Thanksgiving Update:

M is upstairs, watching "You, Me, and Dupree" on the television I moved into our bedroom. We haven't had a television upstairs in about five years, and then I think James and Melissa were the only people to use it (tennis finals or something). The tv, formerly of our living room, sits on the floor with the DVD player on top. I suppose the television's presence in our room is not the evil incarnate. It's not hooked up to cable, and it's in our room, not the kids'. I wasn't in the mood for the movie, not in an Owen Wilson mood, although Kate Hudson looks like a lot of girls who went to my Chicago high school back in the eighties, wore brown suede fringe jackets, smoked cigarettes, and never talked to me.

So Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because we do not have to interact with anyone other than our immediate (and by that I mean our kids) family. This year the weather is about forty degrees warmer than last year (maybe) and substantially less windy. We took the kids to the zoo in the morning. The zoo was practically empty; we had almost every building entirely to ourselves. The bird building was interesting, as were the new trumpeter swans (how do they stay warm in winter?). N ran his ass off, building to building, and the boys burned off some energy. Our timing was off, though, and we were psycho hungry by the time we reached home. M made lunch while the boys watched tv and I screwed around on the computer. Oh, we picked up a Christmas tree as well. I felt like a wuss because some teenager tied the tree to the roof of the van for me. M wasn't feeling well, after a while, so I dragged in the tree, set it up in the tree stand (somewhat reducing the "wuss" feeling), and set the boys on decorating the three with ornaments. They were excellent, playing with their findings from the Christmas bins, etc., while I started dinner. M woke later and helped the boys while I finished dinner. Here's the menu/verdict:

1. Pasta rolls: An old standby, worked well in the scenario, not sure why.
2. Acorn Squash stuffed with a blueberry/apple/brown sugar mixture: Surprisingly good. I'd make it for M.'s mother, even.
3. Turkey: M's party, not mine, but she seemed to like it.
4. Wheat rolls: Necessary.
5. Cranberry sauce from a can.: See #4.
6. Mashed potatoes: I made them this year, they turned out fine.

The boys absolutely refused to eat just about any of the food, which I found amusing but M did not. After dinner I took a bath while the boys played on the computer and in their room. I watched a little of the Cowboys game then finished MI3 (decent, esp. on fast forward). We skipped Elf, breaking a family tradition, but I'm afraid I would have had to rag on the boys to watch with me, and that wouldn't have been fun at all.

Today was good as well. I slept on the couch, hoping to sleep in the Christmas tree's glow, but M foiled my plan by unplugging the lights after I fell asleep. I have fond memories of sleeping in the light of the Christmas tree. Oh well. I have a month or so to sneak in a night with the lights on. N came downstairs while I was reading, about 5:30, so I set him up on the couch and left for basketball. I felt badly about leaving, but M was up, I thought, so I didn't think much of the plan one way or the other. I played decent ball, missing one important jumper on the baseline but otherwise acquiting myself well. Brief basketball math...I have been playing for five years at the Y in the morning (conservatively) once a week. That adds up to about 1800 games. Is that possible? Anyway, I returned home to find M on the couch, ill. Apparently she had fallen back asleep after I woke her. N came upstairs after Zaboo was over. I felt badly but not too badly. The morning passed quickly. S had a friend over, T had a neighbor over, but T wanted either to see a movie (Happy Feet) or buy a video game system (we're leaving towards Wii rather than PS3 due to the game price, number of games aimed at kids, and the controllers' ease), but I wasn't in the mood to leave the house, so he watched a movie on television (some Tony Hawk thing) while I ate lunch (leftover pasta rolls at 10 in the morning, so, I suppose brunch would be a better term for the meal), burned CDs, reorganized my CDs (moved a ton into the basement), and cleaned the office. Later, after M returned from Target, I started cleaning upstairs. I don't do small cleaning. I rearranged one bedroom, moved a ton of s--t into the basement, and showered. I also managed to knock out most of my laundry. Later I finished the latest Klosterman book. The book is decent, I'd rather it either 2nd or 3rd out of the four Klosterman releases, but I read the entire text in about six hours (if that). Books are usually great value, but at that rate, at 25 bucks cover price, I would have spent, what, about four bucks an hour to read the book? That's way more than usual. I know I read fast, but I'm not a savant or anything. I'm glad I snagged the book from the library, no offense, Mr. Klosterman. T and S drew on the newly cleared desk (some potential for a workspace) in the guest bedroom while I read. I laid between both while they fell asleep, watched the start of the movie, and here I am.

Tomorrow night we're at a waterpark. I'm not looking forward to going, but I'm due. No escaping the waterpark. I'll try to make the best of the experience. Good night.