Happy thanksgiving!

Today was thanksgiving and at 124 Earl Rd it was turkey, turkey and more turkey!
After years of trekking to 3 different homes on thanksgiving day, Diane and I last year decided we'd have turkey day at our house. Despite cancer and lots of travel and other issues, we made it happen. And there were only one or two screwups!
The guests showed up (some of them a bit early, but that was OK too.) The usually suspects: Mom, Dad, Kathy, Mike, Phil B., Shawn, Bill, Fedo, Uncle Dean, Pam, Meg and Nate dogg. DI had stayed up most of the night as she is wont to do, arranging the tables and generally fussing, but it all looked good and such, as her fussing always makes her projects look in the end.
I'd gotten the turkey in and it looked GREAT when I took it out of the oven at about 12:30. It was nice and brown and cooked evenly according to Pam's thermometer. (Someday pam, we will actually return your candy/meat thermometer.) The trick, however, was getting it out of the pan and onto a platter. I made several attempts with forks and tongs and praying and squeezing, and nothing seemed to want to coax the 22 pounds of scrumptious, dead birdmeat out of Kathy's black roasting pan.
Finally I grabbed ahold of the turkeys back legs and promptly lifted them and the entire turkey out of the pan. The resulting plop of the big heavy breast piece back into the pan slopped drippings all over the recently cleaned stovetop and left me holding the intact "dark meat" section (legs, thighs, wings and other pieces in my hands...
ANYWAY The turkey turned out OK in the end and we had a heckuva nice time with all the families together. After the last guest left at 5 pm diane and I plopped on the red barber's couch by the front door and didn't move for a half-hour. We have resolved, however to make this a tradition and host the thanksgiving meal next year....that is if everyone wants to come back!