Due to not being invited to anyone's house, we decided to have our own Thanksgiving. I was stubborn for quite awhile in claiming that I would NOT make it. The plan was just to go out to eat. However, I could see from Jeremy's sad pleading eyes that really he wanted the full blown meal. Just kidding. His eyes weren't that sad. But I could tell that secretly he wanted me to remove the neck, liver, lungs and heart from a dead plucked bird and place it in the oven for hours on end, and possibly even make some other food to eat as we devoured the poor creature. When I succumbed to his silent yearnings, he brainstormed the other food items he desired to consume. Off we went to the store, followed by Jeremy's promises to help me cook the meal. I didn't believe he really would--but he did and did a wonderful job on roasting our bird friend!
We entered Smiths with the plan to only buy a tiny bird. We found a lovely boneless turkey roast for $12...but sitting right next to it was a 14-pound turkey for $6. With the full realization that turkey sandwich leftovers are the best part, we picked the latter.
My mom sent me cookies.
It was fun. We really enjoyed running alone the shoreline trail in the morning (translation: I was really happy I managed to get Jeremy to run on yet another holiday with me). We didn't put the turkey in until 1:00--at which point my family in Moscow was already eating. But it worked out for us. Candlelit with a centerpiece and all. I am very glad we finally had a holiday by ourselves that we actually did something for. Sooner or later we're going to have to officially think of ourselves as a "real" family, and this was a good place to start. Another couple joined us for pie later on.
The next day I got to ride in the buggy for the first time! I was impressed that it didn't officially break this time. I picked the right day to come :) I got to go on a lovely mountain bike ride on the trails as well, beat the heck out of a tree rather than a puppy, and even drove the buggy myself. I was super proud of myself for not stalling it because I CAN'T DRIVE A STICK!!! I got to play with a puppy. I like dogs. A lot. Although this dog was frankly the most boring puppy I had ever met in my life, and I will not be buying a dachshund. Even though I called our apartment owners to try to talk them into letting me have a puppy last week. And even though I asked Jeremy if we could move over Christmas into an apartment that WOULD let us have one...going so far as to look at specific apartments. It would have to be a good dog to be worth it, not a tiny boring wimpy dog. Either way, Jere said no and so did the owners.
So that was a fun learning experience. I had another fun learning experience last night when I learned that I should not donate blood at work. Or maybe ever...but that's okay. It was good to try it once. It's actually a rather cool process. I should have picked a blood drive with a t-shirt though, just for proof in case I never give it another chance. I also learned that I will NOT be going to grad school next year. Bummer. I'll figure something else out. Maybe I'll work. What an idea!
