Turkey Trot Misgivings

Holiday season is approaching at warp speed, and with it come various obligations. Some of these are great fun, others fall into the do-I-have-to realm.

Though I'm an introvert by nature, I enjoy hanging out with friends and family. It helps me bring balance and harmony back into my life to not be living and breathing books every minute of the day.

For instance, our extended family's Thanksgiving will be at a sister's house. That's fine, but we'd planned to let her off the hook due to some health issues she's been having, but she overruled us. She gets to do that because she's the oldest.

Along with that pronouncement came the list of food that others were already bringing. Turkey. Ham. Cornbread oyster dressing. Giblet gravy. Two kinds of cranberry sauce. Sweet potato souffle. Squash casserole. Tomato casserole. Pumpkin pie. Tea.

With all that stuff already on the menu, what could I possibly add? Keeping in mind that I'm on a low-carb diet, mashed potatoes are out, so are sweet desserts.

I'm 4th on the sibling totem pole, 4th out of 5, so most of my family is unconcerned that I'm at a loss about my contribution. Oh, and ice and dinnerware are already taken.

So help me out gang. What should I contribute? Tell me some of the traditional and nontraditional foods that grace your Thanksgiving meal.

And while I've got your ear, the ebook edition of IN FOR A PENNY will be free at Amazon Nov 14 to 18, that's this Wednesday to Sunday. Here's the hyperlink: www.amazon.com/InForAPenny-ebook/dp/B008MCSGMM

Now put your Thanksgiving thinking caps on and help me figure out this turkey trot quandry...

Maggie Toussaint
www.maggietoussaint.com
www.facebook.com/MaggieToussaintAuthor

Cousin Sister

Family trees have unique branches

Last night while we were out and about, we chanced to meet up with my cousin Sister. She has a "real" name, but family members have always called her Sister, because that's what her three brothers called her while we were all growing up. So even though she isn't my sister (she's my first cousin), I call her Sister, too.

This got me to thinking about family names. Besides my cousin Sister, I had an Aunt Bubba, and Bubba is usually a nickname for a male.

We have lots of Bigs and Littles in our family. Big Hunter, Little Hunter, "Savannah" Hunter, and now Baby Hunter. When I named my oldest daughter after my best friend Suzanne, we got Big and Little Suzanne. In an odd twist of fate, Big Suzanne is married to Little Hunter, though their sizes and weights are the opposite of their descriptors.

We have two family members that went by initials: T.P. and T.C. Both men had Thomas as their first name, so you might think we had a family aversion to the name Tom, but T.C.'s daughter named her son for him, and he goes by the "first" name of Tom Crawford.

Oh! I nearly forgot this one. Another first cousin was a second child. She grew up hearing her sister Gay saying the word "Mama" for their mom. So Little Syb called their mom "Gay's Mama."

I also had an aunt named Tootsie.

I've laid a portion of my family tree out there for you. Care to share about the "different" names of your family? A free download to one lucky commentor. The prize drawing will be on Friday afternoon, so it's not too late to post.

Maggie Toussaint

Coming in March:
Death, Island Style - a little sun, a little fun, a dead guy in the surf
Murder in the Buff - murder blooms in the nudists' organic garden