Giving of Thanks 2008

My father likes to think in terms of equations; 1+1=2, and so on. It’s a language he prefers to English. Calculus is poetry to him.

I couldn’t help but think of Thanksgiving this year as a equation also. With all the additions and substractions, multiplications, divisions, and hypotenooses (hypotenoosi?) this year working together to form a mathematical sentence.

2 Parks’.

Shannon and Troy drove down to Las Cruces Wednesday afternoon ahead of the rest of the family. My mom had brilliantly suggested that I order what I needed for T-day dinner through the Sam’s Club website, and that they would pick it up en route. Tanner was recruited to star in Devon’s latest short film, and so Shannon and Troy joined us “on set” when they came into town. Later, we all ate Mexican Pizza together and discovered something had gone awry with the groceries: half of them weren’t what we had ordered….it was a bunch of…breakfast?! Apparently, there had been a mix up and we ended up with half of our order and half some one else’s. Poor Steve never saw his bacon, hashbrowns, and red chile again. 

+7 Turpins.
Mom, Dad, Craig, Russ, and Ty arrived in a rain shower the next afternoon. They brought the butcher block table we had all eaten around up until Ty was born disassembled in the back of the truck (not seen in this picture). Thanks for the table and chairs, ‘rents!

+2 Cats.
Horace and Elijah were in heaven. So much attention!

+8 episodes of “House.”
Tanner and my dad have found more common ground. There was a marathon of the medical drama series “House” on USA. We almost literally had to pry my dad away from the TV to come pray over the meal.

 +1 case of bronchitis. (poor Ty!)
After battling a 10 day cough, Ty was whisked to the doctor and diagnosed with bronchitis. He erupts into a fit of coughing whenever he laughs, and the poor kid just finds everything funny. In typical older brother fashion, Russ has gifted him with the monkier, “Bronchitis Boy.”

 

+1 sunset walk to a duck pond pull of starving ducks, and a possessed goose.
After stuffing ourselves senseless with maple-bourbon marinated turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, homemade cheesy onion bread, corn, and strawberry-pineapple-banana fruit salad, we all wadled to the duck pond at NMSU’s campus. The moment the ducks saw us, they began screeching and swimming towards us, which leads me to believe that no one feeds them and they are dependant on the kindness of strangers. Out of the millions of ducks, there was only one goose to be found. On several occassions it came within very uncomfortable proximity to my person, which I later learned was the result of my husband placing delicious morsels near my feet. Next to stingrays, I have a very unhealthy fear of geese.

+1 great round of Scrabble. Sorry Ty, “Trix” is not an acceptable word.
After the walk, we had all digested our dinner enough to not explode if we ate dessert. We returned to the apartment, ate warm apple pie a la mode and Tanner’s much anticipated banana split cake. I broke out Scrabble and played with the boys while everyone else watched more TV (House, of course. Dad doesn’t have cable, and he was relishing the opportunity to catch up on episodes). Russ beat us all, with a grand total of nearly 160 points. He’s a stratigic player and knows to finangle his way to those “triple word score” spaces. We realized halfway throught the game that the board was upside down to Ty, and could explain why he took so long making words. Despite the handicap, he did well, although we could not let him get away with the word, “Trix.” It’s a breakfast cereal. Not a real word.

+3 loads of dishes.
Not bad, all things considered.

(….and a partridge in a pear tree!)

= Giving of Thanks 2008.
Cheesy as it sounds, I have so much to be thankful for this year. I was so blessed to be surrounded by my family, husband and roommate and roommate’s boyfriend included . They are all incredible treasures.

One Year Older

(Shannon and) I turned 21 on Monday. Tanner, who claims to be “bad at birthdays” made mine super special.

We slept in, spent a good chunk of the day swimming, diving for a transformers keychain, and lying in the sun. That evening, we got together with Sofia and spent all those gift cards we got as wedding presents. We are the proud owners of a new chair. We have yet to fight over who gets to sit in it, but it’ll happen…

Devon joined us later on in the evening for some fried zuccini, jalepeno thingys, mexican pizza and margaritas. Here’s some pictures of our shenanigans.

 

Looking around in Bed Bath and Beyond, Tanner snapped this gem.

The family called while we were in Target. Ty is on the other end saying, “What up, my married, brithday-girl, sista?”

Back at the apartment, pouring a margarita

Big pan of fried (er, frying) zuccini

Sofia’s “I just ate a jalepeno and am trying to gracefully recover” face.

Talking on the pink couch.

Keylime Birthday Pie!

Wishing for a pony. (Yes, we eat on the floor)

Please don’t lick my eye.

Thanks for a great birthday, Tanner:-D

Best Snack Ever

Went grocery shopping this afternoon and picked up some cherry/vanilla granola. I’ve got granola in hand and a cup of black coffee on the table. I’m very pleased.