happy thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving morning, Alison and I got up early and went to 72nd Street and Central Park West to watch the 80th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We ended up getting a fantastic viewing spot, right next to the street. Other than being a bit cold and wet, we were thrilled to be there. The parade started just north of us, so we didn't have to wait long for the excitement to begin. The balloons had to fly just barely above our heads because of the wet, windy weather, so we had a close-up view of them. We stayed through the end in order to see Santa pass by.

In the afternoon, Kevin and I watched football and stayed inside so I could warm up and dry out. Then we went to Queens to Sarah's house for Thanksgiving dinner (an hour and a half ride on the subway!). That girl went all out! We had baked brie and veggies to start, and then we had turkey, cranberries with oranges, stuffing with dried cranberries, baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar and walnuts, green beans with almonds, and blueberry pie and ice cream. Wow! I so enjoyed a relaxing evening with church friends - Sarah, Libby, Tanya, and Tanya's friend Clive who was visiting from Ireland. With two Irish people at the table, we had a little lesson on the history of Thanksgiving, and then we learned some Irish history. Kevin and I had to leave before everyone else was ready to go, because the nuts and cats were starting to make me itch. But it was a great Thanksgiving anyway!

On Friday after Thanksgiving, Kevin and I didn't want to bother with the crowds for shopping, so we lazed around before going to Times Square for student rush tickets to another Broadway show. He sure experienced a conversion during his week here! On Sunday, he wanted to see a show but was adamant about not wanting to go to a musical. That's pretty tough when you're talking about Broadway shows! I was frustrated, and Jerad and I finally convinced him to try one. He loved Monty Python's Spamalot so much he wanted to see another show. And, if we would have had more time, he would have liked to go to two more! What a dramatic change! We got the tickets for $26.25 - front row seats! Then we went to Rockefeller Center to check out the skating rink. It was really crowded, so we left and had a cheap lunch at Seattle Cafe back in Times Square. We hung out at school and worked on homework for the rest of the afternoon before heading to 9th Avenue to search out dinner. Then, it was on to the show! Alison met us, and we all three thoroughly enjoyed The Wedding Singer. It was so incredible to be right next to the actors and to really see their facial expressions and the details on the sets and costumes. And we got a big kick out of the 80's references; Alison and I particularly liked the purple stirrup pants with high heels.

After the show, Kevin and I discovered that the bus to the airport doesn't run between 1:30 and 4:20 in the morning, and he needed to be at the airport at 4:00. We went to Dunkin' Donuts - coffee for him and hot chocolate for me, and stayed up until it was time for him to catch the 1:30 bus. Which, by the way, nearly blew past us without stopping! We chased it down the street and said a quick goodbye. Kevin headed to the airport and I headed to bed... to try to catch up on sleep from all those late, late nights and early, early mornings. Now I have two days before it's back to the daily school grind, but the week has been a great vacation.