Wednesday, November 23, 2022

How's Your Thanksgiving Prep Going?


 In the true spirit of Dept. Holiday Preparation and Appliance Loyalty, I am awaiting a visit from the HVAC company. Our furnace is leaking--has been, apparently--and forms not only a little lagoon around itself, but a nice little group of tributaries that wander off in search of the drain.

Additionally, on Sunday I discovered the condition you see above, under my kitchen sink. It seems our faucet had been leaking, too, from its pull-out sprayer. Rick remedied that, thank goodness, and on Monday morning I could put stuff back under the sink. All it cost us was a new faucet and most of his day. (Does anyone ever make only one trip to the home-improvement store?)

Today, as I await the furnace repairman, I got busy dusting. I grabbed the yellow can and set to work on all the tables and the leather furniture. Only when I went to put it back did I notice that I had been liberally spraying and wiping with Lysol disinfectant, not Behold furniture polish. 

Am I going back and doing it over? Hell. No. I'm coming off of a three-day migraine and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. If the furnace repairman gives me some bullshit about parts and delays, I might swat him with my (hopefully fully thawed) turkey. Violence, however, solves nothing; it's more likely that I simply cry.

"These are the times that try men's souls," said Thomas Paine, who was clearly not talking about The Holidays. Every single person in the world knows that Women are the Holiday Bringers. 

Keep your fingers crossed that I make it out of this one. Happy Thanksgiving.

30 comments:

  1. Oh NO! I'm not hosting Thanksgiving, but since there are so many of us I'm bringing mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread, cherry dessert, and sweet and sour green bean casserole. All manageable. Half of it is done. I'm glad not to have to order my home for guests.

    Our oven broke once when I was hosting, or maybe it was a new one delivered for the basement and then couldn't be installed because there wasn't a gas line or something. I had to juggle lots of dishes with the kitchen oven. I believe the microwave was also down for the count that year. All I know is we'd gone from 3 places to cook things to one.

    Last Thanksgiving it was only the 8 of us, but when I took the turkey out to put it in the oven it was rotten. Tough time to find out that your basement fridge is keeping things cool BUT NOT COLD. Fortunately the grocery store had fresh turkeys and I bought a new one.

    Good luck. Hope the furnace is an easy fix and at least you're one step ahead of germs with the Lysol 'dusting' treatment of the furniture. Happy Thanksgiving.

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    1. Ernie--Making and taking sides sounds manageable, yes. No turkey, no pulling out the big table and leaves and pads and blah blah blah. And I leave loading the dishwasher to Rick because heaven forbid I put something in incorrectly. DEATH PENALTY.

      With a large family, any meal is like Thanksgiving with the logistics and quantity. You deserve a break on this day.

      The furnace was an easy fix: the previous tech who did maintenance in the summer did not reconnect the condenser hose. This tech--a woman--found it immediately and remedied the situation. Hooray! Now we'll have a dry and germ-free holiday.

      Happy Thanksgiving to all of you; fingers crossed that no more fall to illness.

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  2. Oh what a stupid time for a furnace to get wonky and a sprayer to get drippy. Life is unfair and I feel for you. I'm sorry. As for Thanksgiving and preparation for said, it's ezpz here at Chez Bean. Cooking for two isn't stressful.

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    1. Ally B--Thank you for your sympathy; it's much appreciated. As Rick and I were making pie and cranberry relish last night, he said, "I thought by now one of the boys would be hosting and we'd just be invited someplace for Thanksgiving." Then we sort of stopped and dreamed for a moment about that scenario before discarding it entirely.

      Enjoy your quiet and serene Thanksgiving. It sounds ... dreamy.

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  3. Why must these things happen before or during a big holiday? I mean, that would never happen on the first Tuesday of June! I hope your furnace is repaired with little fanfare or violence; like you said, Violence doesn't help, but crying might.

    Your cleaner mix up reminded me of something my Grandma did way back in the early 80's. She mistook the can of Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner for her hairspray. 😳
    So, your house is rid of germs which is a good thing. Right?

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    1. Suz--Gosh, how I love being compared to your GRANDMOTHER. Makes my day. LOL.

      My furnace was repaired very simply. The WOMAN repair person noticed that the MAN who was here in the summer for maintenance neglected to reconnect the condenser hose. She apologized for him over and over and cleaned up his mess. AS WE DO.

      I didn't need to resort to tears or violence. Thanksgiving will happen, and I'm counting on my sons to mellow me out. I hope you have a lovely day free of germs, as I will.

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  4. Oh, man! I broke a toilet at my in-laws' house on Thanksgiving one year. It couldn't have been ANY OTHER DAY of the year, could it? I'm sure it will have all worked itself out by the time the actual holiday rolls around, right?!

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    1. NGS--Yikes. That would be the hope, anyway.

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  5. Why do appliances and emergencies only seem to happen right before a holiday? Why?!

    Happy Thanksgiving, Nance!

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    1. Gigi--Good question, that. My holidays--and this blog--are rife with stories of how my house has turned on me before and during the holidays. I've yet to get the hint and give up.
      Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.

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  6. Oh my word ............never good when you have a heater lagoon. We had to replace ours the winter after we moved in for that very reason.

    Here's wishing for small issues and plentiful parts.

    Happy Thanksgiving.

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    1. Happy Thanksgiving, Dee. It was indeed a small issue after all, and caused by the summer repairman doing Preventative Maintenance (what a laugh). He left the condenser hose disconnected. It was caught immediately by the repair WOMAN, who apologized for HIM profusely. Hmmm.

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  7. There is never a good time for a furnace to be oust but the holiday is the worst.

    The Lysol disinfectant used instead of Behold furniture polish is shocking. Didn't smell the difference? So both your eyes and your nose are getting old, isn't that fun. LoL

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    1. Jean--Both products are lemon-scented, so my nose isn't betraying me, at least. And since both cans are yellow and I was simply grabbing them from a low cupboard, I feel vindicated. But I definitely feel like I'm getting old. Sigh. Just like my furnace. But at least both of us are still plugging along.

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  8. I should not be laughing, but ...! My worst mixup ever was toothpaste on my hairbrush due to getting ready to leave in the dark.
    On our Thanksgiving, my 54 year old daughter essayed to cook her first turkey ever. All went well until she forgot to get it out of the oven. Since it looks as if the Christmas crowd will once again assemble here, she is about to cook her second ever turkey and I may vacate the kitchen entirely. Holiday meals!!!
    I just hope, a lot, that the power is not interrupted on the Big Day for either you or me.
    Manufacturers should not be allowed to use the same colour of cans. Ain't fair.

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    1. Mary--Oh, you can laugh. Eventually, I did. Weakly, but yes, I laughed.

      I think you should definitely give over the kitchen entirely to your daughter(s) for Christmas. Just enter it every now and again to add ice to your drink. As it is not even December yet, I'm not allowed to think of Christmas in any way. It's my Unbreakable Rule.

      If anything else goes wrong, I'm prepared to give up entirely and serve pie, peanut M&Ms, potato chips, and anything else people can scavenge. My dressing/stuffing (already precooked) is also excellent cold.

      And it can all be eaten in a sanitized environment, thanks to The Yellow Can Incident.

      Delete
    2. Have you checked the whipping cream and shaving cream containers? Or are you a purist about making the stuff (the edible one) from scratch? Did I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving? Pie? Who needs more!

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    3. Mary--LOL! No errors in the dinner, thank heavens. I made only one pie (pumpkin), which I do not eat, to great acclaim. I don't even remember eating anything. Sigh.

      And heavens no, I don't make my own whipped cream. I buy the fake stuff in the tub and call it good enough for the day.

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  9. Happy Thanksgiving! Sounds like everything is working out after all.

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    1. Ellen--Thank you. I hope you had a good holiday as well.

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  10. Oh dear! It's always SOMETHING, isn't it? At our house today it's a clogged toilet...the worst clog we've ever had. Thank God we have two bathrooms. Naturally it's the downstairs toilet, but we are not hosting today (again, thank God). and no plumber was called since we have two and Fletch is patiently (or not so much) dealing with the clog. Meanwhile the pies and roasted veggies, chutney, wine and golden berries (for a pre-dinner snack) are ready to hit the road. Soon...after I dry my hair and get dressed.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Vera--Honestly, WHY?! It's like the problems lie in wait until the worst moment.

      I hope you had a lovely time at your gathering. Your contributions sound delicious. I know you were so looking forward to spending time with C & M and having a good visit.

      Delete
  11. Well, we are extremely lucky and have no major repairs going on. Ours don't usually happen on a holiday, but they do tend to pile up all at once, e.g., 3 things will break down simultaneously, and at least one of them will involve making a major investment in a new appliance.

    As for Thanksgiving, it's rainy shitful weather here. But we're not traveling, thank God. So it's a quiet Thanksgiving with just me and Mr. O. I am still not able to eat meat that's chewy, but I *can* have fish and shellfish. I made an apple crumble and spent the "turkey money" on lobster tails, lol. Works for me!

    I had to laugh at the yellow can incident. Mr. O. once cleaned off our glass dining room table with Clorox bathroom tile foam. And not long after I had cleaned it with Windex, so it scared the hell out of me: bleach + ammonia!! I quickly doused it with water which created a mess on the floor, but better than breathing stuff that could kill you. Oddly (or not) I have never mixed up cleaning stuff, but had a few incidents of putting the wrong spice in a pot full of stew. Like dill weed instead of basil, lol.

    I hope your furnace got repaired, and that your Thanksgiving was without further incident. XXOO


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    1. Ortizzle--I'm laughing at the idea that the price of a turkey is equal to the cost of lobster tails. I wish! But I love that sort of Thanksgiving dinner anytime. It sounds perfect. And I'd rather have a crumble or crisp than pumpkin pie, too.

      Our rainy and shitful weather is today, the day after. And that's fine with me. I have Day After stuff to do, like vacuum, run another load of dishes, etc. Then we're escaping to the lakehouse for the remainder of the weekend.

      Your spice mixup could result in some interesting dishes. I remember my brother once grabbing cumin instead of cinnamon for his oatmeal. He despises wasting food, so he went ahead and ate it. He was not pleased.

      My furnace repair was merely a mistake left by the previous tech over the summer. He neglected to reattach the condenser hose. This tech found it immediately--SHE remedied the situation and apologized; she even cleaned up the mess. How typical, right?

      Take care, dear friend. XO

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  12. Oh dear, how stressful! So glad to read in the comments that the tech was able to reconnect it and all is well. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did laugh at you dusting with the Lysol. What a clean house! Clearly you keep your cleaning products under the sink. (Side note...I hate trying to fix things myself, because I hate how many trips I make to the hardware store...we have mostly given up and pay someone...) We keep our cleaning products high up above a cabinet, so that our toddler, Maya, will not eat them. Of course, she is 26 and really unlikely to taste anything, but we are in the habit now, AND the space below our sink is full of other things anyway. It's small and the garbage disposal takes up most of the space.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. J--We did have a nice Thanksgiving after it all. Zydrunas joined us, and that always makes me happy.

      The massive garbage disposal does take up a lot of room, but I still keep the cleaning products I use most often under the sink. I really don't have any other place to put them in my little kitchen, and I don't want to have to go to the basement every time I have to dust or clean windows or mirrors, etc. Thank goodness my Windex is obvious and I didn't spray anything strange on the mirrors.

      My sons are in their thirties and still act like toddlers sometimes when they get together. At this point it serves as my entertainment. LOL.

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  13. It does seem that there's always something that goes wrong before holidays and events. Really annoying somethings and often costly somethings! I'm glad that all worked out per your comments and that you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, Nance. Amusingly, we always seem to remember the eventful holidays and events because of what went wrong more than what went right.

    I felt the angst of your Lysol/Pledge mix-up and everyone else's similar stories. We definitely all have them or are reminded of other product stories. Some more major than others and again, they often happen right before a big event. I remember when Bo was home alone as a teenager and volunteered as soon as we got back home that he'd Pine-sol'd my hardwood floors. Yeah, it turned out that he'd had a major blow-out party. Sigh. My floors survived. I think my worst mix-up was putting dog fur detangler on my lips instead of non-petroleum "Vaseline." OMG! I couldn't wipe or brush my lips with toothpaste enough. Both were the same size, color, and type of container. Luckily, I survived without ill effect and the detangler has never been near the other tube again. I'm sure there are plenty more examples that I'm not remembering now. I will say that it's good to know that one can Lysol one's surfaces that one normally uses Pledge on without negative results. Critical info during this time of COVID, RSV, and the flu!

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    1. Shirley--Dog fur detangler on your lips! That's a new one for sure. Knowing you, I'm sure it was completely safe and devoid of harsh chemicals, so it probably wasn't too terrible. Besides, if you've kissed the top of the dog's head often enough, you've had it on your lips before. LOL.

      Even the cats don't seem to mind the Lysoled furniture. They still curl up on the chairs, couch, and ottoman for naps without a complaint. And my basement floor is nice and dry. I feel so much better.

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  14. Well firstly, this post just showed up on Bloglovin, so I completely missed the drama & wishing you a happy thanksgiving. What the heck!

    Secondly - LOLOL at the Lysol. That might not be such a bad thing to do before company comes (and after they leave). Mike replaced his dad's water heater last weekend & it took several trips to both Ace Hardware and Lowe's. He looked me like I was crazy when I asked why he hadn't just hired someone to do it.

    Thirdly, I'm getting ready to work on my post, so I'll talk about thanksgiving there, but THANK GOODNESS my cousin Julie likes to host it each year. This year I didn't even cook anything - I bought a pecan pie. Of course, this is the cousin for whom I made the blanket, so getting to Leave It At Her House was an occasion all in of itself. (I've always heard that phrase - all in of itself - but I don't think it's an actual real phrase, right?)

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    1. Bug--Sigh. The whole Lysol thing is still bothering me. So indicative of how I drive myself nuts with stress before hosting any event, and this was just my family! Ridiculous.

      I am in awe of people like your cousin who are happy entertaining people in their homes and look forward to it all: the planning, the prep, the cooking, the whole deal. I really hate it. I love my boys, but I hate the falderal.

      The usual phrase is "in and of itself." It's a little old-fashioned, but stylistically nice. To be more economical, you can simply say "itself" and the rest is implied. To make your version grammatically correct, eliminate the word "of," which has no earthly reason to be there.

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