It certainly isn't bliss - Thanksgiving Edition

We normally spend Thanksgiving with Rob's family, but this year no one was having a big dinner so we're spending it at home with a turkey and all, or most, of the fixings.  

The problem is that everybody seems cranky.  Lindsay was happy we weren't going to a family function because she's currently in this "I hate everyone and they hate me" phase of teenage-hood.  She said she was relieved we were going to stay home, eat food, watch Planes Trains and Automobiles, and be generally lazy - but this morning she asked if she could go to a friends house for dinner.  At first I said no, and Rob basically said he didn't care, so I just told her to do what she wants.  To be honest, I said it in a way that was full of guilt, but I figured we couldn't win this one...  no matter what we said, she'd think we were stupid, evil, heartless, or mean, take your pick.  She didn't end up going so now she's in her room surfing the internet on her phone.  Sigh...

Rob is still in bed with his computer and the tv is on the same channel I left it on.  I'm sitting in my chair, struggling with a headache (beginning migraine?), nausea, back pain, and massive heartburn.  So it definitely isn't blissful in my home today.

Add to that, Matt (whose spending his third Thanksgiving in Japan) wants to be home with his family but is struggling with some decisions regarding his continued service.  He may or may not continue with his service, but that's another story.  Jake isn't coming home for Thanksgiving either, but that's not a matter of distance.  He and his fiance are going to her family function this year but I think they'll call.  Something is going on with those two but I have no idea what and I've actually lost sleep over it.  Welcome to Parenting 201...  you know, when you've managed to raise them to adulthood and send them out into the world.  This kind of parenting is still new to me and I'm struggling with it.

It might be time to open a bottle of wine.  If I get tipsy now, I'll have all day to build on that.  Now excuse me while I google drink recipes for brandy because I just found a bottle.

Chili!

I'm on a bunch of food mailing lists - Kraft, Allrecipes, Betty Crocker, etc. - and in the last week they've all sent emails focusing on chili.   I know, big shock since the weather's getting colder and everybody is thinking about winter comfort foods.  When the kids were growing up, I came up with a fantastic chili recipe that was inexpensive, simple, made A LOT of food, and the family loved.  I recently figured out how to make it in a much smaller batch - tougher than you'd think since I've been cooking for an army (feels that way) for so long.

So basically I want to make a batch of chili - a little for dinner and a little for Rob's lunch and maybe enough leftover for another dinner.  I suppose that means I'll have to go to the grocery store today.

• Chili!  With sour cream, cheese and frito's.  Maybe I'll pick up some corn muffins too.
• Lasagna roll ups.  With vodka sauce, sausage, salad and garlic bread.
• Parmesan Chicken breasts with creamy potatoes and peas
• Frozen pizza for Rob and Lindsay on my class night
• Poor Man's Soup - kind of an open a can and dump it in the crockpot sort of soup
• Ravioli/spaghetti/Italian something - maybe even a goulash.  Or chicken.  I'm super undecided.
• Slop - my lazy fallback.  Turns out that I've started offering a choice between slop and burrito bowls because their base is the same - ground beef and rice - and they're about the same amount of work.

I can go to the grocery store by myself this morning and still have time to come home and finish a couple loads of laundry, clean and vacuum the office and living room, and neaten the dining room before I have to pick Lindsay up from school.  We'll even have time to be lazy before we have to leave for her appointment late this afternoon...  I'm thinking movie/tv show and some hot chocolate on the couch under a blankey.

Oh, and schoolwork.  I've got three huge assignments due in two weeks - none of which I have finished.  I have an individual presentation, a group presentation, and a case presentation....   damn, enough with the freaking presentations!  By the end of that class, I should be super comfortable getting up in front of them and talking.  Hopefully it isn't an issue at the beginning of class either.  

There's crazy life-changing stuff brewing in our family.  Not only is Jake getting married in nine months, but Matt is probably going to reenlist.  I'm over the moon excited about one and fighting the depths of despair with the other.  What we expected our lives to look like just isn't going to be the case.  And...  such is life.  Full of twists and turns, unexpected events, and disappointments.