Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving

Today was a better day than I anticipated. I turned my stuff in to the office, which involved lots of last minute questions about where I put what and so on. Then it was time for the goodbyes. The CPD hugged me and the Nutritionist stood and talked with me a length. Then the secretary came forward for a hug.

I held it together when the 4-H families gave me the beautiful quilt; I held it together when I had to say goodbye to the other YPAs and to the Extenson Council. But the secretary was different. We had numerous power struggles over the last three years as I wrestled control of my program away from her (she'd been temporarily in charge of it before they hired me) and she often treated me like she was my superior instead of the other way around. This is a common problem in this organization because of the way its structured. I'm her superior, but she doesn't actually answer me. While it's gotten easier as I've learned how to assert myself and she's decided that I'm not so incompetent, I'd be lying if I didn't say that this was a contributing factor to the decision to quit; the stress it caused was considerable. It seemed like I was never off work and, while the director is a nice guy, he's intimidated by her too, so I was on my own where she was concerned. But, for some reason, when she hugged me, and I fell apart. I'm clearly suffering from a bi-polar love-hate disorder.

I went to collect on a paycheck from the organization I teach classes for on Fridays and was paid more than I expected (The woman in charge of the program as well as paying me insisted it was correct and I decided not to argue). This makes Thanksgiving in an otherwise terribly tight year much, much better.

The menu, you ask?
A 21lb Turkey, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, green salad, jello salad, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and lemon meringue. There will be wine for the grown-ups and the sparkling grape juice for the kids (maybe spiked eggnog for the grownups much later on). You'll note the absence of sweet potato pie (who in gods' name came up with the idea of combining marshmellos and this otherwise perfectly lovely tuber?) and cranberries jelly. I'm hoping the Thanksgiving saints will forgive me, but no one eats these in this house so I've given up buying them. Even with all that, I get the feeling I'm forgetting something. Quick! Anybody! What else?

4 comments:

Scotty said...

Can you send me a doggy bag?

Sounds great.

:-)

Scotty said...

Hope you and the family have a great day, Mary - happy Thanksgiving.

:-)

Mary O. Paddock said...

Thanks Scotty. It's on the way. However don't be surprised if the apple pie doesn't survive the trip. You know how those sniffer dogs are. :)

It was a great day. Does Australia have a similar holiday?

Scotty said...

Unfortunately, no, and despite being agnostic, I think this is a great tradition. - I would love to share a day like this with a special someone and family and friends...