77 thoughts on “November 22, 2017: Makin’ Plans”

  2. I wish. We are hosting my wife's family and I've got to make two friggin turkeys and try to figure seating for 10-15 people.

    1. I had to smile at "10 - 15 people." We'll have more than 40 at ours. That's just the nature of large families, I suppose, but there will also be people there that I've never met before, since my folks always manage to find other friends who don't have plans/places to go. This year we'll have a kid from Spain even!

      1. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but we don't have even remotely enough seating space for 10 people when the deck is unavailable. (My mom comes from a very large family so I am used to family gatherings of 50+.)

        1. Oh, I completely get why it can be an issue. We once had 8 over for Thanksgiving when we were in an apartment and... that was a challenge.

      2. I just found out that "Jesse the IT Guy" from my brother-in-law's work will also be joining us for Thanksgiving now. My family is crazy sometimes.

  4. Nope. We have good friends near us who we alternate Thanksgiving at each others' house, and I think this is our 27th year of doing this. Their house this year, so we'll be bringing the pies and a couple side dishes. Mmmmm.

  8. "Off-Seasons Greetings" will take a couple of days off. If all goes according to plan, it will be back Saturday.

  13. Nope. Mr. NaCl has to be at work part of the day because some bigwigs (big wolves, more like it) are volunteering to serve a meal to the clients at the place where he does fundraising. But the boys and I have some good plans--this French toast for breakfast and then we'll head over to hang out at my parents' house. I'm making this tart tonight, which I'm excited about.

    1. I was supposed to find some sort of soup and make that to bring, but I'm begging off after recent kitchen-related stresses. Trying to minimize my presence in the kitchen for a bit here...

      I'm not usually a dark chocolate fan, but I would be very interested in trying that tart. Maybe I should just say I'm becoming more of a dark chocolate fan as I get older?

        1. I was going to do something like that last year, but my squash were thrown away by a mother-in-law who shall remain nameless. Didn't come up with a plan for this year yet.

          This sounds awesome though, and someday I'll get to it (or similar). Yum.

      2. Yo, Philo, bittersweet chocolate is the best!* The tart turned out great. Additionally, it's not difficult to make, though I'd recommend starting on it before 10:00 p.m., if circumstances allow.

        *Hmmmm . . . it occurs to me that my taste in music might just parallel my taste in chocolate.

    1. Those socks and sleeves should have been incorporated. The Vikings unis have always been great and those additions would make them even better.

    2. I'm not a big uniform guy (ummm... the jerseys and pants aren't usually the same color, right?), but that's a cool story and a neat piece of history.

  17. We already did our outbound travel for the holiday, as we are currently at Mammoth Mountain gearing up for our second day of skiing. Kids are off to ski school already, and we’ll be heading up the lifts shortly.

  20. The Gophers have extended the contract of their 1st year football coach after what is likely to be a 2-7 record in conference play. After all, he only had 4 years left on his original deal. This paragraph from the 4ltr on the deal pretty much sums up Gopher football:

    Fleck's five wins are the most by a first-year Minnesota coach since Murray Warmath won seven in 1954. Minnesota hired him to replace Tracy Claeys, who went 9-4 last season but was fired after tweeting his support for players organizing a possible boycott of the Holiday Bowl in response to the school's decision to suspend 10 players while investigating a sexual assault allegation.

    I will point out that last year was Claeys' only full season as head football coach for the Gophers, as he took over when Kill stepped down halfway through the previous season. Thus, that best first year coach record since 1954 has a pretty big asterisk next to it. Also, they won nine games in 2016, so I'm pretty sure that 5 wins represents a big disappointment. Also, you can't talk Gopher football for very long without delving into some sort of scandal.

    Also, they miss LOL Leidner.

    1. Is this extension even worse than the Phil Hughes extension? Possibly. Probably.

      I'll admit that I was disappointed by their conference results, but when I look at who they lost due to graduation/transfer/suspension ... well, when I look at that, I can understand the record. And I'm still a bit disappointed.

      Regarding the

      ... can't talk Gopher football for very long without delving into some sort of scandal.

      I guess I'm hopeful that Fleck really is the change agent for the program's culture we've been led to believe.

      1. Worse than Hughes? No. Hughes had been around long enough to know his first season with Minnesota was a fluke. Fleck hasn't had much of a chance to get his recruits in there, especially at QB.

        1. It's much, much worse than Hughes because when they inevitably fire him the university will owe a bunch of money still that could be used elsewhere.

          I'm other words, colleges and sports need to stop mixing.

    2. The timing of the extension is also interesting since it comes just before another probably blowout to most hated rival Wisconsin. The only reason for the extension is speculation around him taking other higher-profile jobs while still considered a "hot prospect" young coach.

      1. Yep. The only way this makes any sense is if the Gophers are afraid he’ll be picked up by a bigger program.

        1. Yeah. If Florida or someone comes calling, I’m sure this extension will make him say, sorry, things are too good here at Minnesota.

          1. which is weird, because he's not exactly a "hot, young coaching prospect." That would be someone who has had some marquee wins. Pounding Nebraska this year is not exactly a Feat of Strength.

            This just seems like bidding against one's self.

              1. He was a hot, young coaching prospect when he took the Minnesota job. This is a different year and his circumstances have changed. A lot.

  21. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday (how could you not like a fall St. Patrick's Day, but with Turkey and stuffing and pecan pie, in addition to the beer!?!), but this year is going to be strange.

    First Turkey day in about a dozen years that my wife won't have to be up at 3 a.m. to monitor online sales/put out fires for the worst day of the year - Day 1 of the "Christmas holidaymonth". Plans have changed numerous times since this became a reality, and now, not only am I not hosting or preparing a turkey - my typical odd-year routine, and one of my favorite things to do - but I'm also not taking the kids out to my parent's house for the extended-family (maternal side) Thanksgiving celebration, an annual event since 1990.*

    Instead, I'm driving up to my SiL and her Husband's place between Stacy & Bethel (~35 miles one-way), and it sounds like the driving is all I'll be expected to do tomorrow...beyond the eating of course.

    *This will be the last as they're selling the house I "grew up in" (age 10-18) and purchasing a condo in St.P - Summit Hill/Grand Ave neighborhood!

      1. Yes, although it has changed. For years, we went to my in-laws and I prepared the turkey. With my FiL's passing and with our kids having gotten older, that trip is no longer a thing, which makes me a little sad.

        This year, it will just be me, the Mrs, and my parents. 🙁

      2. Dido.

        After the wife's grandma passed, I figured I'd take on doing the turkey. I've really enjoyed it.

        It doesn't hurt that I make a freaking delicious turkey.

        1. I'm not looking forward to coming two turkeys, but I have to admit I'm a little excited about them. I did two different brines and one will be grilled and one roasted.

    2. This will be the first year in several (a decade? Holy shit?!?!?!?) that I will not do a turkey for the crowd. In fact, tomorrow will only feature a trip the the fairgrounds race track as "work" for me. I'm excited to do nothing, but also a bit sad that I'm doing nothing.

    3. Thanksgiving is my mother-in-law’s favorite holiday. I knew I was accepted into the family when I began getting requests to make larger portions of the meal after my first year helping out, which is now going on a decade ago. I just finished making demi-glace for the gravy.

  22. The lady I sit next to at work (ugg) called up someone on the phone and asked "Can I speak to [First Name] C-Word?", which naturally raised my eyebrows. I looked them up and their last name is "Seward". This chick...

    I laughed a little before I looked it up because I thought, well, I know what this guy's nickname was in college.

  23. The wife and I are heading up to my mom's in Brainerd tomorrow for a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat. Mrs. Twayn's family is gathering on Saturday and we'll have another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat. I promised myself that I'm not going to bring up politics with my conservative sister-in-law, but if she goes there I'm ready.

  24. We are staying home for Thanksgiving. The most we'll travel is to go watch Thor: Ragnararok. We're saving our traveling for Christmas and New Year's when we'll be visiting my parents in Maple Grove.

    1. Yeah, with only a month between them, it's hard for us to justify (okay, feel motivated enough) to head up to MN for both holidays. At about 15-16 hours in the car total round trip, it can seem daunting to take on both.

    2. the Mrs is flying out on friday for a memorial service for yet another of the dads in her college set (he died a few weeks ago after a long decline into dementia). This makes four of the five in the last two years. IIRC, we did the same damned thing last Thanksgiving.

  25. So, a h.s. friend posted about some jerk kid in her neighborhood tossing brownies over her fence into her yard, potentially poisoning her dogs. The most recent response was this statement by some woman on her feed:

    "my mom passed away."

    Seriously? I am very sorry for your loss, but this is how you share this intimate news, by a totally non sequitur comment on someone else's FB post?

    People are weird.

    1. There are people who do NOT understand how Facebook works. I like the personal messages dumped into time lines. "Steve haven't seen you in ages how are you doing call me sometime 123-456-7890"

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