Sunday, November 30, 2008

ThanksComfort Giving Day at the Park Ave Family's.

Thanksgiving went off just as I planned.  Is that a malevolent way of saying it? Perhaps, considering the circumstances it is.  I planned the coziest, best-tasting, sleepiest, and most wine filled thanksgiving and that is what I got.  Early in the morning Stef and I prepared our home to welcome the waifs and wanderers of this city, that is, our friends.  While Stef pulled the guts out of the turkey (A side note here: we were surprised at how much stuff they store inside the turkey (bags and such)), and danced it about the kitchen I peeled potatoes into a paper bag and watched the Macy's day 
Parade.  We turned the volume up so Stef could hear in the kitchen thus our conversations went something like this: Stef:"Ramumble unmble uh nub, Bumble mumble?" Christy: "Sorry, what?" Stef: "RaMUMble unmble unumb, BUMble MUMble?" etc.  
(It's a habit of ours for Stef to continue to talk to me while I roam from room to room.) We're just like a REAL family.  Anyhow, we then scrambled about cleaning various surfaces with varying amounts of bleach (a ration directly depending upon how much turkey juice had 
spilled on to the surface). 
The first guests arrived early to play games but didn't intend to stay for dinner.  This didn't surprise me greatly since "playing games" was a huge platform in my "come to our house for thanksgiving day" campaign.  So we did.  After the first wave left the second wave or the "nouvelle vague" arrived--and they came to stay.  We busily set about drinking wine, eating pizza as an appetizer, and discussing how good a hostess Stef is.  She plays that role for us, and I am eternally greatful every day.
Dinner time finally arrived after the unprecedented freak storm that ravaged the street with hail, high winds, rain, and lightning for about 30 seconds (The same 30 seconds that it took for our guests to come from their cars into our house, actually).  Thus renewed by our reinstilled awe of nature we sat to sup and found that our awe was renewed again and again with each bite.  Then something really remarkable happened.  We decided it was "quiet time" or "nap time" or "whatever" and each and every guest got up from the table and immediately set about cleaning the kitchen. I was so impressed. I have never seen such well behaved boys and girls in my life.
Finally we collapsed in a well crafted pile of blankets which I had installed on the floor of our living room for just such a purpose as napping.  And nap we did in the coziest puppiest pile of all.  Shortly thereafter we played "football" with a "football." Then we tucked in desert, played games, and settled into a nice viewing of Fried Green Tomatoes which mostly resulted in a lively discussion of Lesbianism's presense in films from the 1990's.  Also, mid-film, we had yet a third influx of guests.  The final scene of our Thanksgiving day included Kristen wrapped in blankets rolling about in the center of the room, an interactive discussion of astrology, and another lovely bottle of wine. The End.




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