Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday (so many questionable side dishes), but with Owen in college now (and living so close to home), it at least means that we get to celebrate seeing him, even if we do so over stuffing and squash.

Usually when we celebrate Thanksgiving in the DMV, we do so at Nancy and Danny's house, who are famous for their 3-day mole gravy and Danny's perfectly carved turkey (with only one knife related injury in all the years I've been going). But Danny's been undergoing treatments that made the prospect of hosting a bit overwhelming and while Mom Mom was happy to host, she wasn't thrilled to cook the turkey, so Allen offered to cook it at our place and then bring it to Silver Spring.

Owen arrived home Tuesday night and we had tacos to celebrate while Allen, in honor of his father, spatchcocked the turkey in preparation for Thursday. Wednesday, I headed home early to make pumpkin pies and cinnamon rolls for the next day. After a quick meal, Allen and I headed out to meet up for drinks with Molly & Adam who were hosting Pete & Jeannine and Adam's family for Thanksgiving. When we arrived, I was little distracted and so didn't immediately notice (fine, I didn't notice at all until prompted) the lovely new addition to Molly's ring finger: she and Adam were engaged!!!

Understandably, we ended up staying a little longer than we originally intended. As a result, we were moving a little slower the next morning, but we had a lovely breakfast and then I started mixing up rolls and went for a walk while Allen started on the turkey (a little later than he intended per my suggestion, though why he would ever listen to me with regard to cooking any protein...). We ended up being a little late to Sharon & Don's (the turkey took a bit longer and the transport was a bit of a production, involving a cooler with a hot water bottle and towels). Still, everyone was happy with the final product and we had an amazing dinner, an epic marble game, and even had leftovers to take home (which for Allen, included most of his pumpkin pie).

The next day, Allen and Owen got and put up the tree while I went to work and Noa slept. That night, we had Molly & Adam and their whole crew (Adam's parents and sister were also in town to celebrate) over for pizza, the traditional post-Thanksgiving meal. Saturday, Noa was clearly coming down with something, so they slept for most of the day while I decorated the tree and then Allen, Owen and I saw Wicked for Good (Noa was going with friends on Monday so it wasn't too big of a loss). 

Sunday, Allen and I headed to Meeting while Noa continued to sleep (while monitoring) their friends' progress on the scavenger hunt they were supposed to attend but were too sick to make) and Owen did laundry. Once we got home, Owen packed up his car, said his goodbyes, and headed back to school for a few more classes before finals, when he finishes the fall semester and gets to come home for a whole month for Christmas!

(To see all our Thanksgiving pictures, click here.)