VTGTG5

The Fifth Annual Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving was a great success, despite some hiccups. Thanks to Lisa, Ken, Nick, Amy, and Not-Yet-Named Fetus for making it so.

VTGTG4

Alison and I hosted the fourth consecutive Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving yesterday.  We had our largest-ever turnout:  8 people including ourselves.  I'd like to offer my thanks to everyone for making it such an enjoyable holiday.

This was our first VTGTG with family, since Ashley now lives in the DC area.  Her visit actually started the evening before.  She stayed over to help us with our night-before cooking.  Newton loves his Auntie Ashley, and he spent the night cuddled up with her on our fold-out bed.  Here's a photo of Newton, Ashley, and me as we relaxed on that piece of furniture Thanksgiving morning.

Newton was well behaved throughout our Thanksgiving gathering.  As a reward for that, and because he's such a cutie, we let him "clean up" the turkey platter.  He was happy to lend a paw, as you can see from these pictures:

You can also see that Newton's not quite looking himself.  He's had a disturbing growth on the back of his neck for a couple of months, and we had it removed on Tuesday.  The incision site was shaved, as was his left forearm, where his IV was inserted.  He's wearing the inflatable "travel-pillow" collar to prevent him from scratching his wound.  We're hoping the biopsy comes back with "benign" written across the top.  We're also hoping he makes a speedy recovery.  If he doesn't, it won't be for lack of protien.

VTGTG3

Alison and I hosted the third annual Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving today. We'd like to thank everyone who attended for brightening our holiday. And for helping to fill our stomachs with yummy food.

The 2nd Annual Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving

Alison and I hosted the Second Annual Very Team Grondul Thanksgiving---our first as a married couple---this year. I was most thankful for all the groovy-cool folks who attended.

In addition to the traditional feast, we played card games called Pit, Fluxx, and Apples to Apples. I found all of them to be quite entertaining and recommend them heartily.

Thanks

Alison and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time this year. Here's the low-down:

Shuaib came to town for the entire weekend. He's still as soft-spokenly sarcastic as always. Alison and I decided it would be funny to wear the matching Simpsons pajama pants Sharon and Ashley gave us, during his visit. (Awww, we're so cute you could vomit.) Shuaib was suitably horrified.

Attending the feast itself were 7 people: Nick and Amy, Lisa and Greg, Shuaib, and lastly Alison and me. Thus, we had a very geeky Thanksgiving.

Here are a few nuggests of wisdom that we acquired while preparing the meal:

• Sometimes, the bag of giblets can be surprizingly well hidden. Extensive searching my be required.
• You should never give your guests an exact time at which they should arrive and expect to eat. You should just have them show up in the morning, still in their pajamas, and be there.
  
• Alton Brown knows his turkey.
• Brining is good.
• "Halaal" must be Arabic for "tasty".
  
• A 21-pound turkey is significantly more than enough to feed 7 people and have a reasonable supply of leftovers.
• A single pumpkin pie suffices to feed 7. Two pies is overkill.
  

We also played Cranium, which is, of course, the board game traditional for this holiday. I believe the Pilgrams challenged the Native Americans to a round of Cranium on the first Thanksgiving. The natives must have lost and, as a result, were wiped out and had their land stolen via both biology and technology.