Happy Thanksgiving, dear My Left Breast readers!
I thought I’d share a quick, funny Thanksgiving story from my early marriage to get the merriment going.
One of the first years we were married, we were hosting Thanksgiving at our place for friends and family. It wasn’t the first time I’d ever made a turkey, so I was feeling pretty comfortable about it and had things pretty well organized. The turkey was safely defrosting in the refrigerator, the potatoes were ready to be peeled, the green beans were prepped, the rest of the sides were all ready and the pies had been made.
All that had to be done was getting the bird cleaned, dressed and into the oven the next morning. (Hint: Operative word = cleaned.)
At that time, we were constantly in the midst of fixing things in our home; it was a fixer upper, and there were always lots of projects on the to-do list. One of those projects was to fix the kitchen sink; a pipe underneath was leaking a little, and needed to be replaced. It wasn’t urgent, but just one of those things on the back burner that we were planning on doing.
Well, this year, the night before Thanksgiving, my husband decided to fix the plumbing under the kitchen sink.
At about 6:00 p.m.
And mind you, my husband isn’t a plumber or anything. He’s a finance executive, working at a desk all day. He knows a bit about plumbing, but it’s not his area of expertise by a long shot.
And of course, at around 9:00 p.m., after wrangling around under the sink for a few hours, he realized he needed a new part as the one he had bought earlier that day didn’t quite fit.
And, by the time he got to the hardware store for the new part, it was closed (it was the night before Thanksgiving, after all, and the workers wanted to get home to get ready for the next day).
So.
It was the night before Thanksgiving, and I no longer had a working sink in my kitchen.
Which meant, I had nowhere to clean the freakin’ 20 pound turkey!
Let me tell you, turkeys are cumbersome creatures and do not fit into a bathroom sink (believe me, I tried each sink in each of the 3 bathrooms).
Needless to say, hubby and I had a few choice words for each other that night, and it was pretty nip and tuck there for a while as to whether or not we were going to be able to give any thanks the next day.
But I finally lugged the 20 lb. carcass up the stairs and into the bathroom and cleaned that sucker in the shower. It was pretty slippery and a little gross, but I got it cleaned and dried and dressed and managed to get it into the oven in time to have a beautiful turkey dinner for the whole family the next day.
And by the time the guests got there the sink was all fixed. Which was a good thing, because I had to get all the other things ready and washed and if we didn’t have a sink it would have been a bit of a fiasco.
So, here’s to giving thanks for indoor plumbing and working kitchen sinks!
Enjoy the time with friends and family!
Mary says
I couldnt imagine not having a working sink in the Kitchen – let alone at a time when needed for holiday meal prep!
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Claudia says
Yes, it was quite interesting….. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there aren’t any surprises like that, this year!
Rena McDaniel says
Well it’s a good thing you didn’t have guests show up early that would have been a weird situation to explain!
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Claudia says
You bet, Rena! It would have made for a crazy day 🙂
Debbie says
Love this story, Claudia! I can’t imagine the words I would have used in your situation! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and all your sinks are in working order. Debbie
Debbie says
What a great story, Claudia. I can’t imagine what choice words I would have used in that situation. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and all your sinks are working. Debbie
Claudia says
Yes, thankfully, all our sinks are working, this year! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Debbie.
WendysHat says
I’m sure it wasn’t at the time, but, that is funny! Husbands always seem to have poor timing it seems. Ha ha!
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Claudia says
It was funny the next day, once the sink was fixed! And yes, they do. I can’t tell you how many times he’s done something like this….! Thanks for stopping by!
Nancy's Point says
Hi Claudia,
Great story! It’s funny how those projects and subsequent problems that invariably arise, often happen at the most inopportune times. I am trying to imagine cleaning a turkey in the shower. I don’t even like doing it in a working kitchen sink. I bet you’ve remembered and told this story on many Thanksgivings since. Thanks for sharing.
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Claudia says
It was a fun Thanksgiving once the turkey/sink situation got fixed. It seems like we always have one of these minor crisis situations every year at one of the big holidays, wonder what will be on the agenda this Christmas…..