Thanksgiving with Someone's Family
Well, it all worked out. I left work at about 4pm on Wednesday, and decided that instead of going all the way to Westport for two pies, I'd just go to the Price Chopper in Raytown, a mile or two from my office. It was very busy, to be sure, but it was still better, I think, than what I would have experienced in Westport. Also, I thought I was familiar enough with Raytown to know what to expect, but I was definitely wrong. For all these years, I'd considered Raytown to be a slightly impoverished redneck-type inner-ring suburb. I was shaken into reality when I noticed that out of some three hundred shoppers, I was one of perhaps ten white people there.

Anyway, I got home fine, after taking several detours to avoid getting stuck in gawkers' lines at the sites of various car wrecks. People in Kansas City, in addition to being monumentally bad drivers, completely forget about the existence of snow over the extensive warm season, and when the snow finally does roll back in, as it did on Wednesday, their heads explode, caking the inside of their comfortable SUVs with their brains and skull pieces. This causes them to run into medians, guardrails, buildings, pedestrians, utility poles, and of course, other cars.

I got home, wondering how I'd get to the party that night, which didn't start until 8 or so. I definitely didn't want to drive, and didn't want to walk in the wind and cold with two pies in my hands. In the end, I decided to just take the bus there. About twelve seconds after coming to this decision, Chris hit me with an IM, informing me that he'd pick me up at six for a pre-party beer at Grinders. I happily accepted, and prepared by taking care of the small pre-dinner I'd eaten in anticipation of the abnormally late dinner that was in store.

I enjoyed a Boulevard Nutcracker and an Arcadia Whitsun(an autumnal Pale Wheat that takes the prize, in my opinion, from the previous title-holder, Three Floyds summer seasonal, Gumballhead) with Chris, while discussing matters of extreme importance. We hastened over to Loca for the party, and enjoyed a sensational Thanksgiving dinner. It seems that the older we all get, the more creative everyone gets with their cooking(except for me, of course). I tried, for the first time(I'm not kidding) sweet potatoes, and lamented on the wasted years.

Chris and I called it a night by about 1am, to the harsh heartfelt protests of Nick, Anna, and Cole(who I hadn't seen since the Halloween party). I slept merrily under several layers of warm blankets, and developed a sore throat breathing the cold air. Nevertheless, I was ready for the funs when I got up. I had to wait around until 4pm though, so I kicked some English ass in Civilization 4 to pass the time. They just can't handle aerial bombardments. It's a real weakness.

Some weeks ago I was having a drink with Becky and Liana at Tower Tavern, and it became known through no manifest effort of my own, that I had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner. Seizing the chance to do a good deed and to make me smile, they invited me to join them for the best dinner of the year. So at around 4pm yesterday, Liana and Michael picked me up, and we made the long trip up to Kearney, MO where her parents live.

For the first time in my life, I ate Thanksgiving dinner after the sun went down, and it was wonderful. I intend to annoyingly insist on repeating that every year. Becky and Liana's family were great. They constantly asked me if I had enough to eat, if I'd like any more, if I'd like to try this amazing dish that this family member spent all morning making, etc, etc. After dinner, we went downstairs, watched trivia shows, and lapsed into our own.

We went home at about 10pm, and got diverted off I-35 for a motorist with an exploding head.

raytown cut in with:
shoooooooooot.

8:54 AM, Nov 24, 2007

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