Friday, November 28, 2008

Giving Thanks

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day for the Americans. It conjures images of nice, white, Protestant pilgrims fresh off the Mayflower sitting in boy-girl, boy-girl order at a long picnic table with the scantly-clad, hard-bodied burnt umber savages as they break bread and offer second helpings of cornbread stuffing in the spirit of harmony and peacefully coexisting... ah yes, that is down-home American. Yee haw. It's also delusional and a sorry statement on the skewed version of history we teach our children. That and how good old Chris Columbus discovered this place.

However, the concept of a day to stop and reflect on the good in your life and give thanks for those gifts- that is a good idea on a global scale. (the mounds of food are just a bonus)

It is with that in mind that I do offer thanks for all the amazing riches I have. I was in America for Thanksgiving and the family, with the exception of cousin Jenny, was able to be together to celebrate. My parents are still in love (with each other) and perpetually young-at-heart. I have both of my grandmothers alive and well. I am married to a kind, patient and hard-working man. I have a beautiful daughter. We are able to live out a dream of living abroad. We have our friends and family and our health and if you have those things, you have every reason in the world for thanks giving.

Now if we are talking about the Hallmark Corp. American holiday that boast recipes for deep-frying your turkey, drinking your mashed potatoes Cola Cola style or serving the almighty Turducken on your silver platter, I have some other things to mention that I am thankful for.

1) That this is my blog and if I want to end a sentence in a preposition then I can. See above.* *above - also a preposition!


2) I got to play doctor with Mr. Gobbles, our holiday bird. First you have to clean out the body cavity. I was all Dr. G, Medical Examiner. "C.O.D: beheading with a sharp instrument. And, the bird has no heart. The liver appears to have been torn from the abdominal wall and placed into a plastic baggie." Then you search the exterior for any residual feather nubbins and you pop them out like a big juicy blackhead on a fat man's back. Then you massage the turkey breasts for a while, for no legitimate reason. It just feels cool. (okay, I'm not a perv... but it was a little fowl) Ha. Finally I teased away the skin from the viscera to create pockets for some herbed butter. I kept shouting out, "Nurse! Scalpel!". It probably stopped being funny after the sixth or fifteenth time - but not to me...


3)I found out where stuffing comes from. Oh Stove Top, you had me fooled...


4) I am thankful for football games on TV on Thanksgiving Day because it keeps the boys busy while we girls do what we do best


5) Cards and Tequila

6) I am grateful for modern technology. Mummum was able to read all the birthday wishes on my brand new handy-dandy laptop-ette. I am sitting outside on the porch enjoying Miami's finest weather while I type this wirelessly. And we hooked up our slingbox. Greatest invention known to modern man. We can piggyback off the cable here at my parents and watch AMERICAN TV in Ireland. What more can a girl ask for? Dustin, you are my hero. I am forever in your debt. You are now in the will.

7) We were so happy that Katie's German Tourist alter-ego flew in for a visit.

8) Thank you so much Bill and Carolee for the big bottle of Jameson whiskey that we used to cheers my dad on his 60th birthday. It washed away the taste of tequila beautifully.

9) But I am most thankful for the fact that I had my camera and could capture this.

God Bless America and bring on the leftovers.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the Frum, Walsh household.

Love from the Teppetts. xx

Jared said...

Is that an Acer laptop I see in that picture? That is currently the hottest product on HSN. I probably could have got you a sweet deal on one if I had known you were interested!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Kristy said...

Happy Thanksgiving! What a wonderful family celebration you had! And Happy Birthday to Papa Frum! Miss you tons.