Prone — probably the favorite position of lazily-productive people like me
It is one short week until Thanksgiving, and I hope you haven’t been waiting for me to tell you to start planning. I have been sick this week, and each day I think, “Tomorrow I’ll work on a grocery list and get to the store,” but tomorrow comes and I’m still here in my yoga pants and and fuzzy socks on the sofa, spending way too much time on Facebook and taking naps. But Thanksgiving will come no matter how much I think it might be a good idea to put it off for another week, so I’d best get cracking.
I start planning for a holiday celebration with a little scrutiny of our particular situation. For this Thanksgiving:
–The place: at my parents’ house
–The guests: 20 at last count
–Special needs: three elderly guests with limited mobility (What will work best: pass food at the table, buffet, young people serve older people?)
–The meal: Mom and I divide most of the cooking. We have a pretty standard menu for this holiday:
Turkey — Mom
Gravy — Me
Dumplings — Mom
Cornbread Dressing — Mom
Bread Stuffing/Filling — Me
Cranberry Sauce — Me
Sweet Potato Casserole — Me
Chocolate and Sweet Potato Pies — Mom
Pumpkin Pie and another dessert — Me
In addition, we invite our guests to feel free to bring anything “without which it wouldn’t feel like Thanksgiving to you,” which means we often have green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, some kind of yummy salad, and more on the table. Also, some people bring cheese, bologna, crackers and other nibbly things to have later in the day during all of the game-playing and puzzle-putting-together that typically happens.
–Decorating: This is not my area of talent, but our daughter, Alyssa, does a beautiful job. She organizes the kids and has them make place-cards, she sets up a Thankful Tree, and she makes the table beautiful.
Our situation changes little from year to year, which is both comforting and helpful for the ones doing the hosting.
A half-hour spent gathering my thoughts saves time in the long run, a hallmark of lazy productivity.
This week, I need to think of what I can be doing to make next week easier:
- Make space in the freezer, refrigerator, and pantry for extra ingredients and finished dishes.
- Look over my recipes and make a detailed grocery list.
- Make a food prep schedule, taking into consideration how well each dish keeps, oven space, and storage space. Oh, yes, and take into account my energy level and time availability!
- Buy all I can at the grocery store this week. Save produce purchasing for next week.
Does your family celebrate Thanksgiving? Do you have special considerations in your planning? How do you feel about the “big meal” holidays — love ’em or loathe ’em?
Other Lazy Productivity posts you might find useful:
Life for Lazy People — an Introduction
Life for Lazy People — Defining the Vocabulary of Lazy Productivity
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