A Jedi Thanksgiving

Chris, Dylan, and Jake are locked in a three-way lightsaber battle!

December 1, 2019

Briefly, we thought we were going to have our Thanksgiving celebration on the actual official date of Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 28. Our two Walmart employees, Dylan and Sarah, each had schedules that would allow us to feast in the early evening of that day (that never happens!). However, Jacob wouldn't be joining us since he was coming up for the David Archuleta concert the following Monday, December 2, because he didn't want to stay that long or make two trips so close together.

Then, three days before Thanksgiving, Dylan texted me to say he and Jake wanted to go to the Valley to soak up some warmth, leaving Wednesday night and returning on Friday. Could we do Thanksgiving when Jacob came up on Monday? Ummm...NO. Now that I'm retired, it's much easier to be flexible, so the last minute change wasn't an issue. I hadn't even purchased a turkey at that point. However, I am very detailed-oriented, and there were a lot of specifics that needed to be sorted out for this to work.

1) I wasn't preparing and digesting a full Thanksgiving meal on the same day as a concert, especially since we had to leave at 4:45 for the meet-and-greet beforehand. Nope, not doing it. Solution: Dylan called Jacob, who agreed to come up early on Sunday instead.

2) Dylan was scheduled to work until 8:00 on Sunday. What's the point of waiting to get together when Jacob can be here, only to have Dylan absent? Solution: Dylan was able to switch shifts with a co-worker and got off work at 5:00 instead.

3) Biggest problem of all: a big snowstorm was coming in on Thursday, with the worst to hit on Friday, rendering travel difficult to impossible. But Friday was the day Dylan and Jake needed to return home so they could be at work early on Saturday. Solution: Jacob offered to drive up with them on Friday so his heavy four-wheel-drive truck would be available if there were any trouble, and they would use the southern route through Globe-Miami, which receives less snow.

The dinner rolls start to rise, early on Sunday afternoon.

Once Dylan had addressed all my concerns, we shifted our Thanksgiving celebration to Sunday. I did the bulk of my Thanksgiving shopping at 7:00 on Wednesday morning, allowing me to beat the worst of the last-minute-shopper crowds. My biggest issue then was that all the larger turkeys were sold out. I usually choose a 22-24 pounder (I love leftovers), but I had to settle for a 16-pound turkey.

It wasn't all smooth sailing. As the storm raged through, my stress level climbed higher and higher, worrying about my boys traveling under such dangerous conditions. Dylan called me on Friday morning, and we worked together to decide the safest options, given the expected snowfall and the numerous highway closures already in place. We agreed that their best chance was to leave as early as possible, in case the snow became so heavy that they would have to close Hwy 60 between Globe and Show Low.

They left Mesa around 9:10 and got to Globe a bit after 10:30. Dylan described the drive from Superior to Miami as being "like blizzard conditions." Unfortunately, when they arrived in Globe they found a traffic advisory warning that the highway from Globe to Show Low was closed. 

We reviewed our options. A different route through Safford-to-Hannagan Meadow-to-Alpine-to-Springerville-to-Show Low was out of the question, not only because it would mean more than five hours of additional driving, but also because Hannagan Meadow and Alpine are at higher altitudes and often receive nearly as much snow as nearby Sunrise Ski Resort. If the road didn't reopen within a few hours, I told them they could get a motel room for the night and I'd reimburse them (I needed my boys to be safe!). Then they could come home the next morning when the storm had abated, but they reminded me that they both really needed to be home that night so they could be at work the next morning.

Thankfully, Hwy 60 reopened a little after noon, and they were on their way by 12:20. It turned out that the road had been closed due to an eighteen-wheeler accident rather than the snow. Dylan said the drive was stressful, yet not as bad as he'd expected. They were all safely home at Dylan and Jake's apartment within two hours. BIG sigh of relief!

A 16-lb turkey is in the roaster and the potatoes have been scrubbed.

(Notice Chewbacca's picture on the calendar above the roaster.)

The best part of the situation was that we now had Jacob with us for an entire four days, and we were able to have all seven of us around the table for our Thanksgiving celebration on Sunday. No empty place at our table or in our hearts.

Everything in place for that final hour of madly finishing all dishes at once!

I spent Sunday morning getting the pies in the oven, then moved on to getting the turkey in the roaster and doing as many ahead-of-time preps and assemblies as possible. I'm good at organizing everything, including the times each thing has to go in and come out in order to flow smoothly, yet somehow it never goes as smoothly as it does on paper!

Dutch Apple Pie and Razzleberry Pie (plus Silk Chocolate Pie in fridge).

Except for Dylan and Jake, who both had to work, everyone else was at my house by 12:30 to assist, but I already had everything done that it was possible to do by that time. The kitchen didn't get busy again until 3:30 (time to start the potatoes boiling), so we were able to relax and enjoy visiting. Dylan even joined us on his lunch hour around 1:00. Jake came over straight from work just after 3:00, so then all we needed was Dylan's return.

I think they're ready now!

That last hour is always madness in my tiny kitchen, as you remove one item from the oven just in time to put something else in, with three or four pans steaming on the stove top. In the end, though, it all came together and we were ready to eat right about the time Dylan arrived from work at 5:10.

Jake, Mark, and Jacob load up their plates in the kitchen.

On the menu: Turkey; stuffing (boxed, since I dislike stuffing); mashed potatoes and gravy, corn-on-the-cob; Green Bean Supreme (my low-carb replacement for green bean casserole); and dinner rolls. And, of course, pies with whipped cream for dessert.

Sarah and Chris at Thanksgiving dinner.

Jacob at Thanksgiving dinner.

Dylan and Jake at Thanksgiving dinner.

Mark at Thanksgiving dinner (with Dylan and Jake beyond).

Thanks to our recent California vacation and our visit to Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland, our day ended on a Jedi-Thanksgiving note. I'd invited Jake and Chris to bring their new lightsabers along, which they and I had hand-built at Savi's Workshop in Black Spire Outpost at Galaxy's Edge. I wanted to get pictures of all three of our lightsabers side by side, something I hadn't thought to do while we were still on vacation.

I also invited Dylan to bring over my new "grand-droid," a little black-and-silver-armored R2 unit he built at Droid Depot in Black Spire Outpost. Dylan named him R2-42 ("Fortoo" for short). I filmed a short video of Fortoo but neglected to take a still photo that I could post here. Suffice it to say, Fortoo is adorable as he toddles around, running into walls and beep-booping conversationally. Until I have actual flesh-and-blood grandchildren, I'll enjoy my new little grand-droid!

After dinner, we play eighteen rounds of Sabacc. Chris, Dylan, and Jake

plan their moves; Sarah, Jacob, and Mary are behind the camera.

Once dinner was over and the table was cleared, I got out the brand-new Sabacc Cards I'd purchased at Toydarian Toymaker in Black Spire Outpost (on the planet Batuu at Galaxy's Edge) and invited everyone to play a few hands. Only Mark declined, preferring to watch TV. 

Sabacc is the gambling game by which Han Solo won his famous spaceship, the Millennium Falcon, from Lando Calrissian. The game is both fun and frustrating, thanks to a pair of dice that have the power to completely alter everything mid-hand. It also requires some basic math involving positive and negative numbers.

We end the night with an epic lightsaber duel (Dylan wields my blade).

At the end of the evening, right before we served up the pies, Dylan, Jake, and Chris staged a lightsaber battle for the camera. Dylan, having built his droid rather than a lightsaber, used my blade for the duel.

Mary, Jake, and Chris display their newly-built lightsabers from Savi's.

Originally, as we built our lightsabers, I had chosen a blue kyber crystal (which determines the color of the blade), while both Jake and Chris chose red kyber crystals. Later, we returned to Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, where you can buy additional kybers in any of the six blade colors: red, blue, green, violet, yellow, and white. I purchased a violet kyber crystal to go with my blue one, and both of the guys bought green kybers to go with their reds. (Apparently there are also extremely rare black kyber crystals hidden in one-out-of-a-hundred red-kyber cases.)

Up until our Thanksgiving get-together, I hadn't even taken my violet kyber crystal out of its case, so the guys removed my blue kyber and installed the violet for me. It's a beautiful thing. Jake had his green kyber in his lightsaber, while Chris had his original red one in, so it was nice to have three different colored blades for the photos.

For the uninitiated, a lightsaber's blade color is heavy on symbolism:
RED: Power and Evil (Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Sith Lords)
GREEN: Peace, through Force if need be (Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn)
BLUE: Protection and Justice (Obi-Wan Kenobi, young Anakin Skywalker)
VIOLET: Moral Ambiguity (Mace Windu, Mara Jade Skywalker)
YELLOW: Intrigue and Pursuit (Jedi Sentinals)
WHITE: Obedience and Service (Imperial knights)
BLACK: Self-Obsession (Supreme Leader Snoke; called the "darksaber")

Our lightsaber blades: violet (mine), green (Jake), and red (Chris).

Another fun fact is that the three of us each chose a different style of lightsaber to build, and we didn't even plan it that way. There are four options: Power and Control (no surprise that Chris chose the  dark-side, Sith-inspired type); Elemental (Jake agonized over his decision, but in the end he chose this Force-energy style); Peace and Justice (Old Republic designs); and Protection and Defense (related to the "ancient wellspring of the Force").

I wavered between Peace-and-Justice and Protection-and-Defense, but finally decided upon the latter. I'm very happy with my choice. I've never really seen myself in the role of peacekeeper or imposer-of-justice, but anyone who knows me well would never doubt the lengths I'd go to protect and defend those I love!

Our lightsaber hilts: Mine is a "Protection and Defense" lightsaber (at top);

Jake's is an "Elemental" (center); Chris's is a "Power and Control" (bottom).

After our Jedi fun and a few slices of pie, the celebration ended a bit after 9:00 and everyone headed home. I'm so grateful for my family and the fun we have with our shared interests. I have so much to be thankful for on Thanksgiving and on every other day of the year!

I do love my lightsaber!