Turkey Day Fun Run (or the gallivanting at the grocery store)

Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite holidays.

The start of the Holiday Season. (NO CHRISTMAS BEFORE THANKSGIVING PEOPLES!) The arrival of autumn – and cooler temperatures (it’s getting down to 70 degrees here in SoCal).

Yeah, I’m in SoCal with the muppets. A six-hour drive narrated by twin toddlers in the backseat. (At least they weren’t screaming, “I DRIVE” the *entire* time.) They were actually quite good. Really not screechy at all. Except for when I tried to be productive and multi-task on a work-related conference call about three-hours in. Then they piped right up.

When we arrived, GrammaJ and PapaStavo decided to switch out the locks on the bedroom door so the muppets wouldn’t decide to roam freely about the strange house as the witching hour broke. This inevitably led to us getting locked in the room.

So the chance to hit up the grocery store, the night before Thanksgiving, seemed like a glorious respite.

I pulled into the packed parking lot. But who cares! It was just me! I found a spot and genteelly sauntered toward the masses frantically hurling pint-size pumpkin cans into baskets.

I decided I was going to go super luxurious – I grabbed a cart and casually wheeled forward (after vigorously scrubbing the handle down with baby wipes). This was a rarity. Normally I’m balancing an overflowing basket on the back of a stroller while demanding that Search and Destroy get back in the stroller or I’m strapping their little butts down. (And this, folks, is why Jon normally goes to the store.)

I was both lost in my own world as well as engaged in a mad game of people watching. Because there were no distractions involving shouts of, “Don’t touch! That’s icky!” There were throngs of people, and yet I was carefree of worries that a tiny person was gonna take out a shopper. There were aisles to leisurely wander.

I meandered over to the spirits. I observed the labels. Because I had time to do this. And being the experienced oenophile I am, picked out the red wine with what I deemed to be the cutest label.

Since moving upstate, I’ve missed more than a few Turkey Days with my extended family. Which is sad, because the hilarity that inevitably ensues is blogging gold. GOLD, people.

I promise to share.

In the meantime, I’m gonna relax down here in the sunshine with my grocery store runs and thusly acquired bottle of red. Because when grandparents and grandchildren are in the same vicinity, I am totally persona non grata. I shall document the exchanges for posterity.

PS. I went with a zinfandel featuring a yellow kangaroo.

PPS. In the spirit of today, I’m thankful for you. Thanks for listening to my rants and sharing your stories in turn. And I’m thankful for my friends and family for giving me so many stories to share.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! May you gorge yourself silly and laugh until your stomach hurts.

1 Comment

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One Response to Turkey Day Fun Run (or the gallivanting at the grocery store)

  1. Joanne Hamann

    I did gorge – you would have been proud And thank YOU for reminding me always what a gift writing is!