Further Proof to Suggest I Must Have Been Adopted

Before I officially begin this post, let me just say that I truly love my family. They have always been there for me and me for them. We have always been a close-knit group. This post is meant as something comical and off-the-wall...well, at least a bit of it!

Today, being Thanksgiving, has been a very busy day. 

I got up this morning and drove to my aunt's home for our family's Thanksgiving dinner. This has been our tradition for as long as I can remember. It ended up being my aunt and uncle, my dad, me, my brother, and my other uncle. This is probably the smallest group that has ever met for Thanksgiving in our family. We have, easily, had three times as many people there before.

My cousin, Paul, is serving in Iraq and his family is stationed in Texas. My other cousin and her kids spent Thanksgiving dinner with their grandmother. So, we were definitely a small group. 

I always love getting to sit down to a dinner with the family. It is an occurrence that is so rare that it makes each dinner together that much more special. 

Once the dinner was finished being prepared, we sat down at the table to say our traditional blessing.  (Let me apologize now if anyone gets offended.) This blessing is one that my grandmother would say at the beginning of every family meal. Since my grandmother's death almost 5 years ago, we say it in honor and rememberance of her.

"Bless the meat, bless the skin, open the mouth and cram 'er in."

Remember, I come from a very deep-south family. This blessing is rather appropriate and representative of my family.

As we began eating, I soon realized that every time we sit down to dinner I discover further proof that I must have been adopted.

For starters, I am nothing like anyone else in my family. I am not a redneck (yes, we have self-proclaimed rednecks in my family). I am not a car mechanic. I know the difference between "far" and "fire" or "tar" and "tire." I graduated high school. Oh, should I go on...

I realize quickly that I am the "black sheep" of my family. Someone recently referred to me as the "white sheep" of the family. I don't see much difference. Anyway, I often relish in the fact that I am different from them. I love them, but I can only take my family in little spurts.

What really took the cake today was the table discussion of passing gas (in its many forms). The discussion continued with recalling how other members of our family relish in their ability to pass gas in whatever form. Then there was a discussion of the lethalness of the gas passed through the years. It was enough to make me stop eating. I actually got so sick that I could not eat the remainder of my dinner. Although, I did recover in time for a bit of dessert.

During the table discussion, I just sat back thinking "I have to have been adopted." I could not see how I was a biological member of this family because I have nothing in common with them nor did I enjoy the table discussion.

In the past, I had a number of times when I dreamt of my life as a part of another family. I would swear to anyone that I was absolutely adopted. I imagined what my parents looked like, what the did for a living, the possibility of other siblings, etc.

Okay, I know I am not adopted. I look a lot like my mother and my father. It is clear! I just sometimes wish I was, so I would have an excuse as to why I am so different.

In other news, I went to the movies after leaving my aunt's house. I ended up seeing New Moon at the new 18-screen theater. I loved  the theater and I loved the movie. It was definitely better than the first one. Although, I don't care for cliffhangers when it is in a movie. It takes too long to wait for the movie to pick back up where the previous left off.

Finally got home after the movie. Started putting up my Christmas trees. (Yes, plural. I have 3 - 5 to put up. I will only put up 3 this year, I think!) I didn't make it past the first tree. It is a 7 1/2 pre-lit tree. For some reason, two of the strands of lights is not working. I am having to go branch by branch to see what is not plugged in or what else could be wrong. It is my newest tree too. It frustrated me to the point that I just stopped and laid down on the couch.

I have NO plans to hit the stores tomorrow morning for Black Friday. I will be doing my shopping from the comfort of my home. That's right...I am shopping online. There are some really terrific deals on the net. Why go through the hassle of running through the store and getting pushed around when I can get the same (or better) deals online? If I do it just right, I might get all of my Christmas shopping done tomorrow.

Finally, I wanted to just say thanks again to everyone I have met during this past year. Your friendships mean more than I could ever say. I hope to continue paying it forward.

Take care all!

- JC