TALES FROM A NOT-SO-HAPPY THANKSGIVING?!

***WARNING! THIS IS A VERY LONG BLOG POST WITH A LOT OF ARTWORK THAT TOOK ME FOREVER TO DRAW!!***

Hi, everyone! I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving :-). My friends and I volunteered for a very special project at school. We agreed to buy, cook, and deliver a Thanksgiving turkey to our local community center that was serving FREE dinners to individuals and families in our city. Very COOL?! Right :-)!

Besides…like, how DIFFICULT could cooking a turkey be?! Seriously!

So, I recruited my BFFs Chloe, Zoey, and Brandon. And, surprisingly, MacKenzie Hollister INSISTED on helping out! I was VERY sure she just wanted to hang out with Brandon and shamelessly FLIRT with him while WE did all of the work!

But, in the spirit of the holiday and the sharing of bountiful blessings, I FINALLY agreed. Especially after MacKenzie volunteered to personally pay for the 30-pound turkey and all of our cooking supplies. OMG! Do you have ANY idea what the price of groceries is these days?!

Anyway, we all agreed to meet at my house at 8:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning to cook the turkey and deliver it by noon. Then, we’d have the rest of the day to celebrate and eat Thanksgiving dinner with our families. It was the PERFECT plan!

Of course, just as I expected, MacKenzie was NO HELP whatsoever! Whenever we asked her to help out with cooking, she just gave us the same LAME excuse!…

I was like, “Girlfriend, you KNEW we were COOKING! So, WHY didn’t you BRING your CHEF!” But I just said that in my head, so nobody heard it but me!

Brandon, on the other hand, helped us cook AND took photos. He said he might use them in an article for our school newspaper about the event. That’s when MacKenzie pulled out her mirror and slathered on seven layers of “Too-Cute-To-Cook” bubblegum pink lip gloss. But she still refused to actually touch any food.

It was totally disgusting watching MacKenzie brainwash my little sister, Brianna. MacKenzie actually lied about being BFFs with Princess Sugar Plum. Of course, Brianna totally lost it and BEGGED MacKenzie to take her to Baby Unicorn Island to MEET her FAV princess! Brandon actually videotaped the entire thing…

While I was putting the turkey in the oven, and MacKenzie was shamelessly flirting with Brandon, Chloe, and Zoey did the CUTEST craft project with Brianna. They made placemats with colorful handprint turkeys on them for the guests attending Thanksgiving dinner at the community center…

While the turkey was cooking in the oven, everyone pitched in to make placemats and the most adorable turkey headbands as gifts for the children.

Several hours had passed, and we were finally finishing up our craft projects when I noticed a strange smell. I rushed to the kitchen to check on the turkey with Brandon trailing close behind me. When I opened the oven, I couldn’t believe my eyes…

OMG! My poor turkey was in TERRIBLE shape! I didn’t know whether to CRY or call 911 for an ambulance to rush it to the emergency room for first-degree BURNS! And Brandon was just as UPSET as I was! He helped me pull it from the oven and set it on the counter to cool off. Then, we tried to figure out what went wrong and checked the temperature setting.

JUST GREAT! I discovered that I had accidentally set the oven to BROIL instead of BAKE :-(!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

THAT was me SCREAMING!!

Of course, MacKenzie took complete advantage of the situation! She insisted that we all take a silly selfie together so she’d “have a cherished photo as a memento of our time spent working on this very noble community service project.” But, while we were taking the pic, she actually zoomed in on my poor turkey and sneered…

Of course, I was upset because I had PROMISED to provide a TURKEY to help feed people in our community. But so had about 30 other people. So, I wasn’t really worried about there NOT being enough turkeys. I just wanted to be a mature and responsible young adult and keep my word on a commitment I had made.

“Well, I guess we don’t have a t-turkey anymore!” I sniffed and blinked back my tears. “And it’s all MY fault! I’m REALLY sorry!” I stammered.

“Nikki, it was an accident. Please don’t beat yourself up,” Brandon sighed.

“Hey, you tried your very best to help out!” Chloe said.

“That’s right!” Zoey agreed. “And I’m sure everyone will appreciate the placemats and kiddie headbands we made!”

“But, we need a TURKEY for all of the nice people!” Brianna sniffed. “Nikki, you PROMISED! Somebody needs to fix this!” Upset, she stomped out of the room, and Daisy bounded after her.

“Well, this little project was a total DISASTER!” MacKenzie smirked, rolling her eyes. “NOW you know why I refuse to COOK unless I have my personal CHEF!”

I was gathering up the placemats and headbands for Brandon to drop off when Brianna happily skipped into the kitchen with Daisy on a leash. They both took a seat at the table. It was quite obvious my bratty little sister was up to something because she had a HUGE grin on her face.

Suddenly, we noticed DAISY! And, OMG! We couldn’t BELIEVE our eyes!…

Brianna had dressed Daisy in her TURKEY costume from HALLOWEEN! And she looked absolutely ADORABLE!

So, instead of sharing a baked turkey as planned, we shared a very special, furry turkey with four legs and a tail. And she BARKED!

Everyone at the community center LOVED “Daisy the Turkey,” and she got HUGS and SNUGGLES from ALL the dinner guests!

I also gave Brianna a huge HUG and thanked her for SAVING our Thanksgiving project.

I have to admit, she’s actually PRETTY COOL to be my BRATTY little sister!

I sincerely hope YOUR Thanksgiving was as WONDERFUL as MINE :-)!

Love Your BFF,

NIKKI