Kanshasai Day

When I went to Japan in college to study for three months part of our experience was that we had to pick some american topic and present this to Japanese elementary school children in Japanese. Kanshasai I think means "Thanksgiving Day" though I have a feeling this isn't the Thanksgiving day we think of.

This year Thanksgiving was at SG's uncle's house which is just a mile or so north of us. We had turkey, mashed potatoes with leeks and thyme, green beens, a cranberry relish, rolls, cornbread stuffing with three kinds of peppers and of course pumpkin pie. I think this may actually have been the first year since we have been married where we actually were at just one families house for Thanksgiving. I didn't have a problem with this but at the same time it just didn't feel like Thanksgiving to me, it more felt like an evening of family getting together and eating tasty food. Don't ask why this any different than what Thanksgiving is however it just didn't "feel" like Thanksgiving. I like eating with my family though I do have to admit my wife's family is much more entertaining, they tend to talk and poke fun at each other, actually that may not be it either. My family is really very quiet around the table and my wife's is boisterous, boisterous in my mind goes much better with Thanksgiving. Really what I would prefer is to take our two families and merge them together for the holidays. This kills the issue of where we are going for Thanksgiving, and creates the big family holiday that I've always wanted. Don't ask, for whatever reason and I lay the blame solidly on Hollywood I feel that a holiday with a big family is just the way things should be.

It couldn't be Thanksgiving without alcohol and well err um I drank my fair share. I wanted to get a bottle of Calvados to try but didn't get around to go to the market to find it, luckily though uncle T had some for me to try. The Calvados (apple brandy) was tasty but suprisingly rough, when I mean rough I mean that the alcohol was very apparent and not all that subdued. Now that I think about it hard cider really isn't all that mellow either, maybe there is an issue with alcohol and apple juice not parring all that well. Anyway I also had the opportunity to try a couple of different scotches that my uncle T had brought back from scotland, and they unlike the scotch were both very tasty and smooth by comparison to the Calvados.

Today was spent down at SG's family cabin in Vinton county which was very nice as all I did was eat some food sleep in front of a wood burning stove and fire off about twelve clips of .22 ammo. Strangely no one seems to want to bring anything of any larger calibur for me to fire ;). There's just something about being out in the woods and not having anything else to do but relax and sleep off the turkey.

Tomorrow is a friend of mine's bachelor party, no strippers, or drugged mule's just some good clean paintball followed by some poker and booze. It should all and all be very interesting in that I haven't talked to this friend all that much since I got married. Some of this is my fault in that I created a little rift between us when I mentioned to certain people that he was having a psuedo girlfriend over a lot. That got around and eventually got back to him which then led to him telling me to mind my own business. Which truthfully it wasn't any of my own business, and didn't have anything to do with him or his "girlfriend". It all really goes back to my time honored practice of complaining about whoever is living with me. The complaints usually go like so, they (roomates) aren't as clean, too loud, etc, etc, etc, and so then I complain about them when really I'm just a neurotic, marterish bitch. I'm getting better which is good as my roomate now is my wife and well the marriage would be a little unpleasent if I kept that up. Tomorrow I will try to avoid freezing to death, getting into fights with ref's and not drinking too much and offending some Christians.