I think that one of my favorite Holidays is Thanksgiving. What a perfect opportunity to think about what you have versus being consumed with what you don’t. It’s a great time to thank those in your life for being there and for putting up with your shenanigans, no matter what you may have done to them, neglected them, etc. Everything gets temporarily put on hold and can be rectified with a simple text. I’ve spent a lot of time the past few weeks griping about what I don’t have, what’s happened and wondering what sort of karmic disaster I caused to be in “this situation.” This Thanksgiving has put a lot of things into perspective.
I’ve got an amazing family, a loving mother, two ridiculous brothers and extended family up the wazoo. My friends are several different kinds of awesome; I’m finishing up this (useless) Master’s program, I have a bright future to look forward too. What am I complaining about? I was just pardoned, so to speak, from something before it had the potential to explode and get worse (vague intentionally), so I ask…are we greedy? For my Thanksgiving section, I could totally talk about the absurd stories from last night…but I’ll summarize those and then tell a few stories about the friends I’m so thankful for. I’m sorry if this doesn’t cover everyone, but I’ll try to get some good “YIKES” highlights from as many as I can J
FROM LAST NIGHT:
My Uncle is the King of Gross, full of yikes-tastic moments such as slurping spilled Jello off the kitchen countertop when it tilted over prior to being chilled, or eating old McDonald French fries out of the car, that had been sitting on the car mats for several…days. This Holiday he outdid himself by taking one of the shrimp cocktail and dipping it into the cake batter that was getting ready to be turned into cupcakes. Yikes Uncle…big time yikes. Once again, you will hold your title as King of Gross!
I’ve got two younger cousins, one being seventeen and one being twenty four. You’d never know she was twenty four, as she has the ability to act like a seven year old. “D” has the ability to transform from an uppity New Yorker into a bratty, whiny, seven year old (my brother affectionately refers to her as ‘Bitch Bot,’ as her Transformer name). We’re in the kitchen making those aforementioned cupcakes when my cousin decides to spray Pam on my brother’s face, turning him into a glistening, greasy mess. She is laughing, assuming there will be no retaliation. My brother comes from behind her, spraying a good deal of it in her hair and then running towards the bathroom. Now, he’s made only one thing clear…if you’re going to spray me, do not spray my Romanian soccer jersey (as he could only get it over there and spent quite a deal of money on it, since it’s the one our grandfather played for!). “D” decided to one up herself, dipping into the cake batter and running after him and (you guessed it!) getting it on the back of his neck and back of the jersey. My brother began to protest “WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?!” as “D” ran away smirking. “Relax T, it will wash out. GOD.” He was waiting, calculating the exact moment to get her in a vulnerable state. That’s right, don’t do anything for a few minutes and THEN come with it! All of a sudden, while talking to “D,” I see a hand come around and here comes “T!” He had cake batter on his finger and gave her the nastiest wet Willy I’ve ever seen…ever. Cake batter spilled from her ear and into her hair and she whined, “TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT…uuuugggh it’s in my hair! I just washed it!” Without missing a beat, my brother turned right around and said… “Relax “D,” It’ll wash out….GOOOOOOD.” Priceless.
In regards to my friends…
I’m thankful for my lifelong friends, who have stuck through the good times and bad, with too many to actually name here. I’m thankful for the friends I made in middle and high school and am lucky that so many of them still play such a large role in my life. I’d have to say from that group, one of the best stories of all time was the Hershey Park band trip, where we almost got struck by lightning after not listening to our group leader (typical) and getting stuck in a humongous downpour. When we got back to the hotel, we made the biggest to do out of it, screaming “WE ALMOST DIED!” Let me tell you how many people thought we were legit. I remember a house party, with a crazy girl screaming outside “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!? WHYYYYYYYY,” because a friend of mine had denied ever dating her. I also remember imitating that same friend in the choir room with several others and having him angry at me forever. I remember dances, coming home after, talking about our “boyfriends,” or who we really wanted to go with. All the notes, the cards, the weird high school drama that went into our ridiculous teenage angst years! College was amazing, and I’m so thankful for those friends I’ve been able to remain close with. I’ll forever be thankful for those nights, whether it be sitting on grates outside of our dorm chatting until the morning, having hurricane parties, watching Will Ferrell movies until our eyes bleed, being saved from disgusting frat houses at all hours of the morning, driving me around in a green cavalier crying to some Yellowcard song, B-A-N-A-N-A-S, “ARE JOU OKAY?,” having people to come home to that I absolutely adored, who took me in as their own (they were already good friends) ba-ra-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pum. For my twenty fifth birthday, five people came together to make my day extraordinary, showing me that at a point in time when I felt extremely alone, I was so far from it.
My point is, we’re lucky…truly all very lucky. Yesterday showed me that no matter how down we can feel, or how rough things can seem…life is quite good. We have friends and family, a roof over our head, an education, and a budding life. For some reason it seems cheesy, but it is really so true. So, today, I just wanted to thank my friends and family for rolling with me through this journey and of course, to my readers for taking time out of your day to listen to my nonsense! I’m lucky to have each and every one of you! 
