Thanksgiving

We went to Jason's cousin's house on Thursday. His cousin is Greek and his wife is from Lebanon. They have two boys. The wife made her first ever turkey, and it was very good. At first they decided it was underdone, so we had to make awkward conversation for another hour or so. Jason's sister was nice but didn't say a lot to me and his mom barely said two words to me. She did say it was nice to see me at the beginning, as did his dad. And she said goodbye to me with her back turned as she was doing the dishes. I suppose I should be greatful she wasn't openly hostle. They invited two of his cousin's collegues from China who were nice and one lady from their church who was a little intense but nice. The conversation was very... polite. I just kept clinging to the fact that the next day we would be with my family.
I spent the night at Jason's... that was definitely the highlight of that experience!
Friday we were with my family. What can I say... I love them to pieces. Ima had everything pretty well set, but Jason and I helped make the mashed potatoes and he helped Ima carve the turkey. We have the usual spread, turkey, mashed potatoes, green been casserole.... and an amaretto applesauce that is tradtion in our family that is to die for. We invited dad's friends Jim and Brian, mom's friend Linda, and my sister's friend Carrie. The conversation was very lively and enjoyable. We ate and ate and then everyone pitched in to clean up so Ima didn't have to lift a finger. We had pie and coffee and everyone had a lovely time. We got a couple of plates to take home. Jason and I stayed up til around midnight with me telling him stories from my childhood. I tended to leap first and think about the consequences later... I think he was amused. He saw the deck we used to jump off into the snow when we were growing up. It was fun. We set a date to celebrate Hanukkah as a family. Each person makes a wish list of small items, and a couple of big items. We draw names and that person has to get the person their big gift. Oh, and you can't get your SO. I'm excited. Jon and Kate decided not to do the big gifts since they just got married. But they will be there to celebrate and trade small gifts. I love this time of year.