Thanksgiving: The Play by Play

So Thanksgiving starts with Topher calling me at 8 am, thinking that he was calling me at 10 am.  If there is anyone I was willing to answer the phone for in my sleep, it's him.  And even though he just said "Go back to sleep, I'll call you later", I knew it was a sign that it was going to be a good day.  

I woke up, switched on the heat (because my controlling, email-sending roommate was out of town), put the parade on the TV, and started making French Toast.  I was doing everything in my power to make my Thanksgiving resemble the one they'd be having back home.  Except for the fact that I was making French Toast instead of pie and the fireplace was fireless, I think I did a pretty good job. 

Around 1:00, I left my apartment to drive North to meet my cast-mate and stage manager for a movie before dinner.  It was one of those rare sunny days in my neighborhood and it just. Didn't. Make. Sense.  It was sunny and bright and probably around 65 degrees.  Thanksgiving is a COLD holiday with fires and booze and sweaters and warm food.  Luckily, as I got over the bridge it became appropriately overcast and nippy.

We watched The Muppets (which was cute and self-aware and definitely made me tear up at the end).  My cast-mate kept trying to sing along with the songs and was doing so much PDA that she was practically sharing a chair with her fiancé, but they were nice enough to invite me along so I just let it be.

After the movie, we drove to his dad's house and it was very clear I was crashing a family Thanksgiving.  I had suspected as much and had prepared for the worst.  A Clif Bar in my purse, wine in my hand, and cell-phone in my back pocket, I continued steeling myself for the probability that I would be reliving one of my dreaded childhood Thanksgivings: a mass of strange adults that expected me to talk to them and eat their food.  Which it basically was.  Luckily, in college I picked up enough social skills to navigate this situation with a little bit more finesse, and a lot less stress, than when I was 14.  In fact, it was kind of nice.  Though I'll admit I still didn't talk much and definitely pissed off the hostess by not telling her I was a vegetarian (but seriously there was already too much food, we didn't need her to go out of her way to make some tomato-smothered vegetarian entree that I wouldn't have wanted anyway).

When dinner was over I went home, watched Elf (yep, Christmas season can start now), talked to Toph while he was Black Friday shopping (briefly fearing for his life; I mean, what if he was trampled by a shopping riot?), and stayed up late swapping Thanksgiving stories with Cute Luke over the phone.

Which brings us to today: listening to Christmas Pandora and wishing there was left-over pie.