Thanksgiving, etc.

My goodness, where do I begin?

November was a month to remember. In fact, so many things happened, that I am hard pressed to recall them at the moment. Is it possible for one to have trouble recalling the memorable moments of their life?

The obvious highlight is my favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving (T-Give). In my family, Thanksgiving is an open invitation, round the clock, no holds barred food and drink extravaganza for four straight days. Between friends, family, significant others, and anyone with no convenient destination for the holiday, you can never predict who will turn up.

On the bus ride back to Glastonbury with Jared, I was struck by a surprising fact: I hadn’t been home for a 24 hour period in 11 months. Having been born and raised in the same house in the same town, this was the longest continuous absence from Gbury I have ever experienced. It’s amazing that so much time passed: I got back from the Appalachian Trail in October, went to finish school in DC in January, and started work the day after my graduation in May. In those 11 months away from home I graduated college, got two jobs, had my best friend move down to DC to live with me, found an apartment, turned 22, visited Chicago, and somehow gained the favor of a beautiful, charming, intellectual woman. It had been a pretty crazy year, and I was more relieved than usual to get home.

Getting the family back under one roof is never boring, and always fun. This year Jess joined me in tagging along with Jared’s family in running the Thanksgiving Day Manchester road race. The Stevensons have the race down to a science, and have figured out how to enjoy the 15,000 strong crowds stress-free. The race was a mixed bag – on the plus side, I ran my fastest time on record. However, I paid for it for the rest of the week: I was practically unable to climb or descend stairs for 4 days.

The nap between race and dinner was excellent as always, and dinner blew me away yet again. The night was long and full of friends, music, and fun. Friday is my turn to cook: I smoke a turkey every year in a trashcan. It’s kind of complicated, but trust me, it’s better than it sounds. This year’s Friday after T-give, Erin bravely came down to visit with the Kimball family. She was spectacular, giving one of the most memorable and fitting T-give gifts our family has ever seen (a beautifully wrapped box of wine) and winning over the family.

The next day was great also: I drove up to Southampton to meet some of Erin’s extended family, and wound up driving Erin back to Glastonbury for Tobin’s traditional bonfire party.

There are many pages of stories I could put here, but it occurs to me I have posted nothing Washingtonian, elitist, or insider-ly. On that note, the big thing these days is the economic stimulus bill and the administrative transition.

More on that, and an exhaustive post in defense of lobbyists (most elitist of the insiders, no doubt), coming soon.