brrrrrrrr...

It's cold here in LA, at least for this week. It rained monday and it's been windy ever since (here is where all of my friends who live in North America and not in LA or Arizona make fun of me for being a wuss). As i sit here in my winter coat and turtleneck sipping my tea... I wonder how they do it where it snows (yes, I know, as I said, you are making fun of me you Minnosotans, New Yorkers and people hiding in Toronto amongst others). Now, despite the fact that I didn't want to get out of my warm, cozy bed this morning, I dragged myself into the cold air and eventually ended up at work, where I am now. But this is not really what I wanted to right about, it was more of a side note. What I actually wanted to write about was Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a time that used to be about how the Pilgrims landed and were helped by the Native Americans when they got to America. It commemorates the feast we had before we stole their land and slautered them etc etc etc, hey, none of us are perfect and the past is the past, moving on... When I was a kid, that was what they taught us in school. Then it became a day to be thankful for everything we had. Good, great, we all need a day to take a step back. Thanksgiving is now supposed to be about family and friends and traditions and blah blah blah. Some of that is great, all of that is needed, and yet my post will have nothing to do with it, because for me, Thanksgiving this year wasn't about that. Last Thanksgiving, as some of you may know and some of you may not (and not to reminisce from last post), was the last time I saw my aunt before I got the call a few days later back at uni that she had passed away. I was expecting this years Thanksgiving to be really hard because of it. My uncle was doing it all alone, it was the same traditions only minus a huge player and all that. Surprisingly however, it wasn't difficult. That's not to say that I didn't think about my aunt, or help with the prep in the kitchen and wish that she was back in her old place behind the sink finishing up on this and touching up on that. We all chipped in a lot this year, but it ended up being a really nice thanksgiving. We made the turkey and had dinner with my uncle a few days before so he could take it home and carve it, and everyone else made something as well. My cousins came early to help out and when my family got there we went straight into babysitting and helping mode... watch this kid, microwave this, is the stove on, where is the cranberry sauce, fill up the chips again... you know, the usual. It was nice to be working so closely with my family and chipping in and getting ready for the annual dinner. It was a very nice dinner too. I sat with my family and my brother came with his fiance and her dad and they brought Teddy (their new labradoodle puppy - adorable, but viscious nails) and we talked and enjoyed ourselves and then after dinner we cleaned up and my sister and I played with the kids (my cousins are both older and married with kids ranging from 4 down to newborn). My two 2 year old cousins who I hadn't seen for several months were both using real words instead of baby googaa stuff. It was a really nice day and not at all what I thought it would be, but I am really glad things worked out the way they did.
And now, after saying lots of worthless stuff (probably to anyone but me), I will have to get back to my tea and my work and my occasional studying for my hearing science exam tomorrow (only three weeks away from final exams!). I am, however, hoping for an exciting weekend, and I am sure that I had more to say, but got distracted by writing about Thanksgiving, so oh well. I wish you all warm days (though I guess in Australia you already have that it being summer and all) and lots of smiles. ciao~