holidays

Here we are the day before Thanksgiving.

I wanted to recall a few fun holiday memories....

There was my first year in California, having turkey day with Susie, Taryn & Susie's crazy friend.

That same year, Christmas in LA with Susie was pretty unique ending at 2AM eating 7-11 Chili dogs.

Thanksgiving with Taryn in NY my first year here, eating turkey and mashed potatoe tv dinners and taking Taryn to her first ever drag queen review.... a very traditional pilgrim tradition.

How about Thanksgiving in Brooklyn with mom, Taryn and Carly...Carly cooked a frickin whole turkey, baked, etc. and I made the table look very pretty with dried leaves. The next day might also be called hell....shopping all day long the friday after thanksgiving on a cold day in NY with Taryn sulking all the while about being away from her friends.

Christmas in Costa Rica in 2002. A spagetti dinner and some dessert concocted of lemons...our daily stapel, as we lived on a citrus farm.

Thanksgiving last year: our last holiday with Casey.

And finally, going way back old school....Christmas' at the house on Lake. Adults doing thier last minute wrapping in the basement, jumping on the bed in my red dress and white tights (that naturally matched my hair bow and everything my sisters were wearing--thanks mom) in grandma's room so filled with excitement not just about all the presents we were about to see, but also to experience the whole scene of the family together: grandma with her blue & white gingham apron in the kitchen, dad getting on grandma's nerve in the kitchen, David sticking his fingers in everything and sitting in the armchair, thoroughly annoyed by all the kids running around. The walnut cracker that only ever seemed to come out at christmas. The assorted cousins that only seemed to come out at Cleveland. The nativity set that I loved to re-arrange ( I always thought that the cows should flank the manger, not actually be in...) and then, everyone at the table, laughing, telling David to eat slow, David telling everyone to eat slow. Grandma Kahler acting a freak. Dottie acting a freak.

Do you think we could just rent the Lake house one of these Christmases?

Next year, maybe we could re-create that table scene in someplace like Mexico or Puerto Rico?