On Wednesday, everyone that rented tables & chairs for their holiday gathering were picking them up. Every time a customer asked to get a few less or more chairs because someone changed their plans at the last minute, I thought about this thread. I could see the annoyance & frustration in many of the people that had to reduce the number of chairs because someone decided to stay home or go somewhere else. In this economy, it would also be irritating to buy food for a larger group & then have last minute cancellations. We scheduled a sit down dinner at 2pm. Turkey was done & table was set & my sister hadn't arrived with my mom, so my DD called my sister & mom to find out how far away they were since they were driving 2.5 hours to get there. My sister tells her they got a late start & were just leaving... they'll be there in two hours. We sat down & ate with the rest of the guests. Nearly three hours later, they got there & my sister was surprised we ate without them & not happy their were no more dinner rolls. It kinda made me laugh a little... and it worked out ok since my brother and nephews stopped by late in the day & were able to visit my mom. They spent Thanksgiving with their other families but stopped by around dessert time. BTW, it wasn't so bad with MIL there... I completely kept myself busy with dinner & my family to engage with her. She went straight over to SD, who was on the computer doing the tutorials for school She nagged her about how she was doing them & then when we sat to eat, I sat at one end of the table feeding the baby & they sat at the other end. A couple of times, I heard her nagging SD about what was on her plate, etc. (usually we do a buffet & I serve SD's plate & MIL has made comments on why don't I let SD have this or why can she only have a little? so this year, food was on the table & they served themselves... and SD next to MIL, I had nothing to do with what she got or how much but MIL still had to nag... ugh!) Then later, MIL told SD to stop doing her tutorials & come sit in the livingroom because there's no way to concentrate on her work. Then she informed me that I need to let SD use my computer at work to finish her tutorials, which did irritate me a little. She told me that SD's only had three days (at MIL's house) to get them done & that's not enough time. I retorted that "no, she had nine weeks to get her work done at school & she didn't get it done when she was supposed to." MIL was visibly annoyed by me telling her that but she couldn't say anything because it's true. So she tells me that SD has learned her lesson & is going to do well this semester. I said nothing. I could have told her that so far, SD has only turned in 50% of her work & lied to me last Thursday about turning the rest of it in. But, what's the point?? I wanted an enjoyable day & MIL seemed like she was getting worked up & if SD fails in school, it won't be because of me. I just wanted a relaxing day & it was enjoyable for the most part. MIL left quite early, probably because I wouldn't engage with her, but it could have really been FIL's sinuses.

Well, Serafina, I love the slightly grey look of your tiles . . . very chic and interesting with your black and white. I was going to mention what smilingjudy did . . . that magazines etc. are showing a lot of gray and yellow together and have been for a year or so. I know because I was looking for gray carpeting and have had fits finding it. I can't figure out why I see it everywhere except the carpet stores! I know how hard it is to readjust your vision when you have a picture in mind. I've had to do it on several issues in this house, and it's HARD. I suspect most home-builders/remodelers run into this at one level or another. A couple of mine have been pretty big "levels" and I've had a real struggle: Learn to like it or spend literally thousands of $$ to change it. Only you can make that decision, but I think the color combination you have going is going to be very WOW. Arlene

Well, it depends on your definition of wonderful. I've done similar meals, and I find it incumbent on me to have some decent protein for vegans/vegetarians. Gourmet nut cheeses are delicious, but not very nutritious, for instance. This is a recipe for Vegan Gluten Free Bean and Lentil Loaf which I developed and posted some years ago. It's a big bother to make the first time, but it tastes good and lends itself to gussying up. It would freeze fine (I can't remember if I've done it, but it should work). But it's probably too close to Thanksgiving to want to go there. In terms of protein content, I prefer saitan. It's gluten, however, rather than GF, but really is a protein, whereas beans and legumes are plants with protein in them (at the most 15%). :) Saitan should be made with soy (usually it's done with soy sauce) to have complete protein, or you could use Bragg's Aminos. You can grill (stove top or oven) saitan to get some caramelized seared edges and layer it up in a strata with long thin slices of pumpkin or kabocha, zucchini, carrots, parsnips, etc., fresh herbs, and make a binder from egg replacer, or chia, or a bechamel made with hemp milk, or whatever. I don't have a recipe, however, since I usually just cook. Speaking of "balls", you can make quinoa and cranberry balls, or quinoa and sweet potato balls. Quinoa gets really boring fast, but if you make it Thanksgiving flavored it could be a hit. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Vegans are used to being odd man out and eating the sides. As you've figured out with your spinach balls, most sides can be made vegan just by not using animal products. :) The hardest to replace is eggs, but it can be done. Apparently, the goo from canned garbanzo beans is an excellent replacement for eggwhites. I haven't had a chance to try it, but you're supposed to be able to whip it, and it's supposed to make decent glue for casseroles and such. Oh. Yummy vegetarian. In this context, I take that to be lacto-ovo. I make a really yummy pumpkin lasagna, but it has tons of cheese and eggs. And it also takes a long time to make, so I'm not going to bother posting it unless you really want it. It does freeze well. I've never tried to make a vegan version.

I hear what you're saying, Penny. The body positivity movement is something I'm seeing more of in my social media feed, and to be honest I have rather conflicted feelings about much of it. There seems to be a push, particularly among younger women, to bare it and show it off. One account that I follow in particular features a young woman in various stages of undress (some if it is quite racy), with "body positive" language about how she is embracing her large, very curvy body while railing against the double standard that allows thin, supermodel types to show off their bodies without criticism. (I continue to follow her because I like her as a person, but I've had thoughts of unfollowing due to some of the content where body parts are like RIGHT THERE on display. There are just certain things I don't care to look at.) On the one hand, I agree that our bodies are wonderful things, and no matter the size or shape, we should ALL be thankful for what they are capable of and for how they function to carry us through this life. On the other hand, I personally have a difficult time embracing my own "curves" (code word for flab and cellulite), and don't consider my flaws to necessarily be things of beauty. And I fully recognize that we are conditioned from early on to appreciate a woman's body of a certain "acceptable" shape and size while averting our eyes from others that are outside this standard, but I really don't want to see provocative photos of someone else's undressed "flaws" in an effort to try to goad me (and the masses) into acceptance. Must it be so "in your face"? What if I don't WANT to embrace cellulite? Am I wrong for thinking it's unattractive? I'm using this as an example, because I think it speaks to how women are being urged to be themselves and celebrate uniqueness, but only if we hold certain opinions and are willing to assert that it ALL looks good, no matter how flabby or jiggly or skinny or whatever. And that seems to be an attempt to squelch our own inherent sense of what constitutes beauty and what does not.