Ah, Tuesday. It sounds so innocuous. And yet, last Tuesday was a real zinger. Lemon had his 18 month checkup, so I took the morning off work to go with him to the appointment. We showed up on time, and we only wish the doctor had managed the same. They were running way behind schedule for some reason, so I ended up having to entertain Lemon in the exam room for almost an hour and a half before we were finally seen. The good news is that he is continuing to grow really well--his length and head circumference are right on track for his growth curve. His weight fell off a tiny bit, probably due to running around like a maniac, but the doctor wasn't worried. We got three shots and headed home.
I dropped Lemon off and raced into work for a pointless meeting, then raced home again to finish all the last-minute preparations for our departure to Boston. I got everything loaded into the car, and we headed off to the airport, picking up Papa Bear on our way.
We went through security.
We even went so far as to board our aircraft. Then we sat there parked at the gate for an eternity, finally learning that our plane had "mechanical issues." We watched the chances for us to make our connection in Chicago gradually shrink from decent, to improbable, to zero, to "oh, our plane for Boston already left." Eventually, we had to call home to say that we weren't going to make it, and then they let us get off the plane.
We were given the option to rebook to fly on Wednesday, but between the predicted storm on the East Coast, and our desire not to drag Lemon through multiple airports full of disease-carrying strangers on the heaviest travel day of the year, we decided we just couldn't risk it. We were bitterly disappointed to miss the holiday back home, but there really was no other option. So, as we say in our family, we "set the plan to flexible," and contemplated how we might spend our first Thanksgiving away from Boston.
I decided that I would make us a Thanksgiving dinner, and that my challenge to myself would be to use only ingredients that I already had on hand, to avoid the madness of grocery shopping on the day before the holiday. Fortunately, my pantry is always well stocked--overstocked, some (Nona) might say. But, hey, could you make a biscuit topped winter vegetable casserole, butternut squash gratin, roasted asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes, and a walnut bourbon pie based on what's in your house right now? I rest my case--it's better to be prepared!
Other than our big dinner, the weekend was fairly uneventful. We took a hike in the front yard,
Developed our art skills,
And practiced sitting in a recliner.
The only other human being we saw the whole weekend was the realtor who helped us buy our house, who stopped by with a pumpkin pie. In other words, it was basically the total antithesis of the big Thanksgiving in Boston. Although we missed seeing all of our relatives, it was also unexpectedly wonderful to be home, just the three of us, for five days with no plans.
Of course, just to keep things interesting, the cold Lemon had been dealing with for a week or so decided to turn into a really bad cough on Friday. But, hey, we were home--so, we called the clinic, got him a prescription for antibiotics, and picked it up at our pharmacy without any problems. He coughed all night Friday night and slept a lot during the day on Saturday, but is almost back to normal now. So, overall, I would say our first Thanksgiving in Madison was a great, if unexpected, success.
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