True to my word I sent out the note to the next generation last night to get a butt count for Christmas dinner. The easiest way I have found is to use Messenger to create a group. My note went out at about 8:15pm last night and the smart @ss remarks back and forth amongst the cousins was still going on at 8 am this morning. Oi! I love that the cousins are mostly close, but they sometimes try my patience.
I'm housing it this year. I hesitate to say 'Host' because it really is a committee that puts this on each year. My brother brings the turkey and ham that he has roasted at home and toted piping hot to my house. My other brother's wife brings the cutlery and plates. Folding tables and chairs come from a variety of sources. This year, as of now, there could be 26. In most years this is a fluid number, so I will try to make sure that I have seats enough for 30 just in case.
Thirty might seem like a great deal to a lot of people, but it's a partial family gathering. My mom had seven children and six of us remain, with five of the six having children of our own. So, mom has wound up with 14 grandchildren and six of them, soon to be seven, have their own children. We have remained relatively geographically close, so this year we'll have three of six siblings together and a smattering of our children and some grandchildren.
When you add that ridiculous tale of numbers falling off the family tree to the fact that as a close-knit family we often feel the need to feed some extra folks who for one reason or another might not be participating in a dinner shindig - the table fills up quickly.
My next task is to define the menu and send notes to everyone asking them what to bring. This has become more of a struggle in recent years as the 'kids' age. I believe in equality, but it's so much easier for the single young men to get a pass on bringing a dish then the young mothers and fathers since the parents are 1) used to cooking by now, and 2) bringing more mouths to the table. That seems wrong though, most parents with small children at home will be busy enough that morning without having to stress over making and bringing something, while the single ones will likely be enjoying a sleep in day. Hmmm....well, I have a couple weeks to wrestle with that dilemma.
Since there are so many of us we long ago gave up exchanging gifts amongst us. Now we do a gift exchange. Each adult brings along a gift for under the tree that cost them less than $20. Numbers are drawn, wrapping is destroyed and theft and mayhem ensue. It's a blast! There is always at least one gift that is stolen more often than others and there is usually a couple more that cause us to wonder about the gift givers thought process, but it's always in good fun.
As the big day approaches and my to do list gets shorter, hopefully because things are done and not because I've just decided to downsize I'll keep you posted on what's going down in Shanny-town!
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