FF: Give Thanks

The Cure

Lying around all day

with some strange new deep blue

weekend funk, I'm not really asleep

when my sister calls

to say she's just hung up

from talking with Aunt Bertha

who is 89 and ill but managing

to take care of Uncle Frank

who is completely bed ridden.

Aunt Bert says

it's snowing there in Arkansas,

on Catfish Lane, and she hasn't been

able to walk out to their mailbox.

She's been suffering

from a bad case of the mulleygrubs.

The cure for the mulleygrubs,

she tells my sister,

is to get up and bake a cake.

If that doesn't do it, put on a red dress.

--Ginger Andrews (from Hurricane Sisters)

--What is your cure for the "mulleygrubs"?--

My first instinct was to respond how I wallow when I have the "mulleygrubs."  I put on pj's and light some candles and curl up in a blanket in front of the television. Then I wait for them to go away.  But the cure... probably putting some upbeat piano and vocals (like the Gabe Dixon Band) or some funky beats (like Black Eyed Peas) and getting my groove on while I clean. There is nothing like getting my house in order to shake me out of the mulleygrubs.

--Where will you be for Thanksgiving?--

Thanksgiving Eve: out to dinner and a friends house.  Thanksgiving: hosting hubby's mom's side at our house (I don't even have to do anything in the kitchen!).  Thanksgiving Friday: my brother's house with my side of the family. Thanksgiving Saturday: my father-in-law's for that side of the family. 

--What foods will be served? Which are traditional for your family?--

We do pretty simple traditional things.  Turkey, canned cranberry jelly =), stuffing (my mom always makes Rachel Ray's stuffin' muffins), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmellows, green bean casserole, sweet corn (that was frozen at the end of summer), pumpkin pie.  But there are also some not so traditional things:  sauerkraut and a wild rice/mushroom dish.

--How do you feel about Thanksgiving as a holiday?--

I think its a terrific holiday.  It's a great chance to get together with your family and celebrate one another and the blessings of another year. My church doesn't really do a thanksgiving service - although we did move Laity Sunday to last week and our theme was creation and abundance and thanskgiving... we sang lots of great old hymns and it was a nice way to kind of bring Thanksgiving in.  I don't like that all of our secular holidays make it into the church year. So we are sticking with Reign of Christ this Sunday.

--In this season of Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for?--

I'm grateful for my church which has always given me the opportunity to try new things, even if we fail miserably at them.  I'm grateful for people across the world who are living out their faith in creative and authentic ways.  I'm grateful for my close family and that we are finding new ways to support one another.  I'm grateful for my husband and the ways that we keep muddling through this crazy thing called marriage.

--Bonus: What is Aunt Bertha's Thanksgiving like?--

I'm not entirely sure, but I found that picture of a cake up above and I think that's the kind of cake pan she would have and the kind of cake she would make.  Nothing fancy - just sweet and warm and delicious.  I picture her red dress being a little worn and faded, because it's her favorite and she wears it over and over again.  I picture a table heaping full of food from the garden, things that were canned and saved away over the summer and fall.  I picture a turkey perfectly cooked - maybe a little overdone - that is far to big for her and Uncle Frank to eat.  And I hope that someone shows up at their house to eat with them.