Thanksgiving

I had worked some longer hours earlier in the week, so I was able to leave work a little after 4 on Wednesday. Jill was home that day and had already taken Illa to the vet. We finished getting ready, then had a cab come around 5. Our flight wasn’t until 7:30, but we had heeded the dire warnings about airport delays. For no reason, as we were at our terminal by 5:45 (and we’d checked bags). We went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner, pretty good as usual – only problem they didn’t have the cheese sauce they do at the restaurants. Our flight to West Virginia was a little bumpy, but Jill weathered it ok, and we landed right on time. My mom and sister were a little late getting there, having come from church, bu arrived just after our luggage did.

We drove to my sister’s, unpacked and set up the air bed we’d brought (hers had a slow leak). When we walked in, we discovered her cat had knocked over a pile of china plates that were to be used the next day, and that had to be cleaned up. Her boyfriend, Forrest, came over, and helped as my mom made pies and some prep for the next day. We were all tired and went to sleep before midnight.

Thursday we were up around 9 to start the turkey. Jill and I joined them (and Forrest’s aunt Carol and uncle Ken who were staying with him) at church in Charleston. We came back afterwards and my dad had arrived. He’d decided that instead of $100 roundtrip on Independence Air, he wanted to drive (how much was gas in the Camaro?). It took him 7 hours to get there on the southern route. We started getting all the food ready, and I was turkey chef, checking on it and carving it.

The food was great (except I had to pick mushrooms out of the stuffing), and the conversation was fun. After we’d had seconds and cleared the table, we enjoyed Mom’s pies – pecan and apple (I had full slices of each – why not?). Later, we cleaned up and put furniture back. Dad left for the drive back, and the rest of us gathered around the TV. Forrest had rented several videos (DVD player had just died), and we chose Pink Panther. Not much like the rest of the series, but still has some great slapstick gags. Next, Forrest had brought some games over and we played Cranium. Fun game.

Ken and Carol took their leave, and Forrest came back to watch the Apprentice, his addiction. Mom, Sharon, and Jill watched with him while I read China Mieville’s The Scar, set on the same world as the book of his I’d read earlier in the month. After it was over, Forrest and Sharon had a marshmellow throwing war, then we hit the sack.

We slept in the next morning, me to 10:30 and Jill to after 11. Forrest didn’t show up until Jill got up, as his sleep was interrupted by a jackhammer working on a water main repair in the middle of the night. Sharon whipped up eggs and waffles for us, hit the spot. We didn’t have anything special planned, so we went out on a road trip to see the New River Gorge Bridge. We also stopped to see Kanawha Falls and Cathedral Falls. We had packed before we left, which was a good idea, because we went straight to the airport and got there right on time. 3 gates meant no security line, and we just waited for our uneventful flight.

We didn’t get home until 7:30, and the latest we could have picked Illa up was 6:30. So we took full advantage of our night home alone. That’s right, we went to Don Pablo’s (new Carnitas are tasty as long as you add some queso), then came home, I made a fire and we watched the first Harry Potter movie (then watched all the bonus features). Today I dropped Jill off to get Illa, went to get neurosomed, then hit the grocery store and picked up a duck that’s cooking now. Tonight we go see Michael Flatley in his newest show.

Pictures from West Virginia