer · Ghost In The Machine

RE: Favorite nut?

Mad Mema · Bad Biker Granny

It would not strike me as an odd thing to do. I seriously give them to about 15 people other than those who show up for my Thanksgiving dinner.

I make a big deal out of Thanksgiving. It is the one holiday where I really don't have to work a time share for the kids. The rule at my house is that if you show up, you get to come in and eat. I have actually answered my door to a stranger saying: Hi. You don't know me, but I'm here for dinner. May I come in? Me: Sweet. My name is Michele. I own the joint. Come on in. You will obviously have to introduce yourself around.

Fortunately it turned out that she was the mother of one of the invited guests.

ghostdancer · Ghost In The Machine

That's a great story!!

One year, back when I was 12 or 13, I had gone to the store with my dad to pick up something my mom needed more of for dinner on Thanksgiving. When we got back, the whole family was there, and also this man I had never seen before. I kept asking "who is he?" Everyone kept saying they didn't know, told me I should ask my mom. So I did, and she said it was a bum that came to the door asking for something to eat, so she invited him in to join us for dinner.

Turns out, the "bum" was my great-aunt's brother-in-law that I had never met before. She didn't tell me this until the next day. All that time I really thought my mom fed one of the neighborhood homeless guys, and kept thinking how cool she was with having a total stranger in the house. I was kind of disappointed when I found out he wasn't really a stranger after all. hmm

Mad Mema · Bad Biker Granny

Nice! You are right... better story if it was a real bum. Maybe next year!

I ended up hosting my first Thanksgiving dinner in 1999. Given all the Y2K hysteria, Sprint basically requested that all network employees observe a travel moratorium from November 15 through January 10. Essentially they didn't want anyone leaving town in case there was a problem. Unfortunately, that left a lot of people without anywhere to go for dinner since all of their family members live out of town. I didn't think it was fair that they should have a sucky Thanksgiving, so I threw the invitation out to the whole crew. Had about 18 people show up. It was pretty cool. From there it just became tradition.

ghostdancer · Ghost In The Machine

Wow!! That's really great! I love to have a large gathering at the holidays and I extend invites all over the place to friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. My own family has become very small in the last 10 years....we're down to the 4 of us, my dad, my younger brother, and my baby brother, his wife, and my nephew. Sometimes my younger brother, Dan, can get his 3 kids for the holidays.....they live in Maryland with their mom, but sometimes she gets really nasty and won't let them come. I miss the huge family gatherings we had when I was a kid, so I think I'm trying to compensate by extending invites far and wide. smile

Mad Mema · Bad Biker Granny

We didn't do the big family thing when I was a kid. It was just the 5 of us until us three kids grew up and had families of our own. Now we hardly ever get together for the holidays. My sister lives in Detroit close to her inlaws. She doesn't like to come home because she doesn't get along with my brother. My brother only came over once because my mom went to visit my sister. He's afraid that he will look pathetic coming over to my huge family thing because he is divorced. My mom usually feels sorry for him and makes a small dinner for them.

Mostly the people who show up at my house are Pambo and her family, my kids and grandkid. Kevin's family showed up for a couple years, but not these last 3 for the obvious reasons. I guess I invite the world now to compensate for my dysfunctional extended family.

As Pambo says, "There is the family that you are born to and then there is the family that you choose. Frequently, the family that you choose is better and happier to hang out with."

ghostdancer · Ghost In The Machine

Sometimes that's very true indeed!!! Basically, we all get along in my family. My 2 brothers are a riot to hang out with...I've always enjoyed spending time with them. My sister-in-law is the odd duck. There are times I wonder how my brother ended up with her. But I'm always very pleasant to her and try to be "sisterly" towards her; it's just the two of us don't have very much in common with each other which sometimes causes conversation to become difficult. When that happens, I shift my focus to one of my brothers.....I'm an instigator, and I know exactly what topics to bring up with each of them to push their buttons and get a lively debate going. biggrin

Mad Mema · Bad Biker Granny

I try to get along with everybody. My siblings play musical spouses so it's kind of hard to warm up to whomever they bring around. My sister's present husband is a nice guy. I hope he stays around. My brother has wretched taste in women, so that's never a loss. Still get along with my sisters in law and their spouses/life partners (as the case may be). Our famil debates are always spirited. Mostly fun, my sister is very quick witted, my brother not so much... but they are entertaining. My mother in law is really cool too. Father in law and his wife recently decided to be nice to me, so I'm polite to them but they are not my first choice of dinner companions.

Mostly I keep with the kids and grandkids as well as my extensive family of choice.