Friendsgiving

Friday

We stayed in bed late, getting up around 8:30. I got dressed and scraped frost off my car. I put cleaners in, and went to the company house. But everything there was just as I left it two weeks ago. The beds were made and the trash empty. So I dusted the coffee table and left.

When I got home, I opened the Joanns box from yesterday. I pulled out the fleece, cut the corners off, and threw them in the washing machine. There was stabilizer in there too, but I wasn't sure it was the right thing for placemats. Chris took a shower and went to the office. I looked up how to cook the squash we grew in the garden. But there seemed not to be a consensus on what it is called.

I cut two of the squashes in half, and put butter, cinnamon, and maple syrup on them. I roasted them in the oven for 30 minutes as the recipe called for. But I kept having to add time, to almost 2 hours. I washed dishes and utensils while it baked. I rinsed and patted the seeds, ready for roasting. I finished listening to The Highwire. When the squash was softish, I turned the oven down to 275 and put the seeds in. I scraped out the insides and mashed them with more butter. Then I heard the seeds popping in the oven and had to turn it off.

I put the squash in a casserole dish and put it in the oven to keep warm. Chris came back from the commissary with food. Some of it he put in the garage to keep cool. I read Telegram messages until time to leave.

Around 1:40 we drove up the hill to the Friendsgiving house. We brought the food in. I looked around to see what needed doing. No one was in charge, but everyone wanted to help. 2pm came and went. It might have been almost 2:30 before the chaplain said a prayer. And then no one lined up because they didn't know the traffic plan. CSM had to explain it. I waited a while to get in line, then went behind Diane. I let Kincie get in front of me long enough to get cheesy potatoes for her kid. Then I spent too long trying to sever a turkey leg from its body.

The rooms were really crowded with tables. 55 peopole had signed up, but more came. Melissa gave me her seat because she had to take her daughter to work. I sat and ate. When she came back, I got a chair from the garage for her. Later Chris got a chair for himself and ate with me. I went back for more turkey, getting the last of one and bringing over another whole turkey to take its place. It looked really good so I took a leg for later.

After a while, people turned to desserts, then slowly said goodbye and filtered out. With less crowding, ladies gathered in the kitchen to contain the leftovers. I gathered tablecloths and the men moved the chairs and tables to the garage. I hadn't noticed the big truck that pulled up to collect them. Michelle took the cloths home to wash. Chris took me and our food home to get cleaning supplies. He stayed home to talk to the colonel.

I went back with a mop, broom, vacuum and washcloths. Only a few people were left. I started dustmopping the floors. Soon only the CSM was left. And she had to leave. So then I vacuumed the rooms and started cleaning the countertops. She came back and helped vaccuum. Then Jamie stopped by. We had a little chat and she left with the CSM. I finished mopping the floors, and took all the remaining stuff out.

When I got home, the food was still out. I put the turkey leg away. I got online to catch up on messages. I ate some fruit and some of the sweet potato casserole. It got late, so I worked on my blog. Chris put the leftovers in the garage since the fridge was full.

I made tea and we watched two episodes of The Librarians. Then we read stuff on our laptops, and finally he went to bed. It got really late really quickly and I went to bed around midnight.