Doing the Turkey Trot.........

One day this past (very hot) summer, I was visiting my parents in my hometown. It is about 1 1/2 hours from where I live now. My mom and I stopped downtown on an errand for her.

As we were backing out, I noticed a couple of turkeys about two doors down at a little shop. The shop was new in town, a little second-hand shop. I drove as slowly as I could trying to crane my neck to get a glimpse at the turkeys. The shop was not open, but my mom suggested we go around the block and go look at the turkeys close up. Well it was about a million degrees that day, so I just told her she could check on them later. (This was the end of July after all, I knew I had plenty of time.)

A few days later my mom does go back to the second-hand shop, but it is still not open. My mother has a hard time getting around because of a medical debacle, but she was able to see the price tag on the turkeys. They were $35. As far as I was concerned, they were "sold"....to me!

I just knew that 'ole Tom Turkey would look absolutely smashing in the middle of my dining room table for our big Thanksgiving get-together. I knew that the pair of turkeys had a very primitive paint job and I could not have been happier.

Then I began to worry that someone else would see the beauty in the Tom's in the middle of their own dining room table and scoop them up before I could get back to my hometown. So, I called my brother who runs the family newspaper business just down the street. I explain to him how absolutely smashing one of the Tom's would look in the middle of the table with the other Tom on the buffet. This was the brother who did the Lucy tablescape, so he understood just what I wanted.  Not too long after I begged him to pick up the Tom's for me, he called me back.

My brother wanted to know if I realized the turkeys were made of pure concrete. Like old school concrete. Like the kind that ways a kajillion pounds. I gasped. For whatever reason, I thought they were made of some type of plastic. Like old school plastic. Like the kind that would weigh maybe ten pounds! ha! Imagine how excited I was about "the deal" I got, if I was willing to pay $35 for a plastic turkey when in fact I was getting a concrete turkey!!

My brother went on to say that he had to go back to his office and get a two-wheel-dolly to get my Tom back to the newspaper office. Once there, Tom had to sit outside the front door of the newspaper because my brother said he was too heavy to carry another step. He told me I needed to get two or three of my big-strong-sons to come over to pick Tom up. Oh my!!  I felt so bad then that I didn't dare ask him to go back and get the other Tom.

Well as is my habit....to make a long story longer, I never could convince two or three of my big-strong sons the importance of heading 1 1/2 hours east to go pick up Tom.
And to make matters (even funnier) my mom decided that SHE wanted the other Tom for her house, and she made my brother go up there (this time he knew to take the two-wheeled dolly) to get the turkey for her. So the two turkeys sat outside the newspaper office for several weeks. My brother said he got constant comments on them. (I am sure they were all wonderful!!!!)
And, being the great brother that he is, he finally got tired
decided to just deliver the Toms. He had a friend come help him load them both into the back of his pickup. He then had the friend help him take one Tom to my mom's house. Then when he came to my house, he had no one to help him unload (we were all at work or school). So he had to somehow wrangle it out of the pickup by himself. He left Tom on the curb. And I mean literally.

So my husband and I pushed/pulled/scooted/grunted/gave-it-our-all to move Tom to the sidewalk beside one of the urns. Have I mentioned that Tom weighs well over 200 pounds???? Yes, he would look smashing in the middle of my dining room table, alright!  He would smash through the table and the floor I believe! I have no idea how we will move Tom into the garage after Thanksgiving is over! He might just have to be decorated with some Christmas lights, Valentine hearts, bunny ears, shamrocks.....etc!!

I called my brother up to thank him for wrangling Tom from the store-to his office-from his office-to my house-then to my curb. He said his back was still feeling it. So I ever-so-sweetly said to him, "Uhmmm when you were delivering these turkeys, you did make sure I got the best one, right?"
Thus is the story of Tom and our Turkey Trot!

P.S. We live in a neighborhood where SO many walk by. I have had lots of people compliment me on cute Tom!

I am linking this with WoW Us Wednesdays and Open House Thursday. Also check out Farmhouse Fridays. Hope you enjoy them!