Giving Thanks

This morning I woke up (after a quite disturbing dream starring me as the semite Native American that I am) and started working. I cleaned the kitchen first, then started making pies. I constructed a pumpkin streudel pie and a homestyle apple pie. Part way through, I ran out of flour, so Hannah and I walked to the Wawa and picked someup. Back at the ranch, I finished my pies, showered, dressed, and we left for her cooperating teacher's house.

Monica's family is wonderful. Her and her husband Jim have three grown children, Chris, Tony and Katie, who were all present. Chris also brought her boyfriend Garrett. I think this was close to being the best Thanksgiving I've ever had. It was very television-family like. The family was warm and inviting with a host of great stories to share with us. We sat around before dinner drinking and talking. We shared what we were thankful for before eating at the table set with the good china and two candelabras. After dinner we all helped clean up and then we sat around digesting while the pies were cooling. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the pies because I haven't cooked for other people in a while and I've never made that pumpkin streudel pie before. But when we started eating the pies, everyone raved about them. They really were good! Garrett kept telling me that his birthday is this Saturday and that I should bring him another apple pie. I think he ate three pieces. Apparently, he doesn't usually like dessert. After dessert we played a game and then we watched TV for a little while and then Hannah and I left. We figured that since we were tired and that we'd been at their house for eight hours, it was time. We had had such a great time with them, though, that it didn't seem like eight hours at all. It also didn't seem like I was hanging out with strangers, let alone someone else's family. Also, I tried my first bite of tofurkey and it was pretty good!

And, in the spirit of the day, I will give a synopsis of what I am thankful for in my life currently. First of all, I am thankful for a family in Williamsburg who hosted me so incredibly well on my first Thanksgiving away from my family. I am thankful for my own family who has stood by me, not only because they've been there my entire life, but because of the support they have given me in the last year. This last year my life has encountered myriad changes. I've gone from an utterly confirmed single to an engaged woman. I've decided to move across the country and then to change my mind and decide to move back. Through all this, my family has welcomed all this and offered a helping hand. I am thankful for my friends, both new and old, who have aided in the construction of the person I am today. They have all seen me through some sort of identity crisis or two. And finally, I am thankful for the person I have selected as my partner in life, a man who puts up with all my semi-neurotic behavior with minimal complaints and deserves all the love I can muster like no one else I've ever met.