today.

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Thanksgiving 2020

As far as we know, Thanksgiving 2020 went well.

Nick and I (and our orange tabby kitten, Ollie) went down on Wednesday and picked up pizza for lunch. I am one of those disgusting people who likes anchovies on pizza, but I get them on the side. Salty and delicious! We ate at Amber's house, where Nick and Ollie would be staying. I told Nick before we came down that I desperately needed some space and that I wanted him to stay with Ollie at Amber's while I stayed at my mom's (less than 10 mins away). He agreed but asked every single night if I would stay with him. Uh, no! I truly enjoyed having a bed to myself and not being woken up by 1) his farts and 2) his alarm. Men are gross and annoying! lol

This year, we got a smoked turkey and various sides (dressing, creamed corn, green beans, rice & gravy, and macaroni) from a local BBQ place to make Thanksgiving Day a little easier on us in terms of cooking. We also made several sides ourselves (asparagus casserole, pineapple casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, pea salad, ham, crockpot macaroni, and deviled eggs).

On the morning of Thanksgiving, Amber and I had to drive to the BBQ place to pick up our turkey. I say it's local, but it was about 45 minutes away from where we were, so almost a 2 hour round trip. We actually were running a little late and almost didn't make it in time to get the turkey (they had a cut off time for pickups). Luckily, we pulled up and they tossed the turkey in the backseat. It was definitely a smaller turkey than we thought and the smoked flavor was definitely intense but good. It was a little dry for my liking but overall not terrible. I'm not sure we will get them again next year, but it was definitely worth a try.

Our gathering was small, with the 7 people I mentioned before. Unexpectedly, my mom's best friend, Cindy, stopped by. She literally has not come around us since this whole pandemic started, so we were surprised when she showed up. Being 71 and with major health problems, I could understand why she wanted to keep her distance from us. However, she has visited her 2 daughters (who both work in the medical field) and grandkids several times, so it's not like she hasn't been around anyone. She sat far away from us and wore an N-95 mask when not eating. It was very nice to see her and it almost felt like old times. She had also brought birthday gifts for Angel and I (the November birthdays) since she missed our parties. She got us both these very pretty blue topaz necklaces. Too bad I have a fat neck and most necklaces don't fit me because the chains aren't long enough to go around my big thick neck and my buffalo hump on my back. Well, the necklace "fit", but it was basically like a choker. Meanwhile, Angel's hung in the correct place, in the middle of her chest. Sigh. This is the second necklace I've been given that I haven't been able to wear. My mom got me a beautiful diamond one last year for Christmas and I still haven't worn it. I need to get a necklace extender. That's pretty bad when you're too fat for NECKLACES.

On Friday, my mom trusted me enough to cut her hair. Her hair had gotten so long during the pandemic that she was desperate. Whitney Thore from the TLC show My Big Fat Fabulous Life cut her hair in an Instagram video a little while back, so I used her technique. I had my mom part her hair where she normally does and then put a pigtail on each side. We then put another hair tie where she wanted it cut and I just snipped below that. We cut off about 4 inches and it turned out pretty good, although it's slightly uneven in spots. But who will notice? We went over to Amber's after the haircut and didn't tell them what we had done, to see if anyone noticed. No one noticed her hair was 4 inches shorter! If they don't notice 4 inches missing, I doubt they'll notice if her hair is slightly uneven in spots.

On Saturday, Nick and I did meet up with some of his family (his mom, brother C, and sister K) for a safe lunch outside at a restaurant. We had a nice time visiting with them and catching up. His mom, who works at a university, revealed some work drama she's currently having with a colleague, so that is currently stressing her out, so much so that she's considering other jobs. She's been teaching for so long now that she's really looking for more of an administrative level job. C, who is 18, is now taking virtual classes and living back at home after getting Covid-19 when he moved into his dorm at the beginning of the semester. K is 16 and is in virtual 10th grade. She's currently missing her best friend, who is on a trip to Mexico with her parents, who are originally from there. They are in "withdrawal" from each other lol.

After lunch with Nick's family, we went back to Amber's house for turkey soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Amber made the turkey soup by putting the smoked turkey carcass in her crockpot with a whole bunch of stuff. She simmered it for a long time then strained out all the bones and added rice and stuff. It was AMAZING! There was actually enough leftover that I brought some home, so I'll be eating it again tonight. Yum yum!

Also the night of the soup, I drank 2 small bottles of wine (one Rose, one prosecco) while we watched the movie 7500 (Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a pilot of a plane that gets hijacked). I probably shouldn't have driven me and my mom home afterward...I got nervous on the way home because I saw blue flashing cop lights ahead and had a moment of fear that there was a checkpoint, but it was just someone pulled over. Still...I should not ever put myself in that position, especially after what happened in January 2019 (The Incident). My mom should have driven. I wasn't even planning to drink at all during the holiday because my mom always seems judgemental about it (even before The Incident) and Amber has stopped drinking now for several months in an effort to get healthy and also because she often drank too much (like me). Amber's husband, my mom, and Angel don't drink. So, the only person even drinking at all was Nick. He only drinks craft beer and does not get drunk or anything. My behavior and stuff didn't change, but I definitely shouldn't have driven. When I got home, I washed all my makeup off and my face was so red and flushed from the wine. I regret drinking, but I just got a craving for it because I was seeing everyone's Facebook Thanksgiving posts with most people enjoying some wine. I like to enjoy wine, but I just feel very guilty about it around my mom and Amber. I have no problem drinking around Nick's family because they definitely enjoy their wine and beer and have some basically every single day. They definitely don't drink as much as I do, though...

On Sunday, we had leftovers at Amber's house AGAIN and it was still so good. We hung out and digested for a minute before Nick and I decided we needed to get on the road because some heavy rain would be coming through. We loaded up our little Ollie and said our goodbyes. Ollie, once again, did a great job on the ride home by curling up in Nick's lap. He's such a good traveling kitty! We love him so much.

All in all, everything went well and we all had a good time. I just hope none of us unknowingly spread coronavirus to my mom or Cindy. I would feel so guilty and never forgive myself! PS - Today is Nick's grandfather's 75th birthday! My mom turns 69 on the 7th. Yes, my mom is close in age to Nick's GRANDparents.

1:15 p.m. - Monday, Nov. 30, 2020

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