Turkey Day Workout

A few weeks back, I foolishly offered to host this year's Thanksgiving dinner for both sides of our family. Luckily this meant only eight people, but I still spent the entire weekend cleaning house and cooking a traditional turkey and pumpkin pie feast.

Now with someone with OCD, "cleaning" goes far beyond a normal person's idea of dusting and vacuuming. As usual I take it way too far; scrubbing my oven, sprucing up the aquarium, re-organizing my pantry, hanging a new shower curtain and even shoveling out the crap in the bathroom cabinets, lining up all the bottles of shampoo in neat rows.

I mean, do I seriously think my parents are going to check under the bathroom sink and chastise me for being a slob? No. But that kind of reasoning doesn't deter me. I go from room to room (90% of which will never be visited by my guests) to reorganize and scour.

I set up fall harvest decor with pumpkins and sheaves of wheat at the front door. The table is set with ceramic pumpkins, and each guest has a personalized handmade Thanksgiving placecard. Ribbons are tied to the wine glasses.

I spend nearly the entire evening in the kitchen, either preparing the meal or cleaning up after it.

You'd think that with all the energy expended and sweating I did that I would have at least shed a few pounds.

But noooooo. I gained weight.

What the hell?

Sure, it MAY have had something to do with that main course swimming in gravy and those three overflowing dollops of whipped cream I slathered over my piece of pumpkin pie, but still...



Oh, heaven help me -- I just remembered last night during my tryptophan-induced stupor, I offered to host Christmas this year too.

15 People would rather be commenting:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Can I come? I promise I'll look through all your cabinets and admire how clean and organized they are!

Lynn said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Your dinner sounds wonderful!
I wish I had just a little OCD this way I could hmmmm,would, clean a little more often and of course better. I'm one of those people that would rather hide everything out of sight, out of mind, but never clean! I don't know why I do that.
Any way, at least you are nice and tiddy for a few days. Now you just need to plan for Christmas!

toners said...

Is there room for me too?? I would appreciate all the work you put into it!! So glad you had fun - and that you enjoyed your pie :)

Jen said...

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!!! I envy you the good smells in your kitchen.

I do the same thing when guests are imminent...I go into a cleaning fugue. Not healthy.

Christine said...

You mean your family WOULDN'T inspect the whole house and comment on it? Wow, you MUST be thankful.

Today is my 40th birthday. My mother came down last week to announce she was (scan the room, make a face, scan the room some more, clear her throat) giving me a rug shampooer for it.

I guess I know what I'll be doing, this weekend.

Em said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! That led me to you and your big Thanksgiving cleanup. Sounds pretty thorough. Under the sink won't need to be cleaned again until....next Thanksgiving?? LOL

Curly Glamour Girlie said...

Yikes. Luckily being pregnant and due on December 17 gets me out of any and all required holiday preparations!!

I did however start Christmas shopping since I don't want to be near the malls while 8 1/2 months along.

Stacey said...

The holidays...ugh and the stress that can come with hosting them...thank goodness I have a month or so before those start up here.

Stacey said...

Oops...I guess I should say "down here"

Happy Turkey Day.

AshPup said...

I'm so sorry I missed it, I'm sure it was leaps and bounds better than the store-bought pumpkin pie that the Stanford Canadian Club fed us on Sunday! Then I somehow managed to get sick to the point where I stayed home yesterday anyways, perhaps my body's silent insistence to observe the Canadian holiday. And just to be a jerk chemist- the supposedly sleep-inducing amino acid found in turkey is "tryptophan" :o)
Happy day after thanksgiving sorry to be back at work Tuesday! I know I'm feeling it too.

Maureen said...

Kathy: If you’re bringing compliments, you’re welcome anytime!!

Lynn: Thank you. It was a lot of work, but fun. You’re right, at least I could sit back and enjoy a clean house for a few days. And I’ve already started Christmas shopping; how sick am I?

Toners: Ditto for you too… you’re more than welcome; just give me fair warning so I can get into my “ultra clean mode” again!

Jen: Thank you! “Cleaning fugue” – great term!

Christine: Ouch. So sorry to hear about the shampooer… but hey, if you’re getting it anyway, how about stopping by my place and do my carpets too? I have pie…

Em: Thanks for dropping by too! Yeah, the cabinets should be good for awhile now, but then again, I DO have a teenage daughter who has taken it over …

Curly Glamour Girlie: You’re smart to be prepared. There is no way I’d want to struggle through crazy Christmas shoppers while preggers… perhaps you’ll be overdue by a week and have your baby on my hubby’s birthday: December 24th!

Worker Mommy: That is one reason why I enjoy our Thanksgiving in October; kinda spreads out the stress (and calories) from Christmas more.

Ashley! So glad to have you comment. Wish you were here too… can’t wait to have you at the table at Christmas. And thank you for the spelling correction; the benefit of having a Chemist as your niece… Take care.

Irene said...

I would love to come to your house for dinner and be very appreciative of all the effort you made. I would gladly ooh and aah over every well scrubbed spot you would want to point out to me. I am sure you are a very good cook and the turkey and pie will be wonderful. Goodness, what a good time I'll have. I'll even bring a bottle of wine. Too bad you live on the wrong continent, though. It would be quite a journey. See, you can invite me and know that I probably won't come. Probably!

Janet said...

I'm late stopping by to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Your dinner must have been fabulous! Now, I have to say that I do the same thing when I clean for guests. Before I killed all of my tropical fish off, I used to decorate their aquarium. And I actually do think guests look under the cabinets!

Anonymous said...

I use my small house as an excuse to host none of the holiday madness. I bring food to others' houses instead. I'm screwed if I ever have the kitchen renovated.

Canadian flake said...

wow sounds like you need a nap...or a vacation from your holiday weekend?? LOL.

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