Weekly Randoms 11/11

miss.sally · November 2019

Let’s start randoming!

momoftoddlers · November 2019

The board is so dead! What’s everyone planning for Thanksgiving? We refused to travel this year so that means we’ll be at my in law’s up the road. I’ll be contributing Italian stuffing, green beans almondine, and apple pie. Im making the stuffing because Italian sausage has been a constant pregnancy craving. It’s literally something I would never eat in real life and I want it all the time. So weird. Sausage and peppers, in pasta, in quiche. Yum!

kailanae · November 2019

@momoftoddlers we are doing Thanksgiving with my parents on Thanksgiving Day and the in-laws the day after. We are spoiled for both and don't need to do any cooking - just come with empty stomachs. In prior years, we used to do both on Thanksgiving Day - one at lunch and one at dinner. I'm excited to be able to better enjoy the meals since I'll have more time to digest between them!

Also, my parents live 5 minutes away and my in-laws live next door, so no travel needed.

chichiphin · November 2019

@momoftoddlers we are doing thanksgiving solo! I was all excited to try and do it all ourselves, but then I made homemade raviolis yesterday and needed the freakin heating pad for my back afterward!! Now I'm scared to cook all day!
@kailanae while I'm sure proximity can be tough sometimes, that is awesome for holiday traveling!!

kagesstarshroom · November 2019

@chichiphin Raviolis are hard work! If you have leftovers, I made a super delicious ravioli soup that even with my dietary restrictions was way good, so I can't imagine what it would be like with, like, more tomato sauce and like--- flavor. (I just googled "ravioli soup" and used the first few recipes that popped up and whatever we had in the house plus some spinach).

@momoftoddlers I am really hoping someone brings a green bean casserole to our place.

@kailanae I was hoping for a year where we didn't have to do any work and could just show up at someone's house--though I'm sure DH would have volunteered us to bring a pie or something.

I live super far from my fam, so we are going to host again this year (even though I kind of didn't want to but DH is all for it--we've done it in the past w/ other friends/mostly fellow grad students stranded from home.) So far we have our roommate as a maybe and three friends as definite yeses. I *don't* want more than 12 people (we've had more in the past), but I *also* would like a few more than what we have for like--food variety purposes slash not having to spend too much money ourselves. DH always goes overboard, so I am trying to limit his spending (we have like no money) to be JUST on the turkey, stuffing, and gravy stuff. I always make a family tradition from my dad's side: creamed spinach! I have a Very Organized Google doc where the other people coming have signed up to bring stuff, and hopefully we can add to the list and get like 4? maybe 6? more people to show up and bring stuff too. It gives us a good excuse to clean our house, which desperately needs to be done, but I am having trouble keeping up with my dishes and my laundry, let alone anything else--so I'll take the excuse, though cleaning always = fights for us haha, so hopefully minus the fighting about cleaning part...

chichiphin · November 2019

@kagesstarshroom girl I was so frickin over it. I ran out of my pasta dough with about half of my filling left, so I just boiled shells and stuffed em at that point. but the stuffed shells were an A+ lunch today! hah

varimama · November 2019

My SIL is hosting thanksgiving this year, which at first I was excited about. We are taking green bean casserole and homemade egg noodles. Then I got kind of bummed about not hosting (no leftover turkey, plus I love cooking turkey etc...) so I talked to my cousin and she and her husband are coming over the following weekend and I’ll make a thanksgiving dinner then! DH is going to ask his cousin too so we’ll call it Cousins-giving. I’m hoping it’s fun so that we can maybe make it a tradition. I hear of people doing Friendsgiving all the time but sadly we don’t have any good enough friends who are close to local to us but I’d really like to be closer to our cousins who are local so I’m giving this a shot!

varimama · November 2019

@kagesstarshroom I need the excuse of hosting to clean too! I know week before I’ll be kicking myself but I’m so behind. I too am struggling to keep up with just laundry and dishes so a lot has been neglected. I’ll feel better once it’s all clean. I’m trying to talk DH into hiring someone to do a deep clean right before baby is due. He’s not thrilled with the idea though so it probably won’t happen

mrsvp614 · November 2019

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I'm pumped! We go to my aunt and uncle's house, just 10 minutes away. Lots of good food and relaxation... although I'll thoroughly miss the wine this year! :'( Low stress, low pressure, not too many people... it's just lovely. DH even proposed to me on Thanksgiving, knowing it's my favorite.

On Black Friday, we're traveling about 1.5 hrs to DH's family. The food is never as good, and there's no booze, and his family can be kind of dull, so we're not as excited about that. It'll be different this year, since his grandmother has passed, but there are lots of toddlers, so at least that's fun to get them all together.

wednesdayschild · November 2019

@mrsvp614, we also got engaged over Thanksgiving. Good times!

We’re hosting 14 people, although more potluck style and I’ve outsourced the turkey. Should be fun! It’s a big mix of friends, family, and friends of friends. I’ve been researching mocktails and stocking up on bitters & soda.

kailanae · November 2019

Ah I totally forgot about Friendsgivings. We actually have two this year - one on 11/23 and one on 12/7. I haven't decided what to bring to either yet. One is with two other couples from church that we have recently been hanging out with over the past few months, and the other is with friends from when I was in high school.

creativesoul63 · November 2019

@kagesstarshroom haha I also use hosting parties as a motivation to clean the house! It really gets DH’s rear in gear too!

We host Friendsgiving at our house every year and it’s the best, we do the turkey and everyone else brings the rest. We usually have between 15-20 people.

Between my mom and stepdad, dad and step mom and in-laws (and none of them live close besides my mom sort of), we have 3 families that fight over us for every holiday 😩 usually we go to Florida to be with my dad, but they are getting ready to move so we are staying home for Turkey Day, which means the closer family, mom, stepdad, in laws, SIL, BIL and 2 nieces are coming to us. Sooo much cooking to do, I have a Google spreadsheet going lol. I’m also making a gender reveal cake which will be super fun!

miss.sally · November 2019

We will be driving about 6 hours to my dads house for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait! I love spending it with my family. They’re a big southern family and the food is ALWAYS on point. Also tons of alcohol. Lol. Unfortunately I can’t partake. But I’ll probably enjoy a glass of wine.

lemonlove86 · November 2019

@miss.sally my random (in spoiler) totally builds off of your last comment.. and was TOTALLY me this weekend as while I was away at at wedding in California

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/ti/pcmz384qjcum.jpg

stassischroeder · November 2019

@chichiphin by 3rd tri in my last pregnancy I had to drag a bar stool over to the stove in order to do any significant cooking

AFM, my MIL is hosting Thanksgiving, so it'll be a 2 hour drive for us. DH works Thanksgiving, so it'll just be me and DS making the trek. Last year no one in DH's family did anything for Thanksgiving (and my family is out of state), which was kinda depressing, so I'm happy to have SOMETHING to go to this year.

treetop19 · November 2019

@varimama, a cousins-giving sounds interesting! that's something I would give a shot if any of my cousins lived closer...

@mrsvp614, I think I have the fondest memories of low-key thanksgivings, too - I grew up with the traditional, large, loud thanksgivings (I have 20 cousins on just my dad's side.) my favorite one, though, has got to be the first one I had with DH, just the two of us and DD, where we went all out with the food, cooking together, and just chilled and ate/talked most of the day. it was so much more relaxing... so it's become kind of a tradition for us to not travel and just do an immediate family Thanksgiving (though some years we have also went over to a friend's house and joined them for their family Thanksgiving as well.) it'll be just us this year and I'm looking forward to it.

corgmom · November 2019

@chichiphin wearing my supportive (and ugly) tennis shoes while in the kitchen has helped my feet and back a little!

This is the first year in 5+ years that we’ll go to my family—about 3 hours away. H has never been to Cleveland for thanksgiving so I’m excited to show him all our traditions. We do not need to cook or bring anything thankfully. I got a gift certificate for a free Honey Baked Turkey from one of our orthodontists—does anyone have any recommendations? Donate it? Cook it? Save it for Christmas?

momoftoddlers · November 2019

@chichiphin
It’s so easy to overdo it lately. So annoying! Since it’s just you guys maybe you have a local prepared foods grocer where you can buy small portions of some side dishes and save yourself some work.

@varimama My mom always loved cooking thanksgiving so much that if she wasn’t hosting we would still cook a thanksgiving meal at home over the weekend. We still do it. Last year the only time my siblings and I were all free was Sunday morning so we added mimosas and called it brunch.

miss.sally · November 2019

We have snow today!! It’s so pretty but SO cold. I wasn’t quite ready for fall to be over, but here we are in winter! And of course DD has her first ice skating lesson today and it’s at an outdoor rink 😂. Should be interesting. I think I may run to Costco and grab myself some snow boots to wear.

EmilyLove25 · November 2019

@miss.sally Ugh snow here too! Quite a bit, honestly.

Also just to make everyone feel better... and don't ask me how I came to this decision... we are driving 18 (EIGHTEEN) hours to go to Denver (we are in Ohio) to my MILs for Thanksgiving. Positives: I like road trips, I got out of seeing them for Xmas, we are topping half way to go to an indoor waterpark resort, and I get a much needed ENTIRE week off work. Negatives: two toddlers and a pregnant woman on an 18 hour road trip...

stassischroeder · November 2019

@EmilyLove25 I love Denver, but....

Image: https://media.giphy.com/media/l4JyZXbRwhhjhNgEE/giphy.gif

The water park and week off work sound great, though!

mrsvp614 · November 2019

@EmilyLove25

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/99/jsl5cwi4n21f.gif

I've always wanted to go to Denver though!

chichiphin · November 2019

omg I just laughed out loud in my office @stassischroeder

kagesstarshroom · November 2019

@varimama I feel better now about my lack of being great at housework lol.

I would be the opposite of you & YH w/ the hiring someone. I'd be like "nooowaayyy" & he'd be like "why not!" But--I feel like our house isn't organized enough for hiring someone, if that makes sense? Like, we would have to do so much to get the house into a condition where deep cleaning would be possible lol.

@pdx2020 Care to share any mocktails recipes? I am hoping to at least indulge in something like that come Thanksgiving--I have been avoiding all bubblies and citrus juices bc of heartburn though wahhh. But maybe I will just Not Care for Thanksgiving.

@EmilyLove25 wow! I talked to my Ob about traveling last week, but not for T-Giving but xmas, and I was like "....I should just fly and DH should take the dogs on the 23 hour roadtrip, right?" and she was like," Medically, either is fine but omg fly bc you'd have to stop too often to stretch and pee, which I would recommend any way" yadda yadda yadaa. Still gotta get those darn plane tix though, but last time I looked I didn't like my options. I don't love a layover. THOUGH (thanks, credit card,) I am going tomorrow to get TSA pre-check so that check-in both ways is super easy for me. Woo.

momoftoddlers · November 2019

@kagesstarshroom Yess. We have a once a month cleaning person and we have to run around like wild banshees the morning she comes putting everything away and tidying so she can actually reach the surfaces she needs to clean. It’s exhausting, but not as exhausting as also doing all the cleaning. lol

wednesdayschild · November 2019

@kagesstarshroom: I present, the Bright & the Bitter.

12-16 servings
3 cups orange juice
1.5 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
3/4 cup lemon juice (~4 lemons)
3/4 cup lime juice (~6 limes)
1/4 cup simple syrup
12 dashes of bitters (I

The Bitter Housewife - it's on amazon)
Chilled soda water, to serve
Lime wedges, to serve

Mix the juices and simple syrup in a pitcher. Add bitters and taste. Add more bitters and syrup if desired. Serve over ice and top with soda water and lime wedges. Looks very pretty in a reusable glass bottle, and served in a whiskey glass.

Also, if you're avoiding citrus and soda, there are a bunch of Butterbeer recipes that look delicious and decadent and are booze-free!

varimama · November 2019

@kagesstarshroom oh we’d have to do a lot to get ready for a cleaner too but DH is all like I don’t want someone going through my stuff... I’m like dude she’s not digging through your sock drawer looking for things she’d be cleaning... but he’s still uncomfortable with it. Maybe I’ll make him deep clean 😂 jk...mostly. (For the record he’s great about picking up the vacuum or whatever when I ask him to it just usually falls on me bc he works in and takes care of outside stuff!).

Malidocious · November 2019

Hi everyone! I've been pretty MIA lately -- work is SO busy (budget season is upon us) and The Bump almost never works for me on my phone... but all is well over in my corner of the world (*knocks on wood my luck doesn't change back to bad soon*). I've missed y'all!

RE: Thanksgiving — This is the first year in almost 7 years that I'm going to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family! I used to spend Thanksgiving with my ex's family and then we'd do Christmas with mine. We split in January this year, so it's going to be such a weird holiday season. I'm excited to spend more time with my family though. My mom usually hosts a big Thanksgiving party with her siblings and their spouses and children and my grandparents (and a few family friends come, as well), but this year is going to be super small, though (just my parents, my mom's parents, and me and my partner). I'm still stoked! I'll be bringing either an appetizer or a dessert; undecided at the moment. We also are going to a Friendsgiving on 11/24 and I'm not sure what I'm taking to that either. This will be the first time that my partner is going to meet some of my friends, so I'm equal parts exciting and nervous (although I really shouldn't be nervous at all).

RE: Snow — There's so much snow here, too! We got 5 inches yesterday and it is brutally cold outside today. Brrrr... I was not prepared!

@EmilyLove25 An 18 road trip sounds TERRIBLE, omg. Lol! I love the indoor water park aspect of the journey though (and the entire week off work)!! I'm sure the whole trip will be funsies!

vrstrawn · November 2019

Coming to rant....I found out at my appt on Friday that the OB/birthing clinic I go to is closing down in December. I have to find a new doctor and place to deliver, plus deal with tricare referral stuff for that. Such is military life, but I am annoyed!! They were referring a lot of people out already if you had the slightest bit of "risk" or anything like that, and I was proud of myself for being able to stay there.

mrsvp614 · November 2019

@vrstrawn Sorry to hear that! Super annoying.

AAAG13 · November 2019

Thanksgiving plans- driving two hours one way to see my dad’s family. In all honesty I can not stand my dad but his parents (DD’s great-grandparents) love seeing DD and it’s getting harder for them to travel. We will go there for Thanksgiving and Christmas but I have already announced we aren’t coming for Easter. For Easter we will do an egg hunt with my bff and her littles. It’s much more kid friendly as DD is the only person under 18 in my family. I try to avoid my in-laws as much as possible, honestly so does DH.

@stassischroeder is it to late to drag the stool out now? I usually do two hours of food prep on Sunday and had to sit down twice in that period. I forgot about this lovely side of pregnancy.

stac4056 · November 2019

Thanksgiving yay!!! Sorry, this is going to be long...DH's family alternates holidays because there are so many of them in so many different areas (6 boys all together, 3 bio and 3 bio matching in ages like the Brady Bunch, super cute), the get together holiday is Christmas this year. For some crazy reason, his family planned their father/stepfather's 70th bday down in Austin December 5-9...adult only, because the two boys that live there do not have kids and one is feeling ostracized from the kid centered activities that have overcome the family, so they decided to use this event to reconnect all the adults, cool idea, horrible timing, a week after Thanksgiving...3 weeks before we all get together for Christmas!!! WTH!! So instead of trying to travel twice so close together, we coordinated with some of my family who are also luckily in Austin to celebrate a late Thanksgiving with them for two days Dec 5-6, and do the bday celebration for two days while my sister watches the kids. It was suggested that we get a sitter in OKC for the full four days/nights y'all...while we are six hours away in Austin.
So, we were really excited to attend a Friendsgiving in Tulsa that we've missed out on for years. But, because my family is non-traditional and don't really stick to holiday get togethers, MIL is always creeping in on US for the holiday that isn't theirs, like 'what, you won't be with family, blasphemy'!! So she drops on me the other day that she and DH's stepdad will come down here for Thanksgiving and we can have my daughter's bday party that weekend, etc., all planned out. She means well but she will straight up plan out your life if you let her. Well I didn't feel that I could say 'sorry we're going to a friends house', but DH says that's what he wants to do, so I'm making him put in that call to his mom even though she will still think I am behind that move. We will see how this plays out...
Good luck to those of you driving and hosting, at least we don't have to do that part!!
@EmilyLove25 that is so loooonnng but sounds fun!! Road trips are the only time DH and I get any adult conversation in after they fall asleep!!
@corgmom No advice on logistics but sounds yummy so save for Christmas?
@varimama Just the thought of a deep clean makes me feel so relaxed and refreshed, do ittttttttt!!
@mrsvp614 So sweet that he proposed on your favorite holiday, makes it extra special every year!!

miss.sally · November 2019

Y’all. We left to go to DDs ice skating lesson. It took me 45 minutes to go a mile and a half. So we turned around and came home. The ice rink is usually a 15 min drive. We didn’t even make it 1/8th of the way. The roads were so bad. And H had the only car with 4wd at work with him. I was terrified driving my pregnant self and two kids in my little Honda Fit! I got home and stress ate two bowls of pasta and at least 4 pieces of Halloween candy. Lol.

AAAG13 · November 2019

@miss.sally good idea turning around. Glad you guys are safe!

silverhope · November 2019

@miss.sally i don’t feel like getting into it bc I am trying to wind down, but feel you on the stress eating today. I actually now feel sick bc of how much rage eating I was doing.

If DS would just go back to sleep, maybe tomorrow will be a new day. Hope the roads are less treacherous for u tmrw!

keeksie84 · November 2019

@pdx2020 I'm in Portland today and took your rec and went to Pok Pok! I didn't have a drinking vinegar, but had about half of a "low proof" cocktail made with a bit of grapefruit cider, soda and biters. TBH, it probably would have been just as good without the cider. Loved the food and we got Salt and Straw for dessert. Thanks!

wednesdayschild · November 2019

@keeksie84 ahh, so good! They sell the drinking vinegars in New Seasons around here if you want some for the road, haha. Sounds like a delicious day 🤤

keeksie84 · November 2019

@pdx2020 I might have to grab some!!

stac4056 · November 2019

@miss.sally Inclement weather traffic is the worst!!!! Not sure if that is true, I hate all traffic but that sounds stressful!! Glad you guys made it back safely and you deserved the pasta and candy!!

Malidocious · November 2019

@miss.sally I'd have turned around too! Screw that! I hate driving in the snow/ice, and our roads are so terrible right now too. I already am nervous driving since the accident last month, so adding snow and ice to the mix has been brutal.

miss.sally · November 2019

H is getting a total hip replacement next month and we went to his pre-op appointment today. It was supposed to be 2 hours but he misheard them. We were at the hospital for 5.5 hours. It was so boring for me. I’m glad he’s getting it done but whew. I need a nap.

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