I Survived Thanksgiving With the Fam!

Thanksgiving turned out somewhat better than I was expecting.

First, I decided to visit the gravecsite of Bradley, an 18-year old young man who died of cancer this past September. He taught me so much about life and love in the very short time I knew him. So I wanted to stop by to say hello and thanks.

Next, I drove over two hours to get home to meet up with my dad and the family for Thanksgiving lunch. I got to Dad's house and there was already drama happening there. (Big shock to my system...not so much!) Seems my sister is still causing my dad great amounts of grief. What I discovered was that my sister had stolen my paternal grandfather's ring which belonged to my dad. My grandfather passed away in 2006. His ring was the only piece of jewelry I believed he owned. My grandfather lived rather simply. So this ring was something that meant quite a lot to my father. Sister rolled out of bed around 12:30 and never said a word to me. She strolled through the house into the bathroom for a shower. We finally left Dad's house around 12:45.

What makes this Thanksgiving different from all other ones before is that we decided to eat out this year instead of my poor Aunt Sue slaving over a stove and killing herself. She has not been in excellent health this year, so it was time to give her a break. Admittedly, I had mixed feelings about not going to Sue's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It is all I have ever known in my 33 years. I always loved getting there earlier than everyone else, helping Sue in the kitchen (which was our time to just talk about life), set the table, and get everything ready for the family to arrive. I didn't know what it would be like this year. Dinner was good. We went to a Thanksgiving buffet so much of it felt and tasted like the line we always formed at Sue's house. The conversation at the restaurant was a bit more tame that I am accustomed. Everyone was almost on their best behavior. (I love my family, but they can be vulgar at times. They don't always strive for those blessed table manners. It eats away at my OCD nature, but I kept my thoughts held back.)

All in all, dinner was better than I had expected. My only disappointment was that the family did not hang around as long as we normally did. At Sue's house, we would all take some time to go into the living room, turn on the ballgame, then sit around and talk for a few hours. This time we all said our goodbyes as we left the restaurant. The best thing to report is that there really was no family drama going on at dinner.

I definitely forgot to mention that my sister did not come to dinner with us. She went to Thanksgiving dinner with her paternal grandfather, he mother (my ex-stepmom), and family.

After dinner, dad and I went to look at a few cars at the local dealerships. I am gearing up to buy a new car in the next months, so I took him along to get his opinion. All I care to say is "Holy Cow! The car prices are getting out of control!"

Finally, I took dad to Knoxville to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I have been wanting to go to the theater in Knoxville because they have an IMAX screen there. I was shocked that my dad wanted to go see Harry Potter. My dad is much like my grandfather...they both have lived very simple lives. Dad is someone who would consider anything over $5 at dinner to be expensive. Imagine his shock when he figured out that the tickets to the IMAX theater was $17 a piece. It was more shell shock for him when we ordered a medium popcorn, medium coke, and a large bottle of water and the cost was another $17. That's right, it was $51 for just the two of us. After he caught his breath, he was shocked again by the size of the IMAX theater. Lot's of firsts for Dad today.

Harry Potter was awesome. I loved every minute of it. The movie was much different that all those in the past. There was no time at Hogwarts. We didn't get to see much of many characters we have come to know and love. The incredible surround sound in the IMAX theater made the movie. I cannot wait until the next comes out next SUMMER!

After the movie, Dad and I went back to our homes. I got home around 9:00 last night and settled in for the evening.

I did NOT get up this morning to hit the stores for Black Friday. I spent 7 years working in retail and remember all the Black Fridays that I had to work in those crowds. I have not been shopping on a Black Friday since those days.

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving!
Take care!