Thanksgiving

I’ll admit it. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  You wake up hungover from the night before, throw on the parade, and see Snoopy flying down 7^th Avenue.  What a mindblower!  How do they blow snoopy up?  Snoopy is big.  It gives me joy to see kids get excited when Snoopy comes flying by.  Honestly, I enjoy it.  It’s pretty cool.

Every year I go to aunt’s for Thanksgiving.  My aunt lives in Westchester which means every year my family makes the trek from Long Island.  Traffic!  Not to mention, my sister gets car sick and ends up puking in a plastic bag.  This isn’t exactly ideal when a huge turkey is waiting for you.

The same 3 families are at my aunt’s every year.  The same 3 families for 25 years.  So, the first thing I do is say hello and make myself a stiff drink.  Then I hit up the cheese plate, chips and mango salsa.  The mango salsa is where it’s at.  Then I sit down for about 15 minutes and talk to everyone.  I don’t want to be rude and run instantly downstairs to focus on football.  I can wait 15 minutes, but not a second longer.  Conversation goes well and I make myself another stiff drink.  Then I make another plate of cheese and mango salsa and head downstairs to watch the games.

Football on Thanksgiving is fabulous.  You stuff your face, you drink and root against the cowboys.  It’s pretty awesome.  My dad roots against the cowboys right along with me which is an annual bonding moment.

After the first football game is over, it’s time to eat.  And my aunt does it right.  Obviously turkey, cranberry sauce, her famous stuffing, some delicious spinach thing, and last but not least, the sweet potatoes.  I eat 3 plates of sweet potatoes.  Marshmallows on top.  It’s nothing short of epic and I look forward to it all year.  My mouth is watering as I write this with just the thought of those of sweet potatoes.  It’s an oral orgasm.

After dinner, I unbuckle my belt and try hard to deflate.  I pour myself another drink and try to drink my uncomfort away.  It never works.  I watch the second half of the second football game along with the rest of the males.  Instead of taking inventory of each others lives like we did earlier in the day, we now just talk football.  I’m sure Sanchez and Tebow will come up this year and I have a lot to say about it.  But I’ll save that for Thanksgiving.

Dessert!  Holy shit, what to eat first.  I just eat it all.  I try everything.  Apple pie. Chocolate cake.  Chocolate mousse.  Tiramisu.  I even stay healthy and try the fruit.  I make my choice on what to focus on.  It’s usually the chocolate mousse.  I don’t get the opportunity to have chocolate mousse regularly.  There’s nothing like good mousse.

After dessert, it’s time to go.  I say goodbye to everyone.  I thank my aunt for a great meal and get back in the car to sit in traffic and watch my sister puke.  It’s another year, another Thanksgiving in the books, and I look forward to doing it all again next year.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!