How I Spent My Thanksgiving

Hi Folks,

Sorry it's been a while. I've had family in town for 2+ weeks and just couldn't find the time. So, here's an update on what I've been doing the past couple of weeks.

My dad came to visit. I love my dad and we have an awesome relationship. But it was a tough week when he was here. You see, my dad is a southern man, through and through. He doesn't like to be out of his comfort zone, and trust me: Portland is definitely out of his comfort zone. The first morning he was here, this is what happened

Dad: "You hungry for breakfast?"
Me: "Sure, I have whole wheat english muffins, eggs, cereal, oatmeal.... what do you feel like?"
Dad: "Actually, I was thinking maybe we could go to Hardee's."
Me: "Hmm.... I don't think we have Hardee's here. Or, I think it's called Carl's Jr. But I'm pretty sure it's the same." (Thinking to myself, that I don't' really know this for sure, because I've never set foot inside a Carl's Jr.)
Dad: "Okay, let's go there."

We get in the car, and find the nearest Carl's Jr., go inside, where my dad proceeds to order biscuits and gravy.

Guy behind the counter: "Sorry, sir, we don't have biscuits and gravy."
Dad: "You don't HAVE biscuits and gravy??"
Guy: "No sir. In fact, we don't have any biscuits."

Panic ensues. Dad starts slowly backing away from the counter with a deer in the headlights look, like... "where the F*** am I?" He looks at me expectantly.

Me: "You want to go somewhere else?"
Dad: "Yeah.... let's go..... somewhere else."

So we walk outside, where I spot a McDonald's across the street. Now, if you know me, you know I don't eat at McDonald's. Like, never. I hate it. It's gross. So, I jokingly say:

Me: "Well, lucky us... there's a McDonald's right across the street!"
Dad: "Cool, let's go there."
Me: [jaw drops] "Uhh.... okay."

So I ate at McDonald's. Yippee.

That's pretty much how the visit went. But, we did have some good talks, and I took him to the coast which was cool. The very next day, Justyn's mom flew in for Thanksgiving. I got one night of a break between, which was much needed.

Justyn's mom is a really cool person. She's really energetic, really intellectual (about most things), and she's super healthy and active. So, it was a nice change from my dad's visit. But, she totally stresses me out. And, since I'm not working and Justyn doesn't have time off, I had to entertain her by myself for THREE days. Ugh. I was NOT looking forward to it. She's the kind of person that needs constant entertainment, so there's a lot of pressure. But, overall, I have to say it was a really good visit. Probably the best I've ever had with her.

Except, of course, for this kind of stuff, which she likes to sprinkle throughout most conversations:

Her: "So, you don't cook much, huh?"
Me: "Yes, actually, I really like to cook."
Her: "Oh, but you don't have dinner ready for Justyn when he comes home from work?"
Me: "No, he doesn't usually like to eat that early."
Her: "Oh, well... he seemed pretty excited about it when I told him we'd have dinner ready for him today."
Me: [speechless]

Then every time she cooked a meal (which was often, and she is an amazing cook), she would look at me and say, "see, cooking doesn't have to take a long time!" Ugh.

And this:

Her: "Do you want to make a pie or anything for the big dinner?"
Me: "Sure, I'd love to. I have a great recipe for Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon."
Her: "Okay, what do you need so we can make a list?"
Me: "I think I have everything except pecans and dark corn syrup."
Her: "Oh..... corn syrup?? That's really bad for you. You shouldn't eat it."
Me: "Yeah, I know, but it only calls for 1/2 cup which isn't bad. Or, do you know of something else I could use as a substitute?"
Her: "No, I don't think so. I guess I shouldn't ask what's in it or I won't eat any."
Me: [speechless]

I made the pie anyway, by the way, and it was delish. Everyone loved it (it was the first one to get depleted). And, I'm pretty sure she was sneaking bites while we were all asleep. Every morning there was a little bit more missing.

About the meal: almost everything was from the farmer's market, including the turkey which was awesome!!! Here's a picture:

Before

After (Yep, that's Justyn carving the turkey!)

Everything was soooo good, especially the turkey. I'll never buy anything but a fresh turkey again. Yum. And, there was enough leftover for me to make white chili so that was great, too!

We had our feast on the day after Thanksgiving due to some schedule issues with some of the family, so on Thanksgiving day we were going to the park (Justyn's step-dad is a professional photographer so we were going to snap some photos). It was really foggy and on the way we passed a huge cemetery that's close to our place. We decided to stop there and I got some really cool pictures:



If you want to see more pictures from the week (including some amazing foggy sunset pictures at the coast), click here.

So, that's it. I spent my Thanksgiving in a cemetery with my in-laws. It was cool. And, I realized how lucky I am. I'm extremely thankful to have the opportunity to go on this journey, and it has been so rewarding for me. I'm so fortunate to have a great family (by blood and by marriage). I'm happier and healthier than I've ever been, and for that I am grateful.

I miss my family, though. I'm glad I'm coming home for Christmas.

Other things that happened over Thanksgiving: I became a volunteer leader with a local non-profit, I was on the local news (twice!) for my volunteer work, and I had a job interview that went really well.