4 Turkeys, Awesome Friends, and the Undead

Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?

So maybe I haven't posted in a while.
And maybe, because of that, a certain Southern Belle is about ready to kill me.
As such, I'm taking a break from my really super-important Twilight reading schedule to update her about my life.
And I guess the three other people who read this can get an update, too.

The picture above = NOT from Thanksgiving, in case you're an idiot.....

Because I'm an adult now (as evident by the fact that I had to name a beneficiary for my life insurance last week... don't even get me started down that road), I couldn't go home on Thursday. So, we had "fake Thanksgiving" last Saturday with my Mom's family at Tommy and Beth's sprawling Glen Ellyn estate. I ate my weight in pumpkin pie and mashed taters, plus my Gramma made me cookies. Then I played Legos with Ethan while Sophie yelled at the top of her lungs that her American Girl doll needed more Redi-Whip on her ice cream. Then we played Mexican Dominoes and everyone asked me what I was planning to do with my life, other than reprise my role as a blight on my parent's bank account.
But...
Pie and cookies!
It was pretty great.

So that was Thanksgiving (and turkey) numero uno.
Numero dos (however unexpected it was) came in the form of my dear friend Lara's awesome family.
Wait, wasn't I supposed to work on Thanksgiving? Thus creating the need for a completely seperate (yet equally awesome) fake Thanksgiving, as mentioned int he previous paragraph?
Yeah, I thought so too.
You see, at about noon in Thursday, my cell phone rang-- work, calling to say that they were slow and that I didn't need to come in if I didn't want to.
Which made me kinda mad. Because I could have, reasonably, gone home and had *actual* Thanksgiving with my family (except it would have been with my Dad's side of the family, and they're not NEARLY as cool...that's right, Gramma! I said that you're cool!).
Of course, I could've also gone in to work, but I was planning on leaving at 5 anyhow, so that I could go have Thanksgiving with Marie's family in Auburn.
Naturally, I called Lara to yell about my irritation for a minute, and also to make plans for later that evening because Gabe was in town (more on that later), and she suggested that I haul myself over to her aunt's house and let them adopt me for the afternoon.

Call me crazy, but that sounded WAY better than work.

And it most certainly was.

After that, came Thanksgiving III, at Marie's aunt's house (what's with all the aunts in this post?).
I was kind of hoping that someone was going to get arrested.
Or, at the very least, there would be a smack-down of some kind.
No such luck.
I guess I'll have to wait until Christmas for that.

Finally, Thanksgiving round 4 commenced this evening at Blake's Mom's house.
I made a pumpkin cheesecake (vegan!) and Blake walked into the kitchen about halfway through the process and said "How's it going?", at which point I turned around to reveal that not only had I managed to get cornstarch all over the counter and the floor, but also down the front of my black sweater, my face, and in my hair.
I let him do the dishes for me.
He's so sweet sometimes.

Verdict: four Thanksgiving dinners later, I resemble the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
But I also have really super-great friends.
With really super-great families!
Thanks for recognizing my orphan status and taking me in on this, the most gluttonous of holidays!

And speaking of super-great friends...

So, Thursday night, it was decided that since Gabe was in town (and that never happens anymore because he apparently now resides in Antarctica), it would be used as an excuse to get the ol' band back together.
Amber had mentioned that Gabe, being the kind and generous boyfriend that he is, promised to take her to see "Twilight".
Of course, Lara and I jumped on this.
"Gabe promised to take Amber!"
"What do you MEAN you don't want to go see a movie about sexy vampires?"
"If Gabe goes will you go?"
And this, my dears, is how the six of us, included Blake, Bryan, and Gabe, ended up at Showplace 12 for the 9:30 pm showing. The boys sat on one side, the girls on the other. Gabe and Amber sat in the middle.
A buffer-zone, if you will.
You might recall that this is the second time I've had the privelage of viewing this cinematic masterpiece, and it was even better this time around.
And not just because they showed a preview for the new "Harry Potter" and I got so excited that I totally punched Lara in the knee cap as soon as I figured out what was going on.
After the movie, I looked down the row of seats, and asked the boys, "On a scale of one to ten, how pissed are you guys that we made you see this?"
They just glared at me.
I'm thinking about a twelve or thirteen.
But I'm also pretty sure that I can live with that.
Because hell-LO?!
TWILIGHT?!!

Also of note, pre-Thanksgiving activities included Rock Band, and a gathering at Bradley and Christopher's house that may or may not have involved the use of a fire extinguisher inside the apartment.
PS- there was no fire. We were just really, really bored.
What?
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
What?!
I didn't have anything to do with it. Swearsies.
I just laughed really, REALLY hard.
And then got Black Lung disease from inhaling all the chemicals.
It was awesome.


OH!
And.
Tomorrow (technically today, but whatever) is my little sister's birthday!
Stay tuned for a thought-provoking, moving, and downright badass birthday tribute post tomorrow night.
Why not tonight?
Because I'm reading Twilight.

Duh.


PPS-
Alabama: I'm sorry I didn't return you text. I was busy making a huge mess in the kitchen. And eating lots of food. Look for a special you-related post in the coming days in response to a really, really long comment thread you left on one of my previous posts. I would do it tonight, but... well, Edward Cullen needs me.