5 Course Dinner for 18 Last Nite - I'm Dead!
 

Last nite was 1st nite of Passover (the Last Supper)
Clean house, get good dishes out, silverware-ditto, move furniture around, bring chairs, prep all fresh veggies, cook 12 lbs lamb, make matzo ball soup, etc., etc.
All the grandkids and family arrive 7 pm and the last left about 1 am.
Today, clean-up and put things back to livable conditions. Small house hard to do sit-down for 18 with all the little ones underfoot. Not much room to move.
Two dinner tables, one in kitchen & one in D.R.
I'm bushed. RLS getting to bed last nite, feet on fire like burning coals. Calves felt like I ran the marathon. Woke up sore all over. Couldn't sleep late.
Its nice to have the family all get together for this holiday, but
its a lot more work than buffet style. I'm just on automatic today. what gets done, gets done.
Have to visit my crippled son sometime today, & bring him a 'goodie bag' saved from dinner for him.
Just venting. Gotta go & empty dishwasher - got 2 more loads, & hand wash all the inherited 'antique' china. It just got a fast 'rinse' last nite.

I am sorry it was ruff and I hope you feel better. Happy Passover too. Next year maybe someone else can have it at their home. Feel better.

Bob:

Happy Passover.

And I hope your son is having a pain free day. I hope your aches and pain in your calves go away.

Put on some moist heat. That usually works for me, with the muscle pain. Actually it's been working great.

How nice that you got to have your family around.

It's a blessing. Lots of work.

Next time, have them come and feed you, have them come and bring the stuff, and use paper plates and forks and spoons.

That way, when you finish, you grab the whole thing off the table (after the food is put away I mean), and you throw everything away in the garbage. That's what my mother and her 10 brothers and sisters did when I was a kid. We ALWAYS had stuff going on for each holiday. The only question was "who's house was going to do it".

But I'll never forget, after the dinner, this humongous black garbage bag thingee came out and everybody started throwing in paper towels and plates, and plastic dinner wear. They really have nice holiday paper products.

Then out came the chestnuts (yuck), and fruit bowls, and cannollis (double yuck, I'm italian but I HATE italian pastry), and nutcrackers, and nuts.

I'll never forget those days.

So Happy Passover Bob to you and the family.

I'm sure it was a major effort--
 

--with major repercussions--but I'm proud of you anyway.

Sometimes you've just got to damn the torpedoes and full-speed ahead, and enjoy a day (or an evening).

Here's hoping your body calms down soon (and that your son is feeling well).

Yom Tov (actually, Yameem Tov) for the rest of the holiday. (My grandparents Yiddish-ified it to "yuntiv", but I learned Sephardic Hebrew. :) )

Bob, I add my wishes for a holy and blessed Passover......God bless you.....and your son.

Don'tcha just hate it!!!
 

But love it too! ;) I know you are exhausted. That's the way I felt after Christmas dinner here. First one we'd had in years. But I used beautiful serving bowls, flatware and cloth napkins. Substituted good paperplates for the rest of it. Did get out the crystal dessert plates for my treasured first-pie-in-7-years tho.:) There wasn't any part of my body that didn't hurt. But I am so glad I did it. I think back now even on my worse days and remember the memories we made on that day.

Blessed Passover to all my Jewish friends. Give your son a hug for me and tell him it's from Billye in Texas. Try soaking in warm water with a small amount of Epson salt in it.

Billye

Our Family has grown smaller,and have moved far away from each other,
but Billye is so right the wonderful memories,hard work indeed but in
a week or less you will recall the joy..Happy Passover to all.

And Glenn that was wonderful,just wonderful...Hugs to all and rest:) Sue

Me Too
 

Just wanted to add the same as Billye and SS - I'm so glad you were able to spend time with the family - sounds like a wonderful meal - and the memories will last much longer then the pain - get some rest though:)

You are a real soldier Bob, you just keep fighting on regardless, i hope your feeling better by now and also hope your son is managing as best he can.

Brian :)

Thanks all.
Had to just vent yestiddy.
Feeling better by this morning.
Saw my injured son yesterday evening, and brought him a 'care package' of
some of everything from the dinner. He was overjoyed. (That's the only time
the family gets Gefilte fish, matzo-ball soup, roast leg of lamb,
and my "Greek lemon potatoes") :wink:
I went on a special fishing trip, just to catch some Gefilte for the meal ;)
Now I know why they called it the Last Supper- cause when its over
- the day after, you feel like :
"This is the last time I'm doing this" :cool:
But I know that as long as I can, I'll keep it up. I'm the only one left in the family who does this Holiday. And I have to give credit to my wife, she's a wonderful cook (and 7 yrs younger & healthier) and helps me with all of it. She even tried a Passover apple cake, again.(because her son, my step-son, has a birthday on the 21st-today) I've never, in my whole life, tasted a Passover cake -made with matzoh cake meal ....that was edible!
Many times my family has tried, but it always either was leaden, or so dry it tasted like sand.
My cousin suggested that we have it at her place next time -But I still have to cook - that's the enticement. Just have it at her place and the cleaning and work will be lessened. I remember, that is what her mother did, when my mother no longer was able to fit everyone into her small apartment. The family had grown too large, so we had it at her sister's house- but my mom still cooked the meal (cause my aunt was a terrible cook!). Maybe that's what we'll do. Its an option.
But I am feeling more 'normal' (whatever that is....with PN) today.
BTW - Glenn ,
I remember my family saying 'goot yumtif' so similar to yours
that it's hardly any difference at all.
But my grandparents were directly, 1st generation,
Eastern European, Polish & Russian, 'Ashkenazic' immigrants.
Sephardic was 'after' the move to, or directly from... Israel.
i.e.=the differencew between 'Shabbat' & 'Shabbos'.
L'shonna Toi'vah

What a trooper you are, Bob! I cannot imagine having a dinner for 18 people. You should be proud of yourself...

Cathie :)

Cathie,
I wouldn't have even tried, without the help of my gracious wife.
Only one of the 18 is a direct family relative of hers, her son.
The rest are my 'brood' (from my 1st wife) & my cousins.
She's from Missouri- her mom's back there, and her Dad's in Texas,
and BTW.....she's Episcopalian ! :)

Not to sound sexist but what a man you are. Many men not in pain or with health issues would of not done that much work. You should be proud. I see all the people buying there huge boxes of matza. I would last a day with no bread.

I just had to share what just happened at Dunkin.

I just came back from Dunkin. Now I speak a few languages. I know some Hebrew (not a lot, just a bit), and I know some Arabic, (enough to order breakfast at Dunkin because they rarely speak english).

So this morning was yet another Arabic lesson. The guys are teaching me Arabic. I now know how to order No. 3 on the menu. I say "Medfudluck, Idini, 3, (Please give me No. 3). then I say "Shokran and they say "Afwan" which is Thanks you and You're Welcome.

I also learned how to say "Have a nice day", which sounds like "Yoma Si eed.

So far so good.

But today was the kicker. I learned how to day Good Morning. which roughly sounds like 'SABA EL HERRRRRRRR".

Well, I'm sitting up in my little table and one of the guys walked over to me and said "Melody, say Good Morning again." So I go "SABA EL HERRRRRRR", and all of a sudden I hear someone burst out laughing, and there.....

WAS A JEWISH GUY WEARING A YAMULKE, STUDYING THE TORAH, at his little table in the corner and he's laughing hysterically and I go "so you think it's easy learning how to talk Arabic with the rolling rrrrr's???

He fell off the chair. I said 'Hey, I'm italian, my husband's jewish, I have to learn Arabic to order my breakfast, give me a break".

He laughed so hard I think his yamulke fell to the side.

We began chatting. Me, the arabic guy, and the jewish guy. and We laughed.

How nice to see all of us laughing, getting along.

The world should do that more often.

Who knows what words I'll learn tomorrow??

So to all of you I say 'Yoma Si eed"

Have a nice day!!!! lol

Goodness! Aren't family affairs FUN?????
 

Next Time? Give each member coming and 'participating' a chore...One sets table [the actual annual pre-set cleaning can be done over days ahead] another deals with the trash that's bound to number in multiple bags, another to rinse and hold, one after dinner to empty DW and then refill, and on and on. Of course, you can 'delegate' some dishes to be done by other family members and toted to dinner...maybe sharing recipies as you go along, so some tastes and traditions aren't lost on the way. That doesn't, of course, eliminate the NEED to CLEAN the whole house before they all come [get tired thinking about such events] WHEW!
While I'm not of your faith, I have faith of my own and I know and truly appreciate that of true family gatherings. Sounds as if you had one heck of a good one! And that, is what I understand Passover is all about, celebrating family and other aspects of life. To me that is an important aspect to our PN overall health and welfare among other things.
Of course, I truly hope that no older relative started to tell tales about you when you were in knickers tho! Don't you just hate that?
I am glad that you were able to bring some goodies to your son! I bet that did more for his spirits than most of what's been going on for him! :hug::hug:'s - j

PS? I could do it, I think, but only as a buffet! My tables' not THAT big!