Thanksgiving day re-cap

Every family has one. Right? Someone every family member talks about and that person has been labeled. Like the neurotic one. The late one. The prompt one. The perfectionist. And the list goes on and on. Right? Well, maybe it is just our family...

Both sides of our families are huge so our list of "the one" is really, really, really long!

I have 5 siblings, who all have spouses and kids. Some of those kids (my nieces and nephews) are married with children of their own.

Mr. Man has 4 sisters who are married with kids. Some (most) of those kids (his nieces and nephews) are married with kids of their own.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving isn't about the WHOLE family (from either side) getting together for the holiday. We used to spend it with just my father. Then about 5 years ago that all changed and since none of my family live close we usually spend it with one of Mr. Man's sisters or we just do our own thing.

This year we spent Thanksgiving at Mr. Man's younger sister's house. We have never done Thanksgiving with them before (read this post for the reason why!) It was a lot of fun!
My SIL is very crafty and an excellent decorator and is also a clean freak (and I do mean freak - the woman washes her WALLS regularly!) Her label? Yep, you guessed it - "The clean freak" However, her house does look like a show home and it really is inviting and cozy - and very clean. I love going to her house!

Anyway, back to the point - Mr. Man has an aunt and uncle who are serious tight-wads -- their label? Yep "tight-wads". They hate to pay for anything. He delivers food for a local food bank and what gets left over they let the volunteers take. Whenever we have a get together this aunt/uncle show up with 3-day old (or older) food that they want us to eat. Sometimes it is moldy bread. ew! (*I know this is a huge digression, but one year they actually showed up on my birthday with a week old cake that was horrible looking - and tasted worse!*) So anyway, back to my story - I was talking with my SIL on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we were discussing the menu. She told me what she was making and who was bringing what and she said:
"Aunt A is bringing the dessert."

I was silent.

She said: "I know, that is scary so I already have a pie just in case and some other desserts if we need."

I arrived to my SIL's early so that I could help her get set up and ready. When Aunt A showed up she had a 2 day old pecan pie and a pumpkin pie that didn't have a date on it so I have no idea how old it was - but it smelled ok and tasted alright too (although I drown mine in whipped topping so who would've known anyway!)

Other than that, we ate like pigs and man oh man was the food de.lish.ous!

Before dinner we had cheese ball, salsa and chips, a bacon/spinach/cheese dip, chocolate covered pretzels, fudge, popcorn balls, other kinds of candy. Then for dinner we had turkey (of course), mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn, fruit salad, blueberry dessert, pumpkin pie, pecan pie. It was so yummy. Of course I stuffed myself - but don't regret it!

We watched some funny videos and football of course. Then my niece and nephew decided to go to a coffee shop without us old folks so we gabbed and caught up on each other's lives. So, all-in-all, dinner with the clean-freak and the tight-wads was a hoot! Ha!