The Gravy

Hilarious to me that my mothers response to my last post was to coach me on the gravy. She knows me so well. The serious anxiety has set in about Thanksgiving. When it comes right down to it, I'm only worried about one thing...and she nailed it. We are expecting between 15 and 20 people and am I worried about where they will all sit? The turkey? Parking? No, nope, not at all. I am worried about the gravy.
The gravy is God people. Mind you as of yet I've never bombed the gravy. It has always turned out perfect. I am blessed to have the Goddess of Gravy as my mother...and she taught me well. And yet still...I worry. As I lay in bed last night, planning my Thursday chronology, I considered buying canned gravy as a backup plan. I quickly put that aside, canned gravy would be as much a sin to me as botched gravy. You see, nothing else has to be perfect, as long as the gravy is. The stuffing, the turkey, the mashed potatoes...all could be mediocre and if the gravy is perfect the meal will sing. I, quite literally, could put the gravy in a glass and drink it. The worst part of this whole worrisome debacle, is that the gravy is the climax of the Thanksgiving supper story. It is the very last thing I make, right before dinner is served...which leaves me worrying about it right up until the very moment of "the meal". In my obsessive mind, Thanksgiving dinner is the single most important meal of the year...so if the gravy is the saving grace of the most important meal of the year, then Thursday's gravy is the most important thing I will cook ALL YEAR! That's a LOT of pressure!!! And I am spending an insane amount of time thinking about how to do something that I KNOW how to do!! I am a hot gravy mess right now.

Catch Up...

What's up with us, you may wonder. Or you may not. You're about to find out regardless.
This year, I am hosting the Garrett family Thanksgiving for the first time. I'm extremely excited and anxious about it. Excited because Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite meal of the year, anxious because I have yet to get a firm headcount. The only drawback has been that I am unable to put up my Christmas trees in the kitchen and living room due to space considerations. I have put up the tree in the basement, out of pure desperation to have at least one tree up.
The biggest change in our house recently has been Sam. Sam has a girlfriend. No, y'all I don't mean a girlfriend. I mean a GIRLFRIEND. Like, he's completely smitten. And my head is spinning. He pauses his video games for her. I know, right? Unheard of. She's a super sweet girl, and while I approve, I just don't know what to think about this stranger she's brought out in my son. This new, strange young man who showers and shaves and brushes his teeth without being reminded. Who talks, not texts, TALKS on the phone for HOURS every evening. Who preferred her company to his brand new, released that very day, Assasins Creed 3. It's absolute insanity, and I'm torn daily between angst and pride. I'm so impressed not just with Sam but with Jon. I see the way Sam treats her (Lyndsey) and what I see is that my husband has set an EXCELLENT example of how a man should treat a woman. At the same time, where is my baby? Who is this 6'2" young man, who shaves daily and is ready to go get his drivers permit? And how can I be old enough that all this is possible?
Well, I guess I just have to get used to it...