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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Saintsgiving


In the years after college, when I was working in a residential treatment center, I sometimes had to work 7am to 11pm on Thanksgiving. Seeing all of those kids who didn't get to go home to be with their families and taking them out to a nice dinner or movie really made missing time with my family worth it. Ben still got to go up to New Hampshire and spend time with his family and I spent time with my co-workers and those kids who really needed some positive attention. The past two years I got to go with him to Thanksgiving in New Hampshire!
This year, we're spending Thanksgiving in our new home in New Orleans. So it's more than just not being with family. It's being out of our home in a place where it's more than forty degrees warmer and there are palm trees. Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was great, except that it looked so wintery that I didn't feel like we were in the same country as NYC (where my cousins live).
We started it off by sleeping in. We made biscuits and eggs for breakfast and had a long slow morning. Then we got on Skype and got to see and chat with my mom's side of the family. My mom, sister, and brother went over to my aunt's and we got to see my cousin and grandma too! Skype is so fun like that. Talking to my little brother on the phone let me know that he is sounding so much older, but I didn't know that he's taller than my sister until I saw him on Skype. And, with my aunt going through her third round of chemo it was special being able to see her all the way from down south. It made me miss my grandpa, who used to cook the best foods but who passed away a few years ago.
Then we Skyped Ben's mom's side of the family. They all spend the day at his aunt and uncle's house and his aunt said that with the computer at the table it sounded like we were right there with them. Talking with both of our siblings was nice as they're the most important people to us but we almost never talk to them. Sigh. Seeing everyone was so great, but it really made missing Thanksgiving with family so much stronger. So, after a good long hysterical cry we realized that we needed to make our own Thanksgiving here. Ben had planned on making tacos for dinner. That just wouldn't do.
After a quick stop at Breaux Mart, where I fell off my bike (first time ever!) and bought Excedrin, we biked to find our meal. We rode over to Whole Foods and took advantage of their pre-made foods. Yes, it was expensive. But, it was so simple.
Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of:

Mashed potatoes, green beans almandine, sweet potatoes with cinnamon, southern cornbread, stuffing, mushroom gravy, and on Ben's plate there was turkey. So much good food. The only thing we made ourselves was the stuffing. Oh, and to drink we bought champagne and orange juice and made mimosas! 
us "sleeping" off our food coma
Having our own Thanksgiving was really special. I'm so glad we didn't just make tacos. And after we were all stuffed we watched the Saints. The last quarter of the game was so crazy I think I yelled out at every play. The ball was dropped, the Saints fell behind, there were long runs and tackles and then...we won! 
Our feet up watching the game (i had just taken my nailpolish off-eww)
Things for Christmas, New Year's, and Ben's birthday are still up in the air. Right now, it seems I have to work. Flights for the two of us to get to Connecticut and then to Florida (for my grandparent's 50th Anniversary!) are astronomical. If we did do that we would still miss out on seeing his dad and that whole side of the family and would only see my dad and his mom if we travelled. Sheesh, things are getting complicated living down here. Maybe, one day, everyone we love will come visit our new city. For now, we're loving certain aspects of our New Orleans life and making our home here. I must say, our Thanksgiving was not too bad at all :) 
I hope everyone had a great holiday and was thankful for something important to them.
(PS- Sorry for any misspellings or confusing sentences. I'm typing while watching my favorite Christmas movie- ELF!)

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