I ended up getting out of Raleigh at 10:00 instead of meeting my planned 9:30 departure.
Most of they way, I kept my mind busy memorizing my list of 18 puns. I had planned to listen to a couple of podcasts on the way, but after the exercise in gray cells, I listened to some music instead.
Today, it finally feels okay to listen to Christmas Carols, which have been playing nonstop, all day, every day on 93.9 ever since November 1st. I listened to a few.
Mom and dad had just arrived when I arrived, so the scene was set for Thanksgiving dinner. That was the lot of us — mom, dad, Vivian, Jeff, and myself.
Vivian did an outstanding job decorating and cooking — I swear that girl got my gay genes for those things, but I’m not bitter. Her centerpiece consisted of some miniature pumpkins (or perhaps they’re called something else when they’re that small), some colorful leaves woven in between them and two candles off-centered to each side that were in the shape and color of candy corn. Very cool looking.
Her signature holiday-themed napkins rings this time consisted of plaid, fabric-looking paper napkins with a changing-color leaf clasped to each thinly-twisted wrought-iron napkins rings. Very Martha Stewart — the decorating years, not the incarceration years.
Dinner consisted of a choice of turkey (of course, and which she had started cooking at 7:30 this morning), a spiral ham from either Heavenly Ham or Honey-Baked Ham, chourico (Portuguese sausage) dressing, gravy, Portuguese rice, collards (for Jeff and Mom only — the rest of us wouldn’t touch them), (what I’m calling) loaded baked potato mashed potatoes (a coating of cheese on the top of them, with sour cream, butter, and bacon bits mixed into them), spicy cabbage, a pickle and olive tray (black olives, green olives, and sweet pickles), cranberry sauce, and yeast rolls from Golden Corral.
Dessert choices included a pumpkin pie (which mom and dad brought), and a pumpkin cobbler that Vivian made. Everyone but dad had the cobbler.
After dinner, we lined up all of the leftovers on the table and mom, dad, and I went down the line filling up to-go containers with our favorite things. I took home a lot of ham, since that’s what most of the money I sent her went toward purchasing, and there was just pounds of it leftover. Yay!
The ride back was nice in that it was overcast, and I didn’t have to drive west for an hour-and-a-half into the setting sun. Once home I took a two-hour nap.
I met Joe, Kevin (av8rdude), Kurt, and Glenn out for Trailer Park Prize Night.
Kevin, Kurt, and Glenn spent most of the night in the “VIP lounge,” and Joe and I spent most of the night in the archway, in front of the peanut urinal and beside the fan.
Jim (muscular pool player) talked to me for quite a while, and then I watched Paul and some black guy with dregs jockeying for position with him.