Thanksgiving, Franciscans, and All Things In Moderation

Last night we took the kids to burgers then Target to quick buy our Giving Tree gift items before the shopping season began.  Stopped at the liquor store on the way; SuperHusband dashed inside, and then sloowed down . . . they were giving out free samples. [I had no idea that was legal.]  Fortunately most of it was weird trendy froofy stuff he doesn’t drink.

Kids and I sat in the car rehearsing Christmas Carols, though eventually I had to make the boy stand out in the cold next to the car, because he was being so, er, impatient, about our singing.  Then had to pre-emptively save him from injury or death, when I saw he got the bright idea to ambush his father coming out of the store.  That’s a lovely practical joke in the front hallway, dear, but not in a parking lot after dark.  He understood as soon as I explained.

Thanksgiving Eve with the Catholic Family.  Yes.  (And Target was so peaceful.  Amen.)

***

My favorite Thanksgiving book is Squanto’s Journey.  Goodness you can now get in paperback for $7.  I might have to add it to my wish list.

Something cool I didn’t mention in my first review, and that the Amazon Preview doesn’t snow you: The Friars get their credit.

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We went to Mass this morning, chatted on the playground, then came home and the young cooks put together a batch of shortbread (per the Joy but with whole wheat flour) to bring to dinner later today. Meanwhile, SuperHusband kept showing me ads from the Sobieski website.  I can’t spell it or pronounce it, but if you google “inexpensive Polish Vodka” the ad pops up on top.  If you have utterly failed in your uber-franciscan aspirations, and have resolved just to drink affordably, it’s the one.   Tito’s is a smidge better, and is therefore my second-choice recommendation, but costs a lot more.

***

And all this to tell you a true story, which might be of help to about six people on the internet: You know they say that if you have an irregular heartbeat you should give up alcohol and caffeine?

One Lent the SuperHusband and I, who drink laughably moderately if you were wondering, gave up alcohol as a penance.  I gave it no thought. (Other than: Gosh I like beer.)  Looking back, hey, wait a minute, that was the year I developed a weird skipped-beat heart thing.  Previously had only had it during pregnancy.  (When — get this — I don’t drink.)

So the first thing to do is keep not drinking, and plus give up coffee as well.  Skipping only gets worse. Long drawn out medical investigation confirms it is a benign condition (PVC’s), hurray, go home and don’t worry about it.  Yay!

No sense living the penitential life purely for spiritual reasons, if there’s not gonna be a health kickback, right?  (Bad catechist!  No biscuit.)  Resume life of all-vices-in-moderation, decide to see what happens.

Heart goes back to the ol’ normal, all-beats-per-minute self.

Try not to feel too sorry for me.

***

This Thanksgiving, may you be blessed with problems that can only be solved by doing something you wanted to do anyway.

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Thanksgiving, Franciscans, and All Things In Moderation

  1. “Stopped at the liquor store on the way…”

    Yesterday at 6:42pm my wife says, have ya been ta da likka sto’ yet? No! I forgot! I dash over to Green’s, which is right next to St. Ant’ny’s booksto’ (If there were a fertility clinic there as well it’d be a Cat’lic trifecta!). So I’m buying three 3-liter hogsheads of utility port, and tell the checkouts: this one is for my wife and me, these two are for my mother-in-law. They just look at me. Then: she’s from Canada. And they bust out laughing. (we & our guests really all drink about the same)

    Speaking of Lent, coffee & alcohol I may have already bored you with this:

    http://platytera.blogspot.com/2008/10/smaller-manhattans.html

    Or not.

  2. 1. Which port?

    2. That is hilarious — thank you for the link, explains much.

    3. I love being Catholic. I am forever quoting Simcha Fisher: “Liquor. Liquor.” [http://www.ncregister.com/blog/dear-greenypantses-this-is-why-no-one-likes-you/]

  3. The very first place my husband’s parents wanted to go after they arrived here for our wedding was the liquor store. I guess they were only being polite: some people (like me) might think it rude to visit someone and drink ALL their booze. They did eat all of our $24/lb Carr Valley cheese, even though they are lactose intolerant, but they didn’t wipe out the booze supply: http://diaryofagolddigger.blogspot.com/2010/01/in-which-sly-and-doris-make-up-little.html

    1. I can hardly fault them on the cheese. I mean, you know, it’s cheese. See my port question above: When my FIL arrives, a port run is top on the list. Good man.

      Funny story though: When I was out at my sister’s near Portland last year, she had a terrible slug problem. I told her about beer for slugs. She doesn’t drink at all, and felt very weird about going to Walmart to buy beer. So my dad & I did the deed for her. My nieces made and monitored the traps. And then pretty soon my poor sister’s nine year old would be going out in the morning, and yelling in from the yard, “Mom, I need another beer!”

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