I was fortunate enough to have my parents visit over the Thanksgiving holiday. Last year, my mother "had enough" and got aggravated with the extended family as there were tardies and no shows for the big meal as well as some family fighting. (I was out of the country so I missed all of the excitement. Thank goodness!) When I found out what happened, I suggested that they come to Orlando this year for Thanksgiving and we'll have a drama free holiday. I was surprised how quickly my mother accepted. She has hosted the family Thanksgiving for well over 50 years. (And she's not even American :-) )
Anyhow, we had a great visit. The arrived Wednesday around noon. I had made a Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Ginger for them. (And it was actually edible and Dad had TWO bowls. This is huge to me as I have always been a flop in the kitchen!) After lunch, we went "thrifting" - my parents love to go thrift store shopping when they visit. (There are not a lot of thrift stores where they live as it is very rural.) We all found some good deals. I bought this adorable pitcher for $2!
And this little cupboard for $4! I am going to paint it white and hang it in my bedroom.
Thursday was Thanksgiving. As I don't eat or cook meat and they wanted turkey, I made reservations for us at the historic Park Plaza Gardens in Winter Park. (My parents are fairly open-minded, but their one request was turkey and not tofu for Thanksgiving.)
After a long walk - and plenty of window shopping - we took a little drive and came across a flock of peacocks:
The lady whose car that is came out while we were there and the peacock would not get off her car or let her get in it. Was it an act of solidarity with turkeys??
Friday, we went to Leu Gardens for a stroll.
Dad and his new friend:
That night, I took Dad to a Magic game. (We won! Woo hoo!) There was a giant buzzard out front advertising a local radio station. We had to get a photo of it and make jokes at my poor mother's expense:
Saturday, we met friends at Sebastian Beach Inn in Melbourne Beach for lunch. Jane and I have been friends since 2nd grade and our parents were best friends. Sadly, both of Jane's parents have passed away, but my parents have "adopted" her.
On our way back to Orlando, we stopped to walk on the beach a collect shells.
Sunday, Mom and I went to the Buddhist Center (which she loved) while Dad stayed home to putter... when we got back, he had hung two plant hangers, fixed the handle on the sliding glass door in the living room, fixed the threshold under the door leading to the garage, replaced the toilet seat in the master bath, pulled vines off my loquat tree and brought my Christmas tree in from the patio... is that a great dad or what?? While he did all that work, Mom and I meditated, scarfed down vegan brownies with pistachios and cranberries, drove around, found an ex-boyfriend's new house and picked up Thai food. He definitely got the short end of the deal.
That night we decorated my Christmas tree.
It looks like a "Charlie Brown" tree, doesn't it? Still, it's almost 8 feet tall. I bought it and another tree several years ago. They were only about a foot tall, but I wanted a real tree and was disgusted by the prices of the large "re-plantable" trees and the cut ones. So, my thrifty (okay - CHEAP) self, bought two little ones with the hope that they would grow and could be used year after year. mission accomplished and every year since I've used one or both. I believe this one will be planted in the yard this year. The other is about 5 feet and will be used next year.
Sadly, the parents left Monday and I headed back to work.... which has not gotten better. The week before Thanksgiving, they fired two associates and an assistant. The door codes have not yet been changed, so we are all assuming more heads will roll - probably this week as Friday is payday.
Whatever happens, I am grateful for the last week and the time with my parents.
