Crappy Thanksgiving!

Some years ago, Aidan's mother's saying of "Crappy Thanksgiving" (instead of "Happy Thanksgiving") trickled down through the levels and entered the jargon and vernacular of the later-named Senior Posse, e.g. Crappy Birthday, Crappy New Year, etc. I don't remember when we started saying this or how or why Aidan's mom initially started saying "Crappy Thanksgiving," but every time we get to this part of the year, I smile and wish the Posse a very Crappy day.

Thanksgiving was quite different this year from previous years. Throughout college I went to my high school football game in the morning to cheer on the band and then had the traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings at my house or one of two other houses. During the year that I took off between Junior and Senior years, my boss came to my house for the day, so the sum total of our company was me, my mom, my grandmother, and my boss, Jo, who was a seventy-six-year-old man with a glass eye, a great loss of hearing, and a love of the drink. When I picked him up at the commuter rail station in Plymouth (quite apropos (did I spell that correctly?) considering it was Thanksgiving), he carried champagne, sherry, some other kind of hard alcohol that I've long forgotten, and beautiful roses for my mother. When he asked if he could bring anything for Thanksgiving, my mother told him that she didn't drink so that he could bring wine that he liked if he would like to have some. Apparently, this one bottle of wine that my mom was expecting was not enough, and she and I were forced to drink glass upon glass of sherry and champagne. I dumped my sherry down the drain in the kitchen when I headed out there to help cut vegetables because--even though I felt bad wasting this expensive treat--I didn't like the way it tasted and have been known to become quite drunk off a half-glass of wine. One time when I had brought a can of SlimFast to work for lunch, Jo said, "Oh, SlimFast. My doctor told me I needed to lose some weight, so I drink that. It tastes better with rum in it." Jo died before the next Thanksgiving, so this day and night at my house marked the last of that holiday for him. I don't want it to seem as if Jo's family left him alone, though. Because of a complicated family situation (the entire details of which I did not and still do not know), Jo spent the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with his non-estranged daughter, her fiance, and her three children at the Somerset Club enjoying a dinner whose bill came in at over a thousand dollars (which I know since I took care of his finances).

So, this year Thanksgiving was quite different for me from those of previous years. Rather than heading home to my New England town, my mother came down to Brooklyn. She hadn't seen my apartment yet, so this was a nice time for her to see where/how I live and to spend a few days together. Because I have been known to call home to say, "Mom, what does it mean if the recipe says to 'bake' something? Does it go in the oven?" (okay, so that's not a direct quote, but it should give you an idea of my baking skills--or lack thereof), we decided to go out to dinner instead of my cooking it. The initial plan was to go to the Macy's parade and then to dinner somewhere nearby--preferably someplace very touristy since the parade itself is so touristy. All close tourist traps (i.e. Tavern on the Green) were booked, so we wound up getting a reservation at The River Cafe in Brooklyn (http://www.rivercafe.com/) instead. The food was amazing and the view was breathtaking. I stared right at the Statue of Liberty and the empty space where the Twin Towers once were, while my mother had a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Dessert was the best part of the meal. I ordered a chocolate mousse (sp?) dish with a hazelnut ice cream side. This is what appeared in front of me: http://www.rivercafe.com/images/photogallery/image_14.jpg and http://www.rivercafe.com/images/photogallery/image_01.jpg. After dinner, we went to see The Incredibles, which I thought was absolutely adorable and really fun--if not a little long in its first act. So, while my Thanksgiving was very non-traditional, I really enjoyed it.

One event I missed by not going home for Thanksgiving was my five-year high school reunion. I can't believe I've been out of high school for five years

At the same time, I can.

Happy Birthday, Catherine!

Currently Listening to: "A Prairie Home Companion" archives on http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/

Currently Reading: Life of Pi by Yann Martel <-- Everything wonderful you've heard about this book is true (in my opinion)

Also Currently Listening to: Wonderful Town through audible.com; series of New Yorker stories