The Weekend Illustrated

My long Thanksgiving weekend started Wednesday, when I was let off work a few hours early. I was able to make it out to Irvine and go to a workout training session with Kathleen at her bootcamp. Ouch! Then we went and got sushi. Mmm! Then AJ and I went and saw the last Hunger Games movie. Fun! My throat was starting to hurt at this point.

On Thanksgiving morning I didn't feel very good. My throat was feeling worse. AJ played basketball in the morning and then came over with Anana, and we went to my mom's. It was your standard Thanksgiving - food, alcohol and card playing into the night. We were back there the next morning for breakfast, Christmas movies and then a small hike at Lake Perris, where Anana saw horses for the first time and tried to eat them!

Anana and the horses

We had a lot of fun slow-mo videoing her eating and going for treats too.

Anana misses

That night we went downtown for the Festival of Lights, of course we missed the fireworks (I miss them every time I try to make it) and I was feeling awwwwwful. Achey and fevery. That's why I took so many shots before we went out and then I started to feel amazing. We took more videos feeding Anana.

Kathleen feeds Anana

I feed Anana

We walked around, although not very long. It was verrrrrrrry crowded and verrrrrrry cold (for California). We basically did a loop around the Mission Inn and then went and ate. My shots were wearing off and I was feeling awful again and I think I fell asleep at the table.

On Saturday I couldn't do anything. That night was miserable, I almost got up in the middle of the night to take a hot bath because I felt so horrible. AJ went golfing in the morning and I had wanted to take Anana to the dog park (minus the Mt. Rubidoux hike this time) but I just couldn't. All I could do was sleep and pump myself full of Tylenol, Sudafed, Alka Seltzer, cough drops, tea, honey, and anything else I found lying around. AJ came back with food and lemons, and then picked out a bunch of movies for us to watch and we basically slept all day. I mean I was sick, I'm not sure what his excuse was, but misery loves company! I did get cabin fever in the evening though and insist that we go out to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor to use my $10 off coupon that was expiring soon. We shared a butterscotch malt and ICE CREAM NACHOS. It was three scoops of ice cream (pre-chosen: chocolate malted crunch, animal cookie and mint chip) on a bed of waffle cone "chips" and was amazingggggg. Then we went back home and went to bed.

I woke up feeling muuuuuch better on Sunday but still not 100%. AJ left for home and I cleaned what I could and then put up like all 5 of my Christmas decorations while watching Christmas movies! Part of that included a small tree which needed garland and ornaments, so it did take a little longer than it sounds like.

I was sad to spend the long weekend so sick, but happy to be feeling so much better now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from me and a fat kitty!

And because we should NEVERFORGET, the best sketch ever...



Roberta's Thanksgiving! You're welcome!

Friendsgiving Weekend

This past weekend was very full and busy. On Friday it was the second anniversary of my car, and I'd been wanting to buy the new Florence and the Machine album since it came out on June 2nd of this year (I had just been streaming it at work for forever) and when I remembered I worked across the street from a music store, I decided it was a present for both my car and me, and finally bought it. The amazing thing is that, listening to it with the sound turned up and not whispering in my office, it sounded even more beautiful than I realized! PLUS it was the DELUXE version and I got 3 new songs out of it! My God she is amazing. Her songs are so whimsical and beautiful and storytales and conceptual and mesmerizing. My favorite new song is Which Witch.

On Friday night my boyfriend finally came home after being out of town for work for three weeks. To celebrate, he left before sunrise on Saturday morning to go play golf with his friends, lolololol, so I got some alone time with Anana! We hiked Mt Rubidoux and then went to the dog park, but she was so exhausted. She went to go play with the dogs for a few minutes but then just came and laid down at my feet, she was dunzo after the hike in the heat.

That evening we went to a Friendsgiving in Rancho Palos Verdes where there were over 100 people there!! The house was beautiful with a huge backyard overlooking LA. They had pulled out all the stops from food and drinks to bonfires and cigars.

Someone had brought their pug who had lost the use of their hind legs and instead just zipped around the house in this little wheelbarrow wheelchair, which was so adorable.

We were still there at 2am, eating and watching Clueless with the rest of the stragglers, and AJ was finishing up scotch from the $160 bottle that was opened and being distributed. We got to his mom's at 3a, then had to wake up by 8:30a, get coffee and head back down to Orange County for football (oh joy).

This group of friends has just started getting married in the past year or so, so there are no kids, only lots of dogs and fur babies to juggle and watch. This was cute, because Ara was the only one on the ground and the dogs huddle silently and watched every bite. A fly flew by and two of the dogs followed it, and so he snuck a bite to the one dog still watching him, haha! Suckers.

It was a long day of football. One of girls is from Chicago and that's her Bears hat she left lying around. I entertained myself by coming up with "celebrity names" for the games that were being played. My favorite was the Chargers against the Chiefs and I kept asking them to turn the Charfs game back on hahahaha it still cracks me up.

We left at the very end of the Packers Vikings game. We got sushi and went back to his house then literally fell asleep in front of the TV, and this was like, 6p, oops. I know it's only a three-day week but I'm sleepy already! Is it 5 yet?

I Love This Week

I know that today is Sunday, which by default makes tomorrow Monday, but I ain't even mad. This might be my favorite week of the year. I love Thanksgiving week! It's only 3 days, and those 3 days are generally light, and there's the glow of the holiday on the horizon. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of my favorites too. Excited for the time off, for the holidays to kick off, for the partying that evening, for lots of people back in town, to sleep in, wake up to cool weather and a warm indoors, and lots of eating! Om nom nom.

Bring on the week!

Goodbye Thanksgiving

Well I think it's finally happening, this is the last year of Thanksgiving. By next year, the Christmas ruckus will officially have overtaken it all, and Thanksgiving will cease to exist.

You know how each year the Christmas stuff comes out sooner and sooner? I mean it's done, it's officially done. This year I saw Christmas stuff out WITH Halloween stuff, and there are no Thanksgiving decorations or anything that I'm aware of, nothing I've seen promoting Thanksgiving, and here is the real kicker: on Sunday night, I went out running, and I happened to pass by an apartment with open blinds and do you know what was inside? A Christmas tree, FULLY DECORATED, and STOCKINGS UP and CHRISTMAS EVERYWHERE. This was on Sunday, November 15. November 15! Halfway through November! I even know people who are already taking their kids to see Santa Claus!

I happen to know that in London at least (maybe the rest of the UK?) a place that doesn't have Thanksgiving, even they wait until December 1 to kick of Christmas festivities!

I feel like Elaine in that episode of Seinfeld where everyone starts eating all their desserts with utensils... cutting their Snickers bars and cookies with a knife and fork and scooping M&Ms with spoons, and Elaine is looking around her freaked out and shouting "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL YOU PEOPLE?!" That's me.

I really liked you Thanksgiving, but somehow you've been vilified like a red-headed step-child orphan in a Dickens novel.