Thanksgiving Sure Isn’t What It Used To Be...AND a Giveaway!

Things began in good spirits when the wife and I eagerly attended our daughter’s 1st ever kindergarten school play a few days ago. We’ve been hearing about the event for weeks in bits and pieces but never in its entirety.
The theme was supposed to be all around Thanksgiving, at least that's what I thought…

It was a very artsy new-age performance of “autumn” and my daughter played a brown leaf; and for about 15-minutes she did a whole lot of interruptive dance with her class while they all recited strange lines such as "are you ready?", “flow with me”, “let’s fly birds, FLY”, and “hear the leaves crunch.” The finale couldn’t have come soon enough when all of the kids began moving in slow motion, in unison, while a woman played an Enya-eque inspired tune on a mini Casio keyboard just off stage. The kids then burst loudly into song of “Shoo Fly, Don’t bother me” and then fell on the floor just before the lights went out.

I started having flashbacks of my Art School college years.

Suddenly all of the parents stood up and applauded, some in tears. Some women in the front began hugging each other. I got up slowly clapping looking at the wife wondering if she saw the same performance as me.

What a far cry from my own elementary school days where all we did was dress up as pilgrims and indians for the day, made turkey hand’s, and maybe created some candles from egg cartons… just like the real pilgrims did.

I started wondering if this private school she’s going to was a bit too crazy. Does this school purposely shy away from anything remotely traditional? What do they have against Turkeys and Pilgrims? What if they’re trying to make her a vegetarian?
No kid of mine will ever be a vegetarian!!!

But then she came home with this today:
A sweet Thankful Turkey craft with feathers of all of the things she’s thankful for. It says things like “Family”, “Brother”, “Mommy Daddy”, and there’s a green one at the back of the post-it speech bubble that says:

“KFC”

A Season of Giveaways!!
For some time now I’ve been getting a whole lot of requests to do giveaways. Usually I shy away from them but thought why not try it out, introduce some interesting things, and give some ideas for Christmas gifts. Be on the look out for these the next few weeks...

This week’s giveaway is THE ROBOT BOOK from Accord Publishing. A cute and clever board book that actually has moving gears, cogs, nuts, and bolts and is appropriate for maybe ages 2 and up. Comment below with your email address or directly to me at the address above (U.S. residents only for this one) before 6PM Pacific November 26th – I’ll randomly choose 2 winners. Good luck!

Just Throw Away That Leftover Turkey Already! And How I Met The Wife

I’m definitely not eating turkey for a while after eating leftovers for the last three days (I’m not sure, but is that even safe?)

Thanksgiving was enjoyable and pretty relaxed this year (no Ohio Football!) We had two Thanksgiving dinners - one with good friends (their house for lunch) and one later with my Grandfather and his lady-friend (can’t say girlfriend since she’s not even close to being a girl.) She is a very nice lady though.
We let her say a little Thanksgiving prayer since her son is a pastor up in Oregon (I’m not sure what religion it is, but while praying she spoke in a deep echoing voice…. in Latin, I think...)
Both meals were superb and my daughter was thrilled at the idea of the holiday. She was especially excited to have helped my wife make grandma's famous cranberry relish. She kept telling everybody during dinner “mommy helped me cook ” and then she would ask me for money.

Apparently we were in the minority this weekend as we managed to stay away from any malls or “Black Friday” shopping riots. The wife was tempted, but refrained.
Most of our Christmas shopping is going to be gift cards...or KFC chicken checks!
(Great, now I've made myself hungry...)

Overall it was a good weekend of sleeping, spending time with my family, and watching movies. Oh, I did get to play this game for about 24 hours straight, and Rock Band (which is freakin’ HARD - even on easy mode - that should be illegal!!!) I sure won’t be buying that game. I foresee lots of disappointed kids (and Dads) playing that on Christmas morning.

10 Years Ago...
A special thing about this weekend that I should mention – it was 10 years ago that I walked into a little shop in Paris, France and saw this stunning girl working behind the counter with a smile and laugh that lit up the room. I stood there like an idiot trying to figure out what jumbled up words in French I was going to use to talk with her. Until she started speaking English -- like a regular person!
My opening line (excitedly) “You speak normal!”
I guess it worked – because 1 ½ years later we were married, and then we had a beautiful little girl (with a smile and laugh that lights up the room…)

I’m Thankful I’m Not In Ohio

Yes, it’s almost Thanksgiving and for me there’s a lot to be thankful for: my wife, daughter, family, friends, health, job, iPhone. But the thing I’m most thankful for is not having to spend Thankgiving with the in-laws, in Ohio, this year because the wife has MBA finals coming up.

Thank you Jesus! (Oprah, Ron L, Mel B, or whatever you believe in…)

“What’s wrong with Ohio? That’s where Wendy’s was created!!” you might ask?

Well friend, let me school you: I’m not a sports guy. Never have been, unless you count watching Baywatch or Golden Girls a sport. Unfortunately my in-laws don’t since my first introduction to them way back in ’98 when I was told to join “the men” in the TV room:

Future In-Law #1: (quick glance at me, then eyes on TV) Who’s your team?

Me: My ‘team’? (pause) That would definitely have to be the “A” Team… (big smile, ‘thumbs up’)

(TV mysteriously silenced, all eyes on me like I’m Richard Simmons holding a raw hotdog and gripping a sparkler from my butt cheeks)

(TV resumes life, all eyes on TV)

Future In-Law #2: You a “Buck”, ”Eyes” fan?

Me: Buck-eyes? What’s that?

(*gasps* even from the young children in the room -- Really, really uncomfortable LONG silence….)

Future In-Law #1 to #2: (loud whisper to the dude next to him) What’s wrong with this guy?

Every year the men watch football for around 182 hours straight. They don’t even break for the bathroom (I think they pee in their beer cans and then throw them out the window…) and the women are banished to the kitchen or the local Wal-Mart.
So I usually hang out with the kids playing video games, drawing, or having them ask their parents for money and then teaching them how to play poker.
I guess the downside is that I won’t have any extra spending cash this year.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! And remember Canadians have one too (who knew??)

Thanksgiving Is Over, "Black Friday" And Lionel Richie

Now I know why they call it “Black Friday”, because when you wake up early and find 200 other people who were waiting earlier than you, and the store doesn’t even have what you’re all looking for –you feel like a complete idiot.
So this morning I searched for a Nintendo Wii and they didn’t have it anywhere. My entire life, I’ve never jumped onto this mad rush bandwagon and after today’s experience, I’m never doing this again. I’m waiting until after-Christmas and just putting an I.O.U. (to myself) under the tree. But all was not lost - I did find a great deal on a VHS to DVD recorder for $99 (which is a steal!) We have what seems like millions of movies on video tapes and nearly every Disney Animated movie on VHS and there’s no way I’m paying $18-25 each to replace them with DVD’s.

How was your Thanksgiving? Good I hope. Mine – well, we drove out to my uncles’ house in far out Riverside and it took over 2 hours to get there. The food was excellent, it was really nice to see some of the family, and my daughter loved exploring my uncles’ house with her cousins. Although, we’re hoping to have dinner somewhere else next year, because Riverside isn’t close...and it’s a scary place. We saw some rowdy kids throwing bottles at cars near the freeway off-ramp. I guess that’s how they say “Happy Thanksgiving” in Riverside.

Tonight I’m taking the wife to dinner and to see the Lionel Richie concert for her birthday. I hope he sings “All Night Long” because for some reason, that song is stuck in my head. I’m just walking around yelling, “Damn you Lionel Richie, get outta my head!!”

What? It’s Nearly Thanksgiving? And It’s 2006?

Wasn’t it just Thanksgiving, like… a few months ago? I just can’t believe it’s that time of year again. My wife has just reminded me how we’re leaving for Florida in exactly a month for Christmas. Where does the time go?

With Thanksgiving coming up I thought I would make a little list of things I’m thankful for this year. My family use to do this before my grandmother passed away 6 years ago - she would make everybody say at least 6 things they were thankful for (if you happened to be in the house when she initiated it.) We would all cringe at this crazy tradition, sometimes being a little too obnoxious with our answers. When her turn came around she would always name her 6 kids (my 5 uncles and my mom) for giving her a huge family and then make some funny joke.
My family no longer gets together every Thanksgiving, every uncle does their own thing with their kids and grandkids; it’s just not possible to have one large dinner anymore. Now that I have a little family I miss those large family get-together days. This year, we’re spending it with my uncle’s (#5) family and my brother’s family.

Thankful for:

The Wife- It was nine years ago this week that I met her in Paris (yes, France) and after 7 years of marriage, it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

My Daughter- I never imagined how amazing being a parent could possibly be. I find myself just staring at her, entranced by her curiosity, growth, and the person who she will eventually become. It’s both exciting and a little intimidating.

Friends – Somewhere along the way, I got lucky. (Even the dude who likes facials and pedicures.)

Extended Family – My side of the family has grown by leaps and bounds, and as I get older I’m thankful that they’re not too far away (but far away enough). My wife’s side of the family is everywhere - which makes for great places to visit.

Job/Immediate Co-Workers – Some days I still can’t believe I get paid for what I do (But I never let my boss and his boss know that.) I also have the privilege of working with some of the most talented artists in the world. Even though I was somehow chosen to lead them, most of the time I feel as if they're leading me.

Colonel Sanders Secret Recipe – Because that chicken is what dreams are made of (I couldn’t end this without a KFC reference, people would start thinking I was loosing my mind, or worse getting “all emotional”.)

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!


Some interesting links I’d like to share from other bloggers:
MetroDad writes a very good “serious note” about the anger in people these days and tells people to chill.
Mr.BigDubya gets a new family addition
Ruth Dynamite gives some advice about getting distracted and eating anything bigger than your head.
Redneck Mommy (T) on marriage.
Mrs. Chicky is thankful for Leonardo (not Da Vinci.)