What I'm Thankful For

Instead of figuring out what I was thankful for pre-holiday, I found many reasons to give thanks after the weekend ended. Here are my top turkey day 2008 moments (in no particular order):

Cooking with Bridget Jones. Thanksgiving means my mom and I spend about two days in the kitchen slicing, baking, sweating, making messes, greasing pans, cleaning, you get the idea. This year, we decided to put on a movie and for some reason Bridget Jones' Diary seemed most appropriate. The reindeer jumper, the massive undies, Colin Firth (mmm), and the best kiss-off ever: "If staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I'd rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's ass" (burn). Though, I am always a little offended by the Natasha character who snaps her fingers at Mark Darcy, giving my name a bad name. It's always the go-to for villainous women...But I love this movie and it made me happy.

Trying stuffing for the first time. As a terribly picky eater, stuffing never made the cut on Thanksgiving. Soggy bread? No way. Nondescript meat? Please. Celery? Wrong, wrong, wrong. But this year my mom's new recipe smelled too good to not try an itty bitty bite. Now, only one question remains: Italian sausage, where have you been all my 24 years?

Conrads. This little deli/old-people joint in Pasadena makes the best patty melts ever. The pre-Thanksgiving meal bar has just been raised.

Sleeping. I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I woke up at 11 a.m. this past Saturday. After going to be at 10:30 p.m. the previous night. Instead of feeling like a total loser (which I assume is the appropriate response to this type of comatose behavior) I am rather proud. And I no longer have gray shadows under my eyes. Which is fabulous.

BFFs. Contrary to some misguided assumptions, I don't need much in life. But I do need three people: Alana, Ciji, and Jenn. And we got to spend the holiday together for the first time ever, which was (as The Cars would say) just what I needed, especially since living in different cities and schedules rarely allow this. Pouring over middle school photo albums post-dessert made the evening even more reminiscent of how important these women have been in my life (having known them since I was 4, 7, and 8, respectively).

Middle school photos. To piggyback on that last, I am thankful that, at some point, I learned how to properly blow-dry my bangs, that mid-drifts are not cute, and that brownish-red lipstick is super unflattering. My younger self is reassured now that, yes, I did turn out pretty-much okay.

Scattergories. This is one of my favorite games but I think I went through the directions too fast with my family because, on the first round, my Mom thought that we were supposed to just come up with any word matching the category. (In Scattergories, you pick a letter and have to come up with words starting with that letter to fit the clues in each round.) As Manny, Eric and I went around with our lists beginning with "M", Mom would crack up and say her "non-M" word. For Things Under the Sea Eric said, "mollusk," Manny passed, I said "mongrel" (which did not count), and Mom blurted out "plankton" in between gasping for air. We haven't hung out just the four of us in a long time, so laughing together was a pretty awesome capper to the weekend.

My parents. On the family note, even though I live at home (and complain about it/discuss my plans to move out ASAP with anyone who will listen), I really loved spending time with my Mom and Manny. Without the stress of school and work, just getting to veg, eat, and repeat for the past four days, I've found that I shouldn't be anything by thankful for my current roommates.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed time spent with family and friends as much as I did. :)