Holidays are a stressful time for everyone and my family was no exception. The craziness usually began about two days before Thanksgiving with the lighting of the candle to Our Lady of Perpetual Housekeeping. (yes, we really did keep a pillar candle to Her) I'm convinced this is because only through divine intervention would anyone be able to clean that house and not find themselves maimed or killed. As a child I hated cleaning and the list of chores seemed endless. The most time consuming project was the yearly cleaning of the pantry that always happened during this time. It never failed to surprise me just how much crap would find its way to the pantry every year. It was less a place to hold food as it was the world's biggest junk drawer. Cleaning it out was usually an all day event. For some reason Jude was worried that the family would look in the pantry and think badly of her. I would have thought her actions would have had more to do with that but who was I to tell her anything? The crazy cleaning of way too much house usually didn't stop until the first of the guests arrived. Then she would be apologize for anything that was left undone while I made my way to the shower to clean myself up before anyone else got there. I'd let the rest of the female relations help with the cooking and table setting. After the meal I made it a point to disappear so no one could ask me to help with the dishes. I decided long before that one way or another I was going to have time off. Granted, I'd probably be bitched at later but the dishes would be done by then and that was the only part I cared about. |