A very different Thanksgiving

For the first time in my 30 plus years of life, I didn't spend Thanksgiving with family. I took a seasonal job at a store in the Coral Ridge Mall to make a little extra money and had to work the day after Thanksgiving. We'd planned many moons ago to go to Minnesota to visit Sharon's relatives for turkey day and it would have been too much of a hassle to get back to Iowa in time for work the next day. So I stayed home. I was kind of looking forward to spending some time by myself which happens rarely. A friend invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him and his family, but I was kind of set on spending it alone and besides I knew I didn't want to drive to Cedar Rapids. It was a darn nice offer, though. So I was playing poker Wednesday night (and losing, sigh) when it came up that I was going to be alone for Thanksgiving. greenman kindly invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him. He'd won a turkey and was going to be using this rotisserie thing-a-ma-bob to cook it. I waffled, but in the end I said yes. And that morning I got another invite to Thanksgiving from fellow poker player Tanman who probably had to clear it with the wife before inviting me. I'd have said yes to him if I hadn't already said yes to greenman. It was nice to see that the Thanksgiving spirit is alive and well out there in the world.

I was definitely glad I took greenman up on his offer. The food was excellent. You know how sometimes turkey can be really dry? Not this turkey. Mmmm. The slices practically melted off the bird. There was also this spinach salad with raisins that was amazingly good. And I can't stand spinach. So we ate, we played some poker (of course), and we watched the latest episode of Lost, which I had completely forgotten about the night before.

It was good to spend the day with friends rather than alone. So thanks, greenman!

Sharon and the girls got back on Saturday, which was good because I was really missing them by then. And I used the time to myself to get some yard work done, hang up the christmas lights, set up the Christmas tree, and clean some of the house. A productive weekend overall.