May 27, 2000

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got a early call from Pam today. We had made plans for me to pick her up this morning, so I could bring her to my place. She had been fighting a sore throat for the last few days, and today it had turned considerably worse. She would be bedridden today. I felt a bit guilty that I couldn't go over there to take care of her, but she said she would be sleeping anyway. I would call her later see how she was doing.

I started cooking the turkey. Okay, technically, I started cooking the stuffing. It was a twenty-one pound turkey, so I needed a considerable amount of stuffing. Stuffing a turkey is a fairly trivial thing to do, but still I don't know why they haven't made something that makes the task even simpler. Think about it, there are such kitchen utensils as turkey basters, cherry pitters, and egg separators. Why isn't there a turkey stuffer?

I had finished the task of stuffing the turkey. It is one of those turkeys with a little pop-up timer that signals when it is done. If you have never gotten a turkey with one of these things, you should consider it. They're simply wonderful. The instructions indicated that a turkey this size would take about four and a half hours. I planned accordingly.

I got another phone call. It was a phone call from Lucas. He informed me that we would not be showing up today. He had gotten a speeding ticket last night and thus his driving priviledges were revoked. Bummer. Naturally, I understood but I could not help but to be disappointed.

Kenny was the first to arrive for Thanksgiving. He asked if he could bring a friend, Dennis. He also came bearing a present… it was the DVD for Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Yes, I know about my friends planning my birthday. It was an incredibly sweet guesture. They came in and continued watching the movie that I was playing The Matrix. Oh, yes, he also brought the bread. Thanks, Kenny!

I started preparing the remainder of the food. Thanksgiving dinners are a funny thing, you have to time everything to the turkey. Something that takes four hours to prepare. It's really not that bad except that you end up having to prepare a number of things at once. It's not like anything most homemakers wouldn't go through every day, however, I'm not a homemaker. Most people are fairly surprised that I can even cook. Go figure.

The Matrix ended shortly and we started watching my new DVD. Very Cool.

Len was the next one arrive. He brought the salad. He had called earlier asking if I needed anything. I said, "salad." And indeed, salad he brought. He also brought me a DVD, LA Story. Another very cool movie. One of my favorites in fact. Thanks, Len!

Tom and Susan showed up next. They too brought a DVD, this one was Sixteen Candles, and they also brought a birthday cake. It was one with vanilla frosting and a Bug's Life cake ornament. It was a good cake. I believe that Tom was the ring leader for the entire birthday thing. Thanks, Tom!

I spent the remaining time in the kitchen doing the remainder of the vegetables. I had peas (with pearl onions), green beans, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, and rice. It was a good mix. I had them close to done by the time the turkey was done. Good timing.

Dan was my next guest. He was just coming from his aunt's place. Since I forwarded the invitation late, he didn't know about the birthday festivities. That's okay though, it isn't my birthday for another three weeks. My friends are such goofs.

I served dinner right around that time. Everything turned out pretty well. I normally serve the dinner buffet style, since this way people can pick what they want and it just makes the entire thing much more manageable… besides, I didn't have enough room on the table to sit everyone. As a matter of fact, I nearly didn't have enough room to even place all the food. [Sigh]

Ted and Allison showed up next. I haven't actually seen them for a while, and it was very nice to see them again. Ted and I have known each other for about fourteen years now. I think the was the first one to allege that my girlfriend, Pam didn't actually exist. At this point, Len was the only one among my friends that were present who had met her. He did vouch for her existence. Thanks, Len!

It was roughly around this time when Ferris Bueller ended, and we plopped in LA Story.

Scott was the last one to arrive. He had actually attended Laurie's funeral. We chatted a little bit about that. The place was packed, as I would've expected. Laurie knew many people; she had touched many lives. I regretted not being able to go, but I had this prior commitment.

We ate our Thanksgiving dinner. Naturally, we went back for seconds. We chatted… about Laurie, about technology, about anything in particular. We watched the movies, and sat around and enjoyed each other's company. What else do you do during Thanksgiving?

Oh, naturally, we had finished LA Story and started watching Sixteen Candles.

I called Pam to check up on her. She had been sleeping until my phone call. I promised I would call her again a little later and would even bring her some of my food.

One by one, my guests started to leave. Allison borrowed a couple of my DVD's to watch. I walked out each of them. We exchanged notes on cars and the toys that we had gotten for each of our cars, etc. I miss them already.

May 27, 2000