stuffed

As you know, cooking a large turkey dinner is a lot of work at the best of times. Today, we added a very energetic 17 month old who likes to climb and push things non-stop around the kitchen, and his cousin Dakota, who's 5 and likes to talk and throw things down the stairs and pound on the piano. Somehow, Anna, Sam, Holly and I managed to get the turkey and stuffing, the brussels (a recipe from yesterday's "Globe," braised with shallots and garlic), the gravy, bread sauce and cranberry sauce, the mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, the turnip/carrot dish and the peas on the table, and sit down, for a brief moment of peace. But the baby wasn't interested in dinner, so we passed him around, shirtless so he didn't smear his clean t-shirt, while we ate. He was interested in the chocolate birthday cake that came later, though.

One of Sam's best friends from high school, Matt, came with his wonderful girlfriend Maxine, who ended up doing most of the dishes, and later Joe, another best friend, came with his girlfriend. They'll all be 30 next birthday. They discussed movies, music and other friends, as they did as teens, but this time, also, the kitchen renovation Joe is doing on the condo he has just bought. We watched funny YouTube things on their phones. There was a lot of noisy laughter, and I remembered when they were here for hours, for the whole weekend, sometimes, legions of very large boys, drinking too much and talking too loudly, puking and passing out on the sofa. And now Joe was asking about the granite on my countertop.

I was their age, 29, when I met Edgar and fell in love; we moved in together and everything changed. I got pregnant two weeks after my 30th birthday. Best thing I ever did, except for when I did it again a few years later.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

 Milk and Jamiesons, and competing bellies

 Friends since Grade 9

Not much went in, though.

But this did.