in which our author gives thanks for delicious turkey

I've had an excellent time at home, although it's drawing rapidly to a close. Most of my family was together for Thanksgiving; Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, Drew, Aunt Becky, and her scandalous fiance all came down for the day, which was lovely. We had Thanksgiving Dinner Round 1 with the town -- my grandparents started a community Thanksgiving over thirty years ago, and my grandmother insisted that we go this year. I'll post a picture when I finally download them. The dinner was in the town Centennial Building, which I have blogged about before -- it's a multipurpose community building, holding the city clerk's office, the library, the fire department, and a large space with a kitchen and a stage for town plays, Christmas pageants, auctions, etc. It is probably what Thanksgiving is supposed to be, since it's all about community. We started with a few words from the organizer, and then we all had to sign a hymn that no one knew (the woman who picked it was a war bride from England who moved here after World War II, and she said that they sang it all the time in England), and then the Presbyterian minister said grace before we all ate the lukewarm/cold potluck offerings. Mmm. Apparently the best food was the one I didn't take -- a couple from Cambodia moved to town recently, and they brought egg rolls that were reported to be fantastic. Yay diversity.

After that, we all came back to my parents' house and played Apples to Apples before Thanksgiving Dinner Round 2. My mom wanted turkey leftovers, and I'm glad she did; the turkey she made was one of the best I've ever had, particularly with corn casserole, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, and awesome pumpkin pie. I had variations of that meal for lunch and dinner today, and it continues to be awesome; it sucks that I have to go back to California before the leftovers have overstayed their welcome.

We spent today engaged in a traditional Wampler family pursuit -- playing Rail Baron for six or eight hours. We took a break in the middle of the afternoon to accomplish stuff, and I took a tour of my brother's house; while he has some work to do, I'm still jealous that he's a homeowner, even if I wouldn't want to own a house in our hometown right now. When we resumed the game, Dad ended up winning, beating Mom by one turn and about a thousand dollars -- heartbreaking after playing for most of a day, and eerily similar to her loss the last time we played.

I spent the rest of the night updating sararamsey.com and my romance blog -- check them out! Now, though, I should go to bed so that I can get up tomorrow in time to go to the airport. Happy Thanksgiving!