November 26, 2020

A Locked Down Thanksgiving

Like most families, we decided not to do a traditional family Thanksgiving dinner because of COVID. Usually, my siblings and I would get together at my parents' house. This year was a bummer for the whole family, but especially for my mom. She loves having everyone get together.

She did the most amazing thing for my siblings and me today. Since we couldn't all get together, she spent the last couple of days making a huge turkey dinner to portion out and deliver to Nathan and his girlfriend, Brian's family, and my family.

She thought of everything! Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (my favorite!), stuffing (both homemade and Stove Top in case someone doesn't like homemade stuffing), corn, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie and whipped cream, and even some pumpkin spice cookies. I was so grateful--getting to eat an amazing meal that I didn't even have to cook? Yes, please!

Thanks to my mom's dinner, we had a very relaxing day and delicious food. (At one point, however, Phoebe snuck outside and we spent nearly two hours looking for her. Thankfully, she is home now.)

Despite having a nice day, I've still been feeling down lately. I think that the COVID lockdown is really getting to me. Back in the spring, I was fine with it--being an introvert and having to stay home away from people wasn't a big deal. I loved working hard on the garage and it made the time fly by. But fast forward months and months of this, and I miss the little things that I used to take for granted. 

I feel like this is never going to end and nothing will go back to normal. I think today was especially hard because of not being able to get together at my parents' house with my family. I worry about everybody else, too, and what this lockdown is doing to their mental health. My mom mentioned that cooking the dinner for everyone helped a little to take her mind off of it, but I know this is super hard on her.

I imagine that a lot of people are feeling the same way right now. When all of this (with COVID) first started, I never imagined it would still be going on so much later. Like everyone else, I just want it to be over! 

But I don't want to be too negative on a post about Thanksgiving. I am very grateful that my family has stayed COVID-free throughout all of this and I hope that it stays that way. I'm grateful that my mom took the time and energy to make dinner for us even though she couldn't have us over to eat with her. I'm grateful for the fact that even though the kids are schooling from home for COVID reasons, it gives me more opportunities to spend time with them. I'm grateful that Jerry still has his job and we haven't had to take a financial hit because of this pandemic. There are lots of important things to be grateful for, so I want to try to keep that in mind when I'm feeling down about all that is going on. 

I'm absolutely sure that when this is over, I'm not going to take little things for granted anymore! I rarely used to go out for date night to the movies or bowling or even to play Keno at the bar... but I miss those things now that they aren't an option anymore. I look forward to doing them again someday!

Anyway, I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My only pics from today are actually of Duck! He's HILARIOUS in the way he likes to lie down. I know I've posted pics of him in a sploot position before, but this one is something even beyond that, hahaha.


And then he was chilling like this with his arms dangling down. He's so funny!





17 comments:

  1. You should be grateful that your parents are still here. My husband lost his dad in April to covid and he’s not even here to celebrate anything. Also I had a 31 year old friend die from it who had two kids left behind. Not just directed at you, but anytime I see someone whining about not getting to do things it irritates me. There are almost 300,000 people who will never “do the little things” again.

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    1. People are allowed to have feelings. Im sorry for your loss and having lost loved ones as well, I understand and have empathy for your feelings but it's important to have perspective. Wanting other people to stop feeling a certain way because of something you experienced is pretty short-sighted.

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    2. Katie claims to be an empath herself although I don’t see it. She has a pretty privileged world view and usually on focuses on herself.

      Also, whining will help nothing. This WILL be over one day and we will have family gatherings again. Instead of wallowing in the now, remind yourself this is for a good cause, to get everyone you love through this healthy and alive on the other side of this pandemic.

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    3. I'm so sorry about your father-in-law and your young friend. That's a tragic loss!

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    4. Yes, far worse things have happened to some of us. That does not mean a person can't feel sad or down about smaller stuff. It's not a contest. She can feel sad she can't see her family on Thanksgiving and be down about missing normal life AND still understand that she's lucky to have those people in her life at all. It drives me crazy when people tell others not to have feelings because it could always be worse. ("Ow!I stubbed my toe, that really hurts!" "You should be grateful you HAVE a toe, some people have had their legs blown off in war." Seriously?)

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    5. Thank you, Lisa, that explains it very well! I think that ALL feelings are valid.

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  2. My mom did the same thing for my sister and me and our families <3 Even amidst all of this, there are blessings to keep us going :) Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. That's so cool that your mom delivered dinner, too! I thought it was a great idea :)

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  3. I understand what you are going through. I just had my third baby before the lock down and I was already stressed out but now I think I have postpartum depression but I don’t know what to do about it so I just hide it as best as I can. I just want the lockdown to be over so bad.

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    1. Speaking from experience, doctors can help with this! I know I don't know you, but I'd encourage you to call your ob or pcp. No reason to feel miserable if you don't have to :)

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    2. Rebekah, I'm SO sorry for what you're going through. Having a baby during all this must have been very hard. Having postpartum depression has got to make it so much worse. I agree with Sara, your doctor should be able to help you out with the depression. I hope things look up for you! <3

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I've been a reader for about 6 years and I really enjoy your blog. I started listening to an audiobook yesterday that I think you might enjoy. It's called Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. It's a psychological thriller. I'm about half way through and I've enjoyed it. (Some on GoodReads and Amazon say it's predictable, but like I said, so far I'm enjoying it!)

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    1. I actually read that book, and it was great! I thought it was a bit predictable as well, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I love psychological thrillers!

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  5. Happy thanksgiving Katie! Your moms is so awesome! I wish I had a relationship like that with my parents and siblings! My (brand new shiny) husband (of 6 weeks lol) and I had dinner at home with our cats and beagle! My mom always did a semi homemade stove top stuffing- sautéed celery and onions and seasonings with the stuffing mix. It’s so good! I tried making a weight watchers pumpkin pie but it was yuck to me. My husband liked it though! Lol

    Are those window seats for the kitties?!?! You had to have made those! Are they nailed to the window sash??? My kitties need more outside views!

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    1. Congrats on getting married! How fun :)

      Yes, those are window seats I made for the cats. I screwed them down right to the window sill. Then I covered with contact paper. The cats LOVE them!

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  6. You're right Katie......Kitty looks so funny with those front feet hanging down. A crazy position for sure. Made my day!

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    1. Thanks, Cindy! Duck is so weird--but so funny! ;)

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