Dear Kiss & Zutell,
My sister, her husband and family will be spending the long Thanksgiving weekend with us.
She's already asked me several times which Black Friday sales I plan to attend and at what hour I intend to rise to be first inside for the door busters. Honestly, I'd rather have root canal without anesthesia than visit a mall on Black Friday. Her husband is all excited about watching the football games. Watching football is my husband's idea of torture. I don't know if I can take 72 hours of this.
Love my Sister, But…
Dear Sisterly Love—
'Tis the season... for familial strife, disappointment and bruised feelings.
You have three choices:
1) Suck it up an suffer.
2) Call them TODAY and tell them you've all come down with cholera.
3) Stay the course, but have them as guests on your terms.
While I love entertaining, I subscribe to the "when in Rome..." policy of entertaining. If you're a vegan, bring something you like to eat. If you have pets, leave them home. Want to watch the game? Bring your iPhone and earbuds.
When you accept an invitation to dine at someone's home, there's a tacit agreement that you will accept what is offered. A few weeks ago at our favorite Indian restaurant, I watched some costumer ask the waiter why there was no "regular food" on the menu.
Here are the symptoms of cholera: well, just Google them and see. At least you won't have to fake the sniffles on the phone call to warn them.
If you decide to take choice #3, be firm, but beware. Those Black Friday shoppers have been known to kill to get their way.
Happy Thanksgiving!
