Thanksgiving Day Disaster

     Autumn was fully upon us in 2003.  Thanksgiving was quickly approaching.  As long as Brian and I have been together we would alternate years on whether we would spend Thanksgiving with his family or mine.  Now we had 4 children.  Our oldest was 6 and our youngest turned 1 a few months back.  This year it was going to be different.  Brian decided it was time to start having our own Thanksgiving in our home.  He wanted the children to play outside in the crisp fall air only to come inside to the welcoming aroma of a home made Thanksgiving dinner.  He enjoyed memories of that as a child and he wanted his children to have the same wonderful memories.  I, too, grew up with Thanksgiving dinner at our home and had fond memories of it.  I did want the children to have the same Thanksgiving day memories with the perks of leftovers the next day. 

     There was still one problem.  I couldn't cook very well.  I never made a turkey before.  I haven't even made chicken before.  Well, I did try cooking chicken legs once.  It was burned on the outside and raw in the middle.  Roasts I could do.  Just toss it in a crock pot for several hours and it's ready to eat.  But a huge dinner I never have done.  Even as a child, during the Thanksgiving prep, my mom, nonnie (my grandmother), and my sister would be busy in the kitchen doing women's work.  My brother and grandpa would be in the livingroom watching the football game on TV and I would busy myself by trying to sneak a quick bite of something from the kitchen or playing with my toys.  I was not interested in football or kitchen duties.  I just wanted the finished product of Thanksgiving. But Brian was adamant about having Thanksgiving at home and that I was going to fix it. 

     I spent the two weeks prior planning out a menu.  I racked my brain thinking of all the Thanksgiving foods I ate growing up.  I asked my mom about prepping the turkey and how to make the stuffing.  I looked in cookbooks trying to find recipes for foods I usually took for granted of always being there without me making it.  I bought a huge turkey platter and other serving dishes to go along with our dinner.  I was thrilled and getting a sense of  domesticated feelings rising in me.  I was having fun.

     My mom and his mom were half laughing at how this Thanksgiving was going to turn out.  Both knew I was lacking in cooking skills.  They both did offer to have us to their homes on Thanksgiving but we were determined to have it at home.  For 2 days I was prepping for the big day.  I fixed up a veggie tray complete with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and cherry tomato's.  I made ambrosia salad, jello salad, deviled eggs, baked beans (not home made but out of a can), mashed potato's, stuffing, yams, sweet pickles, spiced peaches, sliced cucumbers, cranberry sauce (again out of the can), green bean casserole, rolls, and of course the turkey.  I did attempt to make squash but it didn't turn out right.  I later found out that I was supposed to use a different type of squash to make the orange creamy texture that I like in squash.  For 6 people, 4 of those are young children, I had a lot on the menu.  I just wanted things to be perfect.

     The turkey came out perfect.  It had a nice golden brown texture to it.  Brian came into the kitchen to see how it looked and he was impressed.  I was very pleased.  Our table is normally a circle but we extended it to add 2 leafs to it in the middle.  I set the table while trying to keep the younger children away from the food.  The wonderful smells were tickling their tummies for a taste of the wholesome goodies I was placing on the table.  I pulled out our wedding gobblets for Brian and I to have some wine with our dinner.  The kids had kool-aid.  Dinner was ready!

     We all sat around the table and I had James, who was just over a year old, sitting in a high chair next to me.  This would be his first Thanksgivng where he can eat from it.  Brian was at the head of the table and Christian, Elizabeth and Ashton were around the sides of the table.  We gave our thanks to the Lord for our wonderful feast and Brian took the knife to start cutting into the turkey.  I started to fix James' plate and placed a serving spoon into the green bean casserole.  Then suddenly CRASH!!!!!

     In less than a second the whole table split in two and everything came crashing down.  Brian still had the knife and fork in his hands still in the position of carving the turkey that is no longer under the knife.  My serving spoon still had a scoop of green bean casserole on it however the green bean casserole was now on the diningroom floor.  The kids started screaming and crying.  My first thought was to make sure they were okay.  The table edge came across James' high chair.  The arms of the high chair stopped the table from crushing down on his legs.  He was crying for a moment, probably from the excitment from it all but he was okay.  Christian wasn't fully under the table so he was okay as well as Ashton.  Beth's legs did get pinched from the table falling down and Brian was right there to lift the table off of her legs so she can back away from the mess.  Both girls were crying very hard.  Physically they were okay.  They were mostly sad by having their dinner in a huge pile on the floor.

Our Thanksgiving dinner table that collasped. 

Another angle of our Thanksgivng dinner.

My son's turkey napkin holder ruined among the yams.

As I lifted up a table leaf there I found the squished deviled eggs.

Ashton (3 years old) was upset by the table falling.

Beth (age 5) was also upset by the table falling. 
Her leg was pinched a bit by the falling table but it scared her more than anything. 

     Our dog, Cuddles, started to come up and help clean up some of the liquid juice that was all over the floor.  We quickly pulled her back and placed her in the enclosed porch.  We surveyed the damage.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  Brian, overwhelmed by it all, steps outside for a moment to have a cigarette.  All that hard work, all that prepping and preparing is now all over my diningroom floor.  I knew I would be laughing at this later so I might as well start now.  Our wedding gobblets shattered and glass pieces and slivers went everywhere.  The sweet potato's scattered across the floor landing in the green bean casserole and baked beans.  The deviled eggs plopped upside down squashed between the floor and the leaf of the table.  The liquid from the cramberry sauce, yams, spiced peaches and gravy made a huge puddled mess all of the place.  My son's turkey napkin holder was destroyed by food falling on it.  Because of the small pieces of glass everywhere we had to throw everything away.  The only thing that was saved was the squash that wasn't placed on the table because it wasn't made correctly and it did not taste as well as I was hoping for.  Four paper towel rolls and two garbage bags later the mess was cleaned up.

     Looking at the table we seen that the arms that hold the leaves of the table snapped in two.  All the weight of the Thanksgiving dinner put too much stress on the arms which caused it to break.  I called my mom.  She laughed and laughed.  She told me it was Karma by not being with her on Thanksgiving.  Brian called his mom to let her know what happened.  I could hear the laughter coming from the phone.  She begged for us to come over and have Thanksgiving over there.  She only lived 3 miles away.  Brian declined.  I looked at him thinking, what else are we supposed to do?!  Brian looked at me, smiled, and said he would be right back and he went out the door and drove off. 

     Like a knight in shinning armor Brian comes back with McDonald's in his arms.  Four happy meals for the kids and two Big Mac combo for us.  We went to the livingroom and made a picnic for the children in front of the TV and Brian and I sat on the couch.  We gave thanks, again, to the Lord and to have Him bless our McDonald's Thanksgiving dinner.

Our 2003 Thanksgiving Dinner

Christian (age 6) was quite pleased with the Happy Meal Thanksgiving dinner.