[SallyC]

Thanksgiving time. I'm staying home and praying that
someone brings me a big turkey dinner home to me.

I'm thankful for all of you.

A little TG HaHa for your pleasure.

[marion06095]

This is the first year that we aren't having anybody over for Thanksgiving dinner. It'll be just hubby and me. We'll do it up right with the bird and stuffing and cranberry sauce and nice rich mashed potatoes. We don't skimp on holidays. I suppose there might be a last minute relative wanting to join us, but it looks like everybody else is visiting others. I'm really in a mode for a quiet dinner this year.

[doydie]

I am so looking forward to it. Our holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, were always such big family times. Since Mom lived here, everyone came here. She died in 2011. That Christmas we had a baby being born and one family couldn't come. Last Thanksgiving we had a baby having open heart surgery so that family didn't come. This year everyone is OK and will all be here with the exception of one of the teenage boys that is in a heap of trouble and in a detention center awaiting a bed in a mental institution for a court mandated 3 month stay to adjust medicines. We will be glad when he turns 18 and be held responsible for his actions. The juvenile/ family court is just kind of slapping him on the wrist and leaving the parents to take care of most of it. The Mom is 4'8'', rheumatoid arthritis, Addisons disease and the Dad is getting bad knees and can't chase him down anymore. He was a military lifer and knows only military discipline. so he would get off his sub after months at sea and come home expecting to be the DAD, changing everything Mom had had to do on her own all those months. Then when he left again it was back to Mom. So this boys mind is confused. All he knows for sure is rebellion.

I'm glad Mom isn't here to see the trouble this 17 year old has been and continues to be. This family lives the farthest away and doesn't come for Thanksgiving, just Christmas. But it was his brother that always comes and they were the ones who had to stay at home because their grand baby was having open heart surgery. So looking forward to a very nice,joyful and thankful Thanksgiving in our house. There will be one addition. My sister in law's father died this year and her mother has early dementia and they live with her now. So she will be here with us but she is a jewel and wonderful cook.I guess that makes 21 for Thanksgiving and then 7 more for Christmas more or Christmas. This is why I want a big remodel of our kitchen and didn't want light tan carpet in our family room where we put all our tables and buffet tables.

[jprinz99]

Thanksgiving happens to fall on my DH birthday this year. So... we will be spending it at my in-laws. Huge, boisterous {and occassionally overbearing} family that I dolove, but can only take a bit at a time - if you know what I mean.

I am worried, as they do not know about my MS. From them speaking of somobody who was diagnosed 3 yrs ago, and how they act towards anybody else with significant disease, I choose to keep my diagnosis from them and any "issues" as private as possible. Heck, they still think I use forearm crutches and AFOs due to ankle surgery 10+years ago.

Any suggestions on how to handle my need for naps, cog-fog etc. I need help hiding stuff from them so I can avoid any drama (hope you know what I mean)

but - am looking forward to the food and wee ones!

[Erika]

Sally,
Love the photo! Thanks for the chuckle

Marion,
Glad that you are in the "quiet mode" this year and that is the sort of Thanksgiving that you are planning to have. Sometimes those can be the extra special ones .

Doydie,

Wow…I’m so happy that you will have a full house for the festivities on both Thanksgiving and on Christmas. It is such a special thing to connect with family and friends. Hope that you have plenty of help, understanding and a really great time.

Jane,
I DO know what you mean.
More than 4 people in one room, all chatting and moving about is often more than this nervous system can handle. Fortunately my family knows about my MS, and they are very understanding.

Sensory overstimulation increases my dizziness, cog-fog and fatigue too; so on a recent trip to my parents’ home for a birthday celebration, I told my step mom about the above issues beforehand.
I said that I didn’t want to be a party pooper, but that I might need to duck away during the celebrations, or even to call it an early night and bow out at some point; adding that if at all possible, I’d like to do that without making a scene or better yet, having my departure go unnoticed.
She is such an understanding and accommodating sweetie.

I was going to be staying the night anyway, but she said that I was perfectly welcome to retreat into the spare bedroom where it would be quieter than the room I usually stay in to regain my repose, or, if I wanted to retire early, to just retreat, unannounced to my own bedroom. She said that if anyone missed me, she would just say that I had excused myself because I had had “a long day” of travel etc.

It worked perfectly…and not even my father (It was his birthday), missed me until all the guests had left around midnight. When Dad asked about my absence after the guests had left, and step mom told him I’d gone to bed a little while before, he just nodded and said, “Oh, I do hope that she gets some rest. The party was excellent, and I am so lucky to have had the whole family and our friends here to celebrate with me.”

Jane, could you get a similar message to the hostess…maybe through your partner? There needn’t be much of an explanation of the why’s…maybe just say something to the effect that you may need to retreat to lay down for a while; due to a series of long days, a back muscle strain or something equally mundane...and that you'd like to do it quietly, without having to explain.
The reason could be something/anything that the hostess has maybe experienced herself, which doesn’t invite drama, but garners understanding instead.

They may have a spare room that you can retreat to, unannounced as needed. With others engaged in their visiting, it is unlikely that you will be missed.

I first busied myself in the kitchen for a short while before retreating, so people just thought that I was in there during the time that I wasn’t in the living room (smile).
Maybe take some ear plugs and/or some relaxing music you could listen to through headphones to drown out the noise. I used a CD player with a relaxation CD and it worked great.

Good luck.

With love, Erika

[SallyC]

Another TG funny....This video is hilarious.

The House Mouse Hunter....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPntyzEbaSA

[Debbie D]

Ugh, Sal….I am one of those wimpy girlie people who jump on a chair and yell "eek" whenever I see a mouse. It was torture watching this, especially when he went by the boy…DH is that way with snakes…

I'm almost done with the Christgiving gift shopping…we trade off every other year, so that the kids can plan on being together at least one of the two holidays. This year it's Thanksgiving.
I have my grocery list started at least…but with everyone being in and out the whole holiday weekend, we need a ton of food and drink in. I am going to lean on the kids this year to bring things in and cook a bit too.
With the two new grand babies and a new puppy in the family, plus a rescue dog that probably won't come (she's a bit aggressive), it'll be noisy as all get out. Everyone knows that I slip upstairs occasionally when it gets to be too much. I also have "pretty in pink" earplugs that I can slip in my ears to dull the cacophony.
I'm looking forward to this holiday as I haven't for the past several years…I always worried that one of the in laws would get sick. I miss them already…I saw anise cookies in the store today…FIL loved them so much. The adult boys would giggle and joke about Grandpa liking **** cookies:roll eyes: do boys ever grow up?

[SallyC]

Yea happy day. DD is taking her 4 kiddles to the same wonderful
restaurant for Thanksgiving and will bring me a lush TG dinner
with all the trimmings.

[doydie]

Jane I feel for you but I still think it is best to let people know of my MS. But yet I am the kind of person who loves to educate. With 15 people in our family room for Thanksgiving and upwards to 30 for Christmas they all need to know what I am dealing with. We are very lucky in that most of the ones my age have some kind of long term illness that shows in some way and the younger generation loves to be in the kitchen cooking. Actually that's the way they prefer it. This year we will have 4 little ones from ages 6 months to 2 so it will be very different. I have a niece that is married to a blind guy and he doesn't handle the noise well but is gradually adjusting, also there is an adult 'adoptive' son of my brother who has cerebral palsy who has a lot of social anxieties. He doesn't always come and then wonders why we don't make an effort to get to know him. They 'adopted' him about 3 years ago and he has been here once.

[msarkie]

My lovely niece has been having a very extended family Thanksgiving at her house the last few years since she got married. See if you can follow this: my niece & her husband & baby, her in-laws, her parents (my sister & BIL), my sister's in-laws, my nephew & his wife, my nephew's in-laws AND their whole families, my mom, possibly my aunt & cousin, me & DH & our 2 kids. I think that's all - there may be a few stragglers or friends of friends I forgot to count.

I think last time there was about 50 people there. I only knew about half of them. But we all get along somehow! And boy is the food good! Down-home southern cooking at its best. And all this in a 3BR, 2 bath ranch style house, no more than 2000 sq ft.

I've got to get busy and figure out what I'm cooking. I have to make sure there is something gluten-free there for me to eat!