So I was happy when one of the co-leaders of my home fellowship group offered to host a Thanksgiving Luncheon at my home on November 20th. (This is more generous than it sounds, because he is living there at the moment, and therefore has full right, title and possession of all cleanup duties.)
Then, a week or two later, I was invited to another early Thanksgiving Feast! This through my church. How exciting! Except... how strange. Also on November 20th. Well, at least this would be a Thanksgiving Dinner. With a full seven (7) hours between the start of the Thanksgiving Lunch and the Thanksgiving Dinner, I was optimistic that I could enjoy both.
Then, about 10 days before the the Great Events, I was invited to a friend's birthday dinner, with karaoke to follow. Isn't that nice? But - oh, horror! - also on November 20th. In the evening. At the same time as the Thanksgiving Dinner. I had one hope - the guest of honor was already planning to attend the Thanksgiving Lunch. Surely the birthday hosts did not wish to overwhelm her by non-stop festivities throughout the day? Alas, they did wish to overwhelm her. The birthday girl was totally on board with the plan. And so was the host of the Thanksgiving Lunch (who was also invited to both events). I did my best to salvage the evening - I would at least attend the Birthday Karaoke after the Thanksgiving Dinner, energy permitting.
As the Magnificent Events loomed ever larger in view, one more email crossed my inbox. Aaack! No! It can't be! But alas, yes, as fate would have it. One of the Thanksgiving Dinner attendees was also born on November 20th! So she wanted everyone to stick around for Birthday Dancing after the Thanksgiving Dinner.
But seriously, it was a lovely day. I had time in the morning for a few errands. The Thanksgiving Lunch was a dream of elegance and delight. Amazing to see my old place with a banquet table covered in fabric. The food was delicious, the company delightful. I especially liked the carrot soufflé (it wasn't really a soufflé from a technical perspective, almost more of a pudding, but really, really good). I ate a little of many things, but more than I'd planned. We played movie charades afterward, with some gender-bending highlights. Jenn got us to guess the first syllable of "Pee-Wee Herman's Big Adventure" by miming the use of an appendage that she does not have. Ryan got his team to guess the last word of "There's Something About Mary" by miming the Passion, and then miming childbirth. We could not stop laughing about that - there were surely easier and less graphic ways to get across the concept of motherhood, but there are probably not funnier ways to do it. That was a classic.
My main contribution was putting the first word Throw and last word Train together to guess (correctly) Throw Momma From the Train. My teammates seemed astonished by this act of mindreading, but it seemed pretty straightforward to me at the time.
I ended up acting out my film title by simply looking sad and encouraging my team to come up with synonyms (crying! melancholy! depression!) until someone stumbled on the blues - I gave this a big thumbs-up, and Jenn immediately made the mental leap to The Blues Brothers.
After this, I went home and took a nap, but I was still too full for dinner when I finally got to the Thanksgiving Dinner. I didn't need to worry about duplication; the event was very different in venue, form, and feeling from the Thanksgiving Lunch. It had more of the feeling of a cocktail party and buffet, assisted by a very cool cocktail lounge area under the front lobby of Matt's building. The lounge opens to the lobby for a very spacious feeling - but it also meant that the moment I entered the building I knew where the gang was, as I heard familiar, well-carrying voices wafting up from the common room. That was a fun time, and the Birthday Dance celebrant pretty much convinced me to abandon the rival Birthday Karaoke event by the simple expedient of announcing that the dance party would continue at Matt's place rather than a club. Wow! A brilliant coup. The scheme would have worked ... I was going to stay and dance and then see if I still felt like going to karaoke ... except that Ryan called to see if I was still coming to the Birthday Karaoke and to tell me they only had the room for 2 hours. Rats. He called my bluff.
So I didn't end up dancing at all, but instead went off to karaoke in K-town. A strange but wonderful day.
I was so tired Sunday, which was also a full day. On duty at church, a weird tell-two-strangers-about-your-biggest-faith-struggles conversation, watched Fair Game, and then enjoyed pizza and conversation with friends in Brooklyn Heights.
A lot to be thankful for. But I just realized this turned into kind of a Brooklyn weekend as well. There's really no escape, is there?
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