Bodacious Boomer

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. It is a beautiful day here in the Houston area and I feel like a lucky person. Doug and both our kids are in town and we will be having Thanksgiving dinner with Nate and his family over at Evelyn’s. Although my upset of the other day is still there I’ve decided to ignore it. I figure if I give it any more energy it’s just giving my brother power he doesn’t deserve. (I’m sure they’ll be other days when I boil over and look like a cartoon thermometer where the mercury shoot up then the top blows off, but not today). My mom was a gigantic UT football fan. One of the last things I thought about last night was calling her to remind her when the game would be on today. (Don’t have to do that). I got up this morning and said a silent Happy Thanksgiving to my mom and dad.

Last night I made the Barefoot Contessa’s coconut cake cupcakes. I haven’t had one yet; although I did taste the batter off the spatula. It very extremely tasty. I haven’t frosted them yet. I figured they were easier to carry naked- them, not me. Anyway, the smell of baking cake was hard to resist last night, but I did. I only made a half batch of cupcakes, twelve exactly. (I figured if I came back with any, I’d finish them off tonight). Not wanting to subject my friends and family to pie crust that might break a tooth I had Evelyn make and bake a crust for me. When I get to her house around noon I’m going to make the filling for Mom’s “shoe paste” pie AKA french silk pie. (That I know I can do). With any luck both my desserts will be a big hit and be all gone before we come home. It’s horrible to have to admit that I’m weak, but I am- at least where homemade dessert is concerned. They say acknowledging your problem is the first step towards recovery. We’ll see how I do come Monday. Evelyn and I are scheduled to go to the gym.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving parade is on right now. Going to see that is something we’ve never done. I’d like to take everybody up there just once to see it. I have a few things that I’ve always wanted to do as a family. Spending a Christmas in the mountains in Colorado was one of them. We did that about 5 years ago. (Our kids were raised in Houston so they’d never had a white Christmas). Amanda was bummed she couldn’t make a snowman. The snow in Snowmass was powder and not snowman friendly. It was a great trip anyway. I wanted the kids to see the Nutcracker performed by the Houston Ballet. We did that  about 15 years ago. I’d love to take everybody on a big trip to Africa to see all the animals. However, that will  have to stay a dream- at least for now. Probably something more achievable would be for everyone to see the Rose Parade in California. I have pretty simple wishes- except for the whole Africa thing at least.

About 10 years ago Doug, Amanda and I face painted for free in downtown Houston on Thanksgiving day for the Superfeast. We painted non-stop for hours. It was nice to give something back, even if we got ripped off while doing it. I guess someone must’ve thought we had money in our tackle box. I bet they were really surprised when they opened it up and discovered all they got were paintbrushes and glitter.  Anyway, I hope that all of you have a great Thanksgiving. And if it’s not because you have to be around family you don’t like- just plaster a slight smile on your face, sit there silently and meditate with your eyes open. This day too will pass.