Turkeys, treasures, pearls, beds and transvestites

What a weekend!

The weekend started out with me leaving the office on Wednesday at about 3:30. People here warned me about the traffic for the holiday. I thought,"Well, I know how holiday traffic is in Los Angeles, I should really prepare myself for bumper-to-bumper. Afterall, it IS the biggest travel day of the year." How shall I describe the traffic situation? Hmm... Well, THANKFULLY the sky was clear. There was a little rain as I got closer to Manchester (going to Jeff's house.) And the traffic? It was terrible. I mean, I was only able to go 65-75 the whole way. Bwha ha ha ha ha! Traffic? To the people here, traffic is 6 cars at a light. It's just plain crazy, I tell ya! There was one spot where I had to go 55-65, but man alive, it was a smooth route. I was a little early to meet Sherri and Jeff, so I went to Target and bought a humidifier (much needed) and a few other thingys. When I got to Jeff's, we had dinner (pizza) and I met his friend Grumpy Gus. Grumpy Gus seemed a little grumpy, but he had said something about being tired and working quite a bit. When Sherri asked Grumpy Gus if he wanted to play Cranium, he balked at the idea of playing with clay. He wouldn't even entertain the idea of playing the game. That was too bad. What a poophead. While that was going on, we were waiting for two of Jeff's other friends to show up. They called from a bar saying they didn't know when they would be over. After much deliberation and a few more calls from the now very drunk bar friends, Jeff and Grumpy Gus left to join them. Sherri and I had a good time just hanging out and talking. We also made cranberry sauce and baked sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. At about 1:30, Jeff came back sans Grumpy Gus. We asked where the VDBFs (Very Drunk Bar Friends) were and he didn't know if they were coming over or not. Then the VDBFs arrived about 15 mins. later. VDBF#1 seemed pretty lucid considering he had been drinking all night. VDBF #2 passed out about 5 minutes after she arrived on the futon I was to sleep on. Thankfully, they ended up sleeping on an air mattress in Jeff's room. But they snored up a storm (what? louder than moi? ) keeping Sherri awake. Jeff had to take them home at about 6:00am. Not a night of sleep, that's for sure.

Thursday early afternoon, Sherri and I arrived at her sister's house. Her sister, husband and three kids live on a 6 acre plot of land in New Hampshire. It is very woodsy. There is even a stream that runs through the property. We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all of the regulars - turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pies. It was really yummy. After dinner, we taught two of the older kids (Boy14, Boy5) how to play blackjack. Boy14 thought he was quite the card shark, but when he was losing, realized there is more to playing cards than being a smarty pants. (Actually, he wa a really good sport, just taken aback when he would lose a round and gloat like any 14 yr old would when he won.) We older folk were able to give him some pointers. I lost a whole $1. It reminded me of the days when I went to Las Vegas. For me, Vegas isn't fun unless I have lots of money to spend. Seeing as I never seem to have lots of money to spend there (I am talking wasting thousands and thousands in my dream world) I don't enjoy going. I really admire the people who actually like penny and nickel slots. I just can't do it. Always looking to win. Thank heaven there is a built-in keeper of common sense, otherwise I would have sold a kidney by now. I digress. The food and merriment of Thanksgiving was really fun.

Sherri and I got back to her place at about 7pm. She lives right near the Atlantic. Sadly it was too dark for me to go check it out. Next time I will be sure to. I was able to have a little reunion with her cats Jon and Sis. Sherri and Doug found Jon when he was just a wee ferral kitten. He has become a lovey-dovey with her through persistance and training. However, the ferral cat in him likes to come out at the most inopportun times. Sherri has had Sis since before she met Doug. I think Sis is part Maine coon cat. She has a huge fluffy tail and is a big fluff ball, but not in a Persian cat way. She's a very sweet cat. I think she remembered me too. I was happy to see them. Poor Sherri had a migrane and needed to rest. I was able to talk to a bunch of people to give them Thanksgiving wishes. My brother is in Argentina for a week of vacation. I can't wait to hear about his travels. He always has great adventures. He went to Cuba earlier this year. Maybe I should get into teaching so I can travel too? hmmmm. Anyhow, Jeff joined us at about 9 or 10. I think we ended up going to sleep around 11. I was so tired. Jon, however, didn't want me to enjoy my sleep. For hours, he would mew to go out. I was ready to strangle him. In the past, Sherri had been concerned about letting the cats out at night (she lived near a freeway) and therefore, I didn't want to let Jon out (it was really cold out too.) But in the end, at about 3:30am, I couldn't take it anymore. I let him out and got a good two hours of sleep.

Friday morning, I drove straight to work. Tom let us go early, so I began some Christmas shopping. Between Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I was on the hunt for some good bargains. There weren't many out there. I went to Big Lots. I went to the malls. I went to the grocery store. I did end up buying a bed from Sears. I should get it next week. I am really excited about that. And they will haul away the old bed. Yippee!!! And Charlotte shared some turkey soup and stuffing with me from their Thanksgiving dinner. I had some of the stuffing yesterday and it was rather yummy. I think I will be trying the soup tonight.

Movies - I had borrowed Girl with a Pearl Earring and Harvey from the library. I can watch Harvey over and over. It is one of the best movies around. GWTPE had lovely cinematography, but wasn't that great as a movie. I love Colin Firth though. He was playing a brooding Flemish painter. (Colin Firth, brooding? No!) I went to the movies and saw National Treasure. There were only two reasons I saw the movie - a gal from work (Carrie) wanted to go see it, and Sean Bean (yum.) There was too much Nicholas Cage in it. I look back on my three week Nicholas Cage infatuation with disgust. I just don't see it. What was I thinking? Anyhow, Sean Bean wasn't in it enough. I thought the movie was a little blah. The acting and dialogue was not so good overall. I thought that if a person thought the history was interesting in the movie, that maybe they will take the time to look up the true facts about the masons and our Founding Fathers. Who knows? It might inspire a whole generation to exlpore the past. (Somehow I doubt it.) I can tell you that this wanna be Indiana Jones AIN'T no Indiana Jones. I also signed up for Netflix and got my first three in the mail. I watched Amores Perros and The Passion of the Christ. Amores Perros is a dark movie about distructive relationships. There are some pretty graphic dog fights too. Ick. Still, it was a good movie. The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson was a very controversial film this year. As a film, I thought Mel took a good deal of artistic license around the story of Jesus Christ. I guess that is his perogative. I didn't care for the Satan/woman thing. Didn't feel it added to the story at all. I thought it was great that is wasn't in English. And the scenes of the beatings, walk to Calvary and the crucifiction were really well done (horrible and gruesome, very realistic.) The Roman guards were nicely brutal and evil, as were the priests (wicked, that is.) Mary Magdalene almost seemed like an extra. I felt it really stayed true to the words that Jesus spoke and was probably a good representation of what crucifictions were like in those days. I thought it was also a good film. I was really glad that Mel wasn't in it himself (except for his hand.) I also thought Jim Caviezel did an outstanding job. Today, I turned in those two Netflix. I have Bad Santa to still watch. I will review that later.

So Sunday after church, I went with Charlotte to the downtown mall. It's the two story one that is about a third of the size of the Glendale Galleria. It is a decent mall. I didn't buy anything there except for Spin magazine who's cover featured U2. However, the mall trip was not in vain. I saw my first (recognizable) Burlington transvestite!! Fabulous! I felt like I was in Los Angeles. How refreshing. So Burlington isn't all just cruncy, granola, flamin', straight-laced liberals. I dig it! I think Charlotte was a bit shocked. He was about 5'11"-6', with long brown hair in loose pigtails, lots of makeup (of course) and wore a short skirt, sweater, long scarf and colored tights with baby doll shoes. A rather cute outfit.

So it hasn't snowed and it rained for a good part of the weekend. All in all, that was just fine with me. And I am in love with my humidifier. I think it has helped me sleep better. Maybe I should cancel the bed? Ha! Naw.

Like I said, what a weekend!